It’s long been a holiday resort favoured by some of Europe’s leading sportsmen and women, but Spain’s La Manga Club can now lay claim to hosting one of the best football teams of all time, Barcelona.
The five-star resort in Murcia played host to the club’s squad – including the like of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas – before this month’s Copa del Rey tie against Cartagena.
And Tata Martino’s star-studded squad’s stay at La Manga paid off as the most successful club in Spanish football history secured a comfortable 4-1 victory to take into the second leg thanks to two goals from Pedro and one apiece from Fabregas and 18-year-old Jean Marie Dongou.
Barcelona joined the likes of Champions League rivals Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Shakhtar Donetsk in taking advantage of its five-star facilities this year – and more than 60 other professional sides from 20 different countries also headed to Spain’s flagship resort for warm weather training camps in 2013.
As well as football training facilities – including eight international standard grass pitches – the resort boasts a fully equipped gym and indoor swimming pool for recovery sessions; and a host of rooms and spaces to cater for tactical meetings, private team dining or any other requirements.
La Manga Club has entertained some of the world’s top sporting stars since 1972, including global football icon David Beckham and Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, and the resort – the Lawn Tennis Association’s official overseas training base – will host Britain’s elite tennis players later this month as they prepare for next month’s Australian Open and the Davis Cup tie against United States.
You don’t have to be an international standard sports star to stay and take advantage of the facilities though. British Airways has seven nights’ room only at the hotel from £247 per person, including flights from London.
