FC Barcelona Handbol

FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Founded	29 November 1942; 83 years ago
Arena	Palau Blaugrana
Capacity	7,500
President	Joan Laporta
Head coach	Antonio Carlos Ortega
League	Liga ASOBAL
2025–26	1st
Club colours
Home	Away
	Website ; Official site

Futbol Club Barcelona Handbol is a professional Catalan Spanish handball team based in Barcelona, Catalonia. It is a part of the FC Barcelona multi sports club, and was founded on 29 November 1942. The club competes domestically in the Liga ASOBAL and in the European Champions League. It is the most successful handball club in Spain and Europe with a record number of domestic and international titles.

History

Early years

The handball section of Futbol Club Barcelona was founded on 29 November 1942 during the presidency of Enrique Piñeyro.^[1] In the beginning handball was played with eleven players per team and did not have a specialized field to play. They used football fields until the late 1950s, when they started to play, as in actual games, with seven players and a covered field.^[1]

In the early stages, competitions were dominated by other teams like Atlético de Madrid and Granollers, breaking their domination few times.

They won their first league title and cup in 1969.^[1] Their homefield Palau Blaugrana was constructed in 1971, where they have played since.^[1]

Valero Rivera era (1983–2003)

Things changed radically with the arrival of one of the best coaches in handball history, Valero Rivera.^[1]^[2] With him, the team became virtually unbeatable in Spain and in Europe, winning a record of 70 trophies under his rule, including 5 consecutive, 6 in total, European Cups.^[3]^[2]

Post Valero Rivera era (2003–present)

In the summer of 2013, the Barça handball team, conducted by the head coach Xavi Pascual, won the IHF Super Globe trophy, the only trophy that was still missing from the club's trophy cabinet.^[4]

FC Barcelona’s handball team closed out the 2013/14 Liga ASOBAL with a record-breaking winning run. Barça made history this season when they completed their Liga ASOBAL without dropping any points from all 30 match days.^[5]

FC Barcelona successfully defended its IHF Super Globe title in 2014, marking the first time a team has won back-to-back titles since the most prestigious club handball event has been hosted annually in the Qatari capital Doha.^[6]^[7]

Again, FC Barcelona handball team ended the 2014/2015 Liga ASOBAL season unbeaten for the second consecutive year.^[8]

FC Barcelona handball team won the seven titles disputed the 2014/2015 season, something which had not happened since the 1999/2000 season with Valero Rivera's Dream Team.^[9]

In 2017 FC Barcelona handball was again champion of the IHF Super Globe after beating the German team Füchse Berlin.^[10]

In 2018, the club won the Super Globe trophy again, for the fourth time. In a repeat of last year the team of head coach Xavi Pascual won the IHF Super Globe Final against Füchse Berlin, this time by a five-goal difference, 29–24.^[11]

Again Barça won the IHF Super Globe in 2019, their third in a row. The team led by Xavi Pascual beat THW Kiel 34–32.^[12]

In 2021 Barça regain the European throne six years after the last title, winning the final against Aalborg Håndbold (36–23), at the end of an absolutely impeccable season: 6/6 titles and 61/61 victories.^[13] Xavi Pascual's team secured the section's 10th Champions League and also became the first team to lift the golden net, the new trophy for the European champions from this season, as a replacement for the bronze arm. The title concludes a season with an emotional ending, since it marks the conclusion of a cycle and the goodbye of several players, in addition to David Barrufet, Xavi Pascual and Fernando Barbeito.^[14] Former Dream Team player, Carlos Ortega was chosen to be FC Barcelona's new handball coach for the next three seasons.^[15]

In the 2021–22 season, after the successes achieved the previous season, the azulgrana certified a new sextet, where the only title that escaped was the Super Globe in October. The team won the Spanish Super Cup, the Catalan Super Cup, the Copa del Rey, the Sacyr ASOBAL League, the Sacyr ASOBAL Cup, and finally the Champions League. The team ended the season winning the 11th Champions League in Barça history. Barça revalidated the title in Cologne, being the first team to win two consecutive years with the new final four format, and extended its dominance in the historic record of the Handball Champions League.^[16]

Kits

HOME
2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23

AWAY
2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-

THIRD
2021-

Trophies

IHF Super Globe: 6 – record
- 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2025
EHF Champions League: 13 – record
- 1990–91, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2004–05, 2010–11, 2014–15, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2023–24, 2025–26
EHF Cup Winner's Cup: 5 – record
- 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1993–94, 1994–95
EHF Cup
- 2002–03
European Super Cup: 5 – record
- 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2003–04
Liga ASOBAL: 33 – record
- 1968–69, 1972–73, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26
Copa del Rey: 30 – record
- 1968–69, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26
Copa ASOBAL: 21 – record
- 1994–95, 1995–96, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26
Supercopa ASOBAL: 24 – record
- 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
Supercopa Ibérica: 4 – record
- 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Spanish Championship: 6 – record
- 1944–45, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1956–57
Catalan Championship: 10 – record
- 1943–44, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58
Catalan League: 12 – record
- 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97
Pyrenees League: 12 – record
- 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12
Catalan Super Cup: 12 – record
- 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Double: 18
- 1968–69, 1972–73, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
Triple Crown: 8
- 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2014–15, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2023–24, 2025–26

