European football on your stag weekend? Perfect

Let’s not beat around the bush here, most British men love Football. We’re also not adverse to a few drinks and a bit of partying, especially if we’re seeing off a good friend for his stag weekend. With all this in mind, wouldn’t your ideal stag weekend send-off involve all of these? Of course it would, so allow me to suggest some Cities and their football clubs that you can visit when looking at stag weekends abroad. Cultural.

Barcelona, Spain

First on the list and most of you will agree that Barcelona CF are one of, if not the most exciting football teams in the world today.

Their squad reads like a who’s who of modern day footballing greats, with names such as Messi, Fàbregas, David Villa, Iniesta, Puyol and Dani Alves populating the team sheets week in, week out. Camp Nou is home to Barcelona CF, and with a capacity of 99,000 making it the largest stadium in Europe. Tours of the stadium are available and are thoroughly recommended, I’m certain they have to get a bigger trophy cabinet each season, they’re better off building a museum for them all!

Barcelona CF is the second richest football club in the world, second only to Real Madrid. Flush.

Sparta Prague, Czech Republic

There are two Prague teams, Sparta and Slavia, with Sparta being the most successful. Playing in the 21,000 capacity Generali Arena, Sparta Prague is known to fans as Železná Sparta, which translates to Iron Sparta.

Of their current squad, some of you may remember Jiří Jarošík, who spent three playing for Chelsea and Birmingham City, before heading north of the border for a further two year stint with Glasgow Celtic picking up Premier League and Scottish Premier League winners medals on the way. Notable past players include Petr Čech and Tomáš Rosický, while Newcastle fans will know the team’s current goalkeeping coach Pavel Srníček very well indeed, having spent several years with the Toon in the 1990s.

The teams’ current moniker is the 10th variation of their name since the club’s inception in 1893. Indecisive.

Hamburger SV, Berlin

If you’re heading to Berlin then you can take in a Bundesliga game at the Imtech Arena, home of Hamburger SV. Their 57,000 capacity stadium never struggles to be filled for games, and Hamburger SV is actually a multi-sport club. Other sports include cricket, rugby, baseball and volleyball. A women’s football team and men’s ‘B’ team also come under the Hamburger SV umbrella.

The teams’ current squad includes familiar names such as Michael Mancienne, formerly of Chelsea and Jeffrey Bruma, who is currently on loan to HSV from Chelsea. Former Tottenham Hotspur star man Rafael van der Vaart is also enjoying his second spell at the club, having transferred from Spurs before the end of the transfer window on 31st August 2012.

Hamburger SV hold an impressive record of never being relegated from a top-flight league since the end of World War One. Lofty.
There are my top three European football teams to catch and combine with a stag weekend.

Also, my final paragraphs for each team are inspired by Opta Joe. Knowledgeable.