FC Barcelona is known as one of the biggest clubs in football history. The Catalan giants have won four Champions League titles this century and one European Cup in 1992. But even great clubs have had a bad night. There are few teams Barcelona have faced only once and lost like Slovan Bratislava and Sao Paulo. Then there are bigger clubs like Bayern Munich and Liverpool to whom Barcelona has more losses than wins. In fact, the Catalan club has a negative record against their arch-rivals Real Madrid.
3 Steaua Bucharest (5 games, 2 wins for Barcelona, 2+1 wins for Bucuresti)
Just like with Nottingham Forest it’s difficult to imagine that Steaua Bucuresti was once a European powerhouse.
In 1971 Barcelona faced Steaua Bucharest for the first time in the European Cup’s Winner Cup’s round of 16. Earlier Steaua Bucharest had beaten a Maltese club by just one goal on aggregate but Barcelona recorded two crushing wins against a Northern Ireland team.
So it was hugely unexpected when the Romanian side won both of the games. These matches didn’t attract much interest as for the second match at Bucharest only 5,000 people showed up. Steaua went on to lose in the quarterfinals to Bayern Munich because of the away goal rule.
Six years later Barcelona and Steaua Bucuresti had to face each other again in the first round of UEFA Cup. That time the Spanish team took the matchup completely seriously and won both of the games by a significant margin – 5-1 and 3-1. Barcelona reached the semifinals of the competition but got knocked out by the eventual winners PSV.
The fifth and last game between Barca and Steaua was in 1986. Undoubtedly the biggest match they have played and most likely will ever play between them as it was the European Cup final. The game finished goalless but no one will ever forget the penalty shootout.
2 Goteborg (4 games, 1 win for Barcelona, 1 draw, 2 wins for Goteborg)
Before Barcelona reached the final in 1986, they had a stunning matchup against Swedish Goteborg in the semifinals. The Spanish side was unable to perform at their best in the Scandinavia and lost by three goals. The second leg game inspired by a reserve player Pichi Alonso ended in a 3-0 win, the Spanish striker scoring all three goals. In the penalty shootout, Barcelona beat Goteborg and reached the European Cup final.
Unfortunately, Alonso would become ”a one-game wonder” as those are his only three goals in the European Cup / Champions League. Interesting that he didn’t even earn a starting position in 1986 final.
Almost ten years later both teams met again. Barcelona and Goteborg were drawn in the same Champions League group in 1994. Swedish side was able to come back after going one goal down in the 10th minute and win at home.
1 Dundee United (2 games, 2 wins for Dundee Utd)
European Cup semi-finalists in 1984 Dundee United faced Barcelona for the first and only time in 1987 UEFA Cup quarterfinals.
Barcelona had just lost by four goals after a 20 game win streak and the games against Dundee United seemed like the ideal opportunity to get back on a winning road
But the Scottish side shocked Barcelona with a 1-0 win at home. The only goal came from 21-year-old Kevin Gallacher on the second minute. Dundee United still were massive underdogs coming into the second game.