Barcelona And Real Madrid Have The Most Fans In Europe, Claims Survey
La Liga powerhouses Barcelona and Real Madrid are the most popular clubs on the continent, according to one report...
Dani Alves, Sergi Busquets, Seydou Keita
Spanish champions Barcelona have the most number of fans in Europe with Real Madrid coming a distant second, while there are four clubs each from Italy and England among the 20 most supported European teams, according to a report by Sport+Markt.
The study also reveals that Premier League giants Manchester United and Chelsea are the two most widely supported English teams in Europe as they came third and fourth, ahead of Bayern Munich of Germany.
Sport + Markt's study of 'Football Top 20' analysed the popularity of domestic and international football clubs in 17 European countries (Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Poland, Croatia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Czech Republic and Russia).
While results are given in the millions, these are extrapolated from interviews with over 10,200 fans between the ages of 16 to 69.
Barcelona emerged as the most supported club with 57.8% while their archrivals and fellow Primera Division giants Madrid came second with 31.3%. Manchester United came a close third with 30.6%. Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool complete the list of English teams in the Top 20.
Serie A has four representatives as well - Milan and Inter are ranked seventh and eighth respectively while Juventus are tenth and Roma are 19th. Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg, Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine and Ajax of the Netherlands also made the list.
The table in full is below.
CLUB MILLION FANS
Barcelona 57.8
Real Madrid 31.3
Manchester United 30.6
Chelsea 21.4
Bayern Munich 20.7
Arsenal 20.3
AC Milan 18.4
Inter 17.5
Liverpool 16.4
Juventus 13.1
Zenit St. Petersburg 12.6
CSKA Moscow 10.5
Spartak Moscow 9
Marseille 7.8
Ajax 7.1
Galatasaray 6.8
Lyon 6.6
Fenerbahce 6.1
Roma 6
Dynamo Kiev 5.3