When Barcelona take to the pitch for El Clasico later today, some fans might be surprised to see them wearing the Coldplay logo on the chests of their shirts.
Promoting a musical artist in that way is nothing new for Barca. Since they signed a €55million-a-year sponsorship deal ($59m; £46m at current exchange rates) with streaming giant Spotify in 2022, they have worn the logo of a different act for each match against arch-rivals Real Madrid — with mixed results.
So far, they have worn the logos of Drake, Rosalia, The Rolling Stones and Karol G, losing three of those games and winning once. Stones front man Mick Jagger and guitarist Ronnie Wood were in attendance for last October’s Clasico at Barcelona’s temporary home, the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, when a banner with the band’s iconic tongue-and-lips emblem was unfurled in the stands. Barca lost 2-1 that day, after a Jude Bellingham-inspired Madrid comeback.
But Coldplay are even more significant to Barcelona fans. Club sources — who, like all those cited in this article, asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships — say it was an obvious collaboration at some point. Barca sold it as a “collab meant to be” on their social media channels.
To understand why, you have to go back to the 2008-09 season when a certain Pep Guardiola was Barcelona’s manager…
The Coldplay logo that will feature on Barca’s shirts in Madrid tonight is one inspired by their latest album, Moon Music, released earlier this month. Barcelona’s women’s team will also wear the shirts in their Liga F match against Eibar next Saturday.
The club are putting 1,899 of the shirts — matching the year of Barca’s founding — on sale for €399.99 each (£333/$433). For fans with smaller budgets, there’s a Barca scarf with the Moon Music logo at €24.99, T-shirts at €34.99 and sweatshirts at €74.99. All net proceeds will go to the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR), which is dedicated to saving and protecting lives across the world.
In a press release announcing the collaboration, Coldplay spoke of a “special relationship with the city and the club for many years”.
That relationship goes beyond merchandising.
In 2008, Coldplay released one of their most popular songs, the title of which became the name of their album released that year: Viva La Vida. At the same time, former Barca B coach Guardiola was taking charge of the first team at a particularly turbulent time on the pitch for the Catalans.
Fans associate Coldplay with the treble won under Guardiola (Lluis Gene/AFP via Getty Images)
Guardiola used various motivational techniques with his players, one of which was to play music in the dressing room before games. The coach is a Coldplay fan and goes to the British band’s concerts whenever he can. Two of his pre-match favourites were Viva La Vida and Human by The Killers — but Viva La Vida was the one that stuck with Barca’s fans.
The song was played after big wins and became the soundtrack to some of the most significant triumphs under Guardiola in his four trophy-laden years in charge, including the treble season of 2008-09.
For a while, there was a belief Viva La Vida was the last song the players listened to before they walked out at Rome’s Olympic Stadium to face Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final. That was not actually the case, but it doesn’t make it any less of an anthem for Barca fans.
Guardiola prepared a video to motivate his side before that game that featured scenes from Gladiator and its soundtrack, ending with the Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti singing ‘vincero’ — I will win — from the song Nessun Dorma. The video was later released by Catalan broadcaster TV3.
Viva La Vida was more of a song for celebrations and daily motivation. It was often heard when players and coaching staff would join hands in a circle to dance around the trophy — simulating the traditional Catalan dance of ‘la sardana’.
It was the closing song for the 2009 treble celebrations and continues to elicit strong emotions from Barcelona fans, who can’t help but think of the golden generation of Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and company, led by Guardiola, when they hear those stirring opening bars.
Chris Martin during a Coldplay performance at the Lluis Companys last year (Jordi Vidal/Redferns)
The backing vocals to Viva La Vida were actually recorded in a Barcelona church. Since then, Coldplay have regularly played shows in the Catalan capital. In May last year, they sold out four successive nights at the Lluis Companys. They have often been seen waving Catalonia’s traditional Senyera flag on these visits, with the Barca flag also spotted hanging from frontman Chris Martin’s trousers.
Two members of the band — drummer Will Champion and guitarist Jonny Buckland — visited a team training session when they were in town for those four gigs.
That also coincided with buzz over whether club icon Lionel Messi might make an emotional return to Barca after two seasons with Paris Saint-Germain, before he opted to move to Inter Miami of MLS. The Argentinian was spotted in the stands during one of the concerts at Montjuic and the whole stadium chanted his name.
🎥 Gritos de Messi, Messi @JijantesFC pic.twitter.com/m36mirWUBr
— Gerard Romero (@gerardromero) May 28, 2023
In an interview with Catalunya Radio, Buckland said: “I remember reading about (Barca) at the time (of the treble under Guardiola) and thinking ‘How cool’, because they were the best team on the planet and they played football from another galaxy. It’s interesting because this song (Viva La Vida) really took shape in Barcelona.
GO DEEPER
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“We recorded some parts in Barcelona — the final moment with the choirs was recorded in a church in Barcelona. It’s a very special song that connects a lot with the people.”
Barca will hope they can harness that connection to claim a statement win against Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu tonight — which would really get them dreaming about a return to those glory days under Guardiola.
(Top photos: Spotify/Barcelona/Coldplay)
