“It has to be Romário. You never knew what to expect with him. His technique was outstanding and he scored goals from every possible position.”
Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff on the best player he had ever coached.
The legendary Brazilian forward Romario is undoubtedly one of the greatest goal scorers to have ever played the game.
He currently sits in fourth place on a list of the sport’s all-time most productive finishers with 755 goals during a career spanning more than two decades!
In fact, his epic goal tally is bettered by only three others in the entirety of footballing history, Pele (762), Lionel Messi (819) and Cristiano Ronaldo (854).
Many fans assume Romario’s time in Spain to be much longer than it actually was.
In reality, the Brazilian spent just a single full season at Camp Nou and he abruptly departed less than halfway through his second campaign.
Yet make no mistake. He made a seismic impact.
Superstar In Spain
Romario joined Barcelona in July 1993 from Dutch side PSV for £10.8 million or the equivalent of £160 million today!
The Brazil international’s move to Camp Nou added yet another world class acquisition to Johan Cruyff’s “Dream Team.”
His squad already included a host of outstanding talents such as strike partner Hristo Stoichkov, midfielders Jose Mari Bakero and Michael Laudrup, along with defensive maestro Ronald Koeman.
It was during his time in Spain that lovers of the game finally saw the Brazilian transform from a raw prodigy into one of the most natural finishers to ever grace the sport.
Romario enjoyed a wondrous campaign during the 1993/94 season, finding the net 32 times across 47 matches in all competitions – with a total of 30 goals in the La Liga alone.
Remarkably, only five other players have gone on to register thirty goals or more during a Spanish league campaign since Romario’s achievements thirty years ago, including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Forlan, Luis Suarez and Juan Antonio Pizzi.
Perhaps one of Romario’s greatest performances in a Barcelona shirt came during the memorable 5-0 demolition of Real Madrid at Camp Nou in January 1994 when he scored a memorable hat-trick.
His spectacular opening goal was a real highlight, dragging the ball around the defender without it leaving his foot, before finishing with a trademark toe-poke into the corner of the open net.
Although he was largely praised for his outstanding performances in Spanish football, Romario’s time at Barca wasn’t always without controversy.
In the same month as his “El Clasico” heroics, he struck Sevilla’s Diego Simeone in the side of the head, knocking the midfielder partially unconscious and was inevitably suspended for five games.
Yet through the Brazilian’s epic contributions, Barcelona excelled, going on to win the 1993/94 La Liga title and Supercopa de España double.
Romario also helped guide his club to the 1994 Champions League final but it would end in unexpected disappointment.
European Cup Failure
The build-up to the final itself saw Spanish newspapers already declaring Barcelona as the victors.
With Romario and Stoichkov lining up in the Barcelona attack, even accomplished Milan defender Paolo Maldini had publicly admitted his team were likely outsiders.
Yet the Serie A giants were driven on by what many in Italy perceived as arrogance from the La Liga Champions.
It was a masterclass from Fabio Capello’s Milan side with goals from Daniele Massaro, Dejan Savicevic and Marcel Desailly. Despite his excellence, Romario couldn’t prevent Barcelona from slumping to a humiliating 4-0 defeat.
The Brazilian was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1994, twelve months on from finishing as runner-up behind Roberto Baggio.
However, Romario’s second campaign with Barca was far less fruitful. During the first four months of 1994/95, he played 18 times and scored just seven goals, with three of them arriving in Europe.
Some highlights of that season’s Champions League run came in the two games against Manchester United.
At Old Trafford, Romario ran through to nutmeg Peter Schmeichel as the Catalan side drew 2-2 and in the home fixture, found the net during a 4-0 rout with 114,000 rapturous fans watching on!
An Unexpected End
Yet by the New Year of 1995, there were rumours of a strained relationship between Romario and his manager. The Brazilian left Barcelona unexpectedly before the end of January after the rift with Cruyff became too great.
Romario scored 39 goals in 65 appearances for the Spanish side. Although his time with Barca was brief, his short-lived legacy is still eulogised to this day.