Season by season

Season	Tier	Division	Pos.	Notes
1990–91	1	ASOBAL	1st / 1st	Champion
1991–92	1		1st / 2nd	Champion
1992–93	1		2nd / 3rd
1993–94	1		1st / 1st / ½
1994–95	1		2nd
1995–96	1		1st	Champion
1996–97	1
1997–98	1
1998–99	1
1999–00	1
2000–01	1		2nd
2001–02	1		2nd
2002–03	1		1st	Champion
2003–04	1		2nd
2004–05	1		4th
2005–06	1		1st	Champion
2006–07	1		4th
2007–08	1		2nd
2008–09	1
2009–10	1

Season	Tier	Division	Pos.	Notes
2010–11	1	ASOBAL	1st	Champion
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24
2024–25
2025–26

36 seasons in Liga ASOBAL

Season by season (B team)

Season	Tier	Division	Pos.	Notes
2001–02	3	1ª Nacional	10th
2002–03			3rd
2003–04			1st
2004–05			2nd
2005–06			1st
2006–07			2nd
2007–08			8th
2008–09			1st / 1st / 2nd
2009–10			1st / 1st / 1st	Promoted
2010–11	2	Plata	6th
2011–12			1st
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15			3rd
2015–16			5th

European record

Champions League

Season	Round	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Aggregate
2025–26 Winners	Group Matches (Group B)	GOG Håndbold	37–32	41–28	1st place
		SC Magdeburg	21–22	36–29
		RK Zagreb	32–25	46–26
		OTP Bank – Pick Szeged	31–28	35–27
		RK Eurofarm Pelister	34–30	47–27
		Orlen Wisła Płock	34–24	30–24
		Paris Saint-Germain	30–27	38–33
	Quarterfinals	HBC Nantes	32–30	31–21	63–51
	Semifinal	Aalborg Håndbold	37–32 (ET)
	Final	Füchse Berlin	37–34
2023–24 Winners	Group Matches (Group B)	Montpellier Handball	30–25	34–37	2nd place
		SC Magdeburg	32–20	28–29
		FC Porto	38–30	40–33
		GOG Håndbold	38–30	30–23
		Celje Pivovarna Laško	37–31	39–30
		Telekom Veszprém	36–41	31–30
		Orlen Wisła Płock	28–25	32–25
	Quarterfinals	Paris Saint-Germain	30–22	32–31	62–53
	Semifinal	THW Kiel	30–18
	Final	Aalborg Håndbold	31–30
2021–22 Winners	Group Matches (Group B)	SG Flensburg-Handewitt	25–21	29–22	2nd place
		Motor	36–25	10–0
		Telekom Veszprém	28–29	35–30
		Dinamo București	36–32	35–30
		Paris Saint-Germain	30–27	28–28
		FC Porto	33–33	38–31
		Łomża Vive Kielce	30–32	27–29
	Quarterfinals	SG Flensburg-Handewitt	33–29	27–24	60–53
	Semifinal	THW Kiel	34–30
	Final	Łomża Vive Kielce	37–35 (ET)
2020–21 Winners	Group Matches (Group B)	HC Motor Zaporizhzhia	42–24	30–25	1st place
		HBC Nantes	30–29	35–27
		PPD Zagreb	45–27	37–33
		Aalborg Håndbold	42–33	35–32
		THW Kiel	29–25	32–26
		Telekom Veszprém	37–30	37–34
		RK Celje	42–28	32–29
	Last 16	Elverum Håndball	39–19	37–25	76–44
	Quarterfinals	Meshkov Brest	40–28	33–29	73–57
	Semifinal	HBC Nantes	31–26
	Final	Aalborg Håndbold	36–23
2019–20	Group Matches (Group A)	Paris Saint-Germain	36–32	35–32	1st place
		MOL-Pick Szeged	30–28	28–31
		Aalborg	44–35	34–30
		Flensburg	31–27	34–27
		Celje	45–21	37–25
		PPD Zagreb	32–23	36–19
		Elverum	33–24	30–26
	Quarterfinals		Cancelled
	Semi-final (F4)	Paris Saint-Germain	37–32
	Final (F4)	THW Kiel	28–33