Barcelona: The 26-time La Liga champions Barcelona have a long-standing love affair with players and coaches from the Netherlands. Rinus Michels started the saga when he became the coach in 1971 — a tale that still lives to the day and extended this very year with the signing of Dutch forward Memphis Depay.
The Netherlands international, who is currently at Euro 2020, will officially become a Barcelona player once his contract with Lyon expires and will sign a two-year deal at the Camp Nou. The forward is the fourth Barcelona signing of the summer.
Johan Cryuff: Cryuff became a cult figure when they defeated Real Madrid 5-0 on February 17, 1947, during the ongoing dictatorship of Franco. He brought an end to the Catalan side’s trophy drought winning the La Liga in the same year. He also became a political icon, when he named his son Jordi Cryuff that was prohibited as he was a saint in Catalonia.
Johan Cryuff stepped up as a coach for the Catalan giants in 1988. His attacking flair was praised along with his ability to scout young talents. He built the famous ‘Dream Team’ that won the first European Championship in 1992, by the lone goal in final scored by current Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman.
Louis Van Gaal: Van Gaal became the Barcelona coach in 1997 when he succeeded Bobby Robson. He won Spanish National Champion twice and the Spanish Cup once. Under him many Dutch players joined Barçelona — Winston Bogarde, Micheal Reiziger, Ruud Hesp, Phillip Cocu, Boudewijn Zenden, Patrick Kluivert, Frank de Boer and Ronald de Boer.
Frank Rijkaard: Under Rijkaard Barcelona became the Champions League winners for the second time in 2006 with Ronaldinho at the helm. Rijkaard joined Barça as a coach in 2003. He also brought around Dutch players like Mark Van Bommel, Marc Overmars, Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Edgar Davids.
Ronald Koeman: After a disastrous season in 2020 when Barcelona faced one of their worst humiliating 2-8 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich. Koeman joined Barcelona as a coach when Lionel Messi was on the verge of leaving. Koeman during his first seson won the Copa del Rey. At Barcelona, he was reunited with Dutch midfielder forward Frenkie de Jong during his first season and urged them to buy Memphis Depay which eventually happened in 2021. Hence keeping the everlasting Barça-Dutch connection alive.
