Sports-Talk Radio in Barcelona Has Its Own Distinct Flavor BARCELONA, Spain - Before the big game that night, the radio caller wanted to talk about his team. He wanted to rant and to plead, to rationalize and to predict. He wanted, perhaps most of all, to complain. But this was not Benny from the Bronx on the line, not Ira from Staten Island, either. He was Rafa from Gracia, and on Tuesday afternoon, he had his say broadcast throughout much of Catalonia, where no doubt many listeners shared similar views before Barcelona's Champions League semifinal against Chelsea. The host of the program, Fèlix Monclús, listened amiably. Monclús sometimes plays games with his listeners, challenging them with trivia, but much of his show is similar to the usual sports-talk radio format throughout the United States. He gives his opinion. The callers give theirs. And every few minutes, everyone takes a break to listen to a jingle (though, perhaps thankfully, it appears that Brad Benson's Hyundai dealership ads have not yet made it to these shores). "Radio here faces the same challenges as radio everywhere," Axel Torres, a popular Spanish sports radio and television personality, said in an interview. There is television, there is Internet - but people always want to talk sports. They still listen in their cars. Torres hosts "Marcador Internacional," which focuses on popular soccer leagues throughout Europe. The show is broadcast on Radio Marca, which is believed to be the only all-sports-talk radio network in Spain. Radio Marca, Torres said, has its main office in Madrid but also operates several studios throughout the country, including the one here where he and Monclús do their shows. Not unlike American radio, many of the shows that are broadcast nationally, like Torres's, rarely take calls from listeners, choosing instead to read aloud text or Twitter messages. the local shows like Monclús's often take more calls and - as in the United States - can become fixated on a single topic. Mets fans, for example, who are furious when WFAN-AM in New York is overrun with Yankees talk in July, should know they are not alone. Fans of Espanyol, the other team in Barcelona, can relate. "It is Barça, Barça, Barça here," Torres said. It does not matter the month. Barça, Barça, Barça and more Barça. That is what they talk about. Over coffee at a cafe on Avinguida Diagonal, Torres traced a rough history of Spanish sports radio, an industry that has changed considerably. Decades ago, Torres said, the sports radio landscape here was dominated by José María García, an abrasive personality who was so popular he was known as Super García. García was "like a god," Torres said, and he is credited with pioneering several aspects of Spanish sports journalism that fans might now take for granted. The notion of sideline reporting was advanced by García, Torres said, and García was also the first person to report on a cycling race from a helicopter. As a well-connected trailblazer, García grew famous, his stature in Spain giving him clout that American sports radio personalities like Mike Francesa or Jim Rome can only dream about. "If García called the president, the president would be on the phone in one minute," Torres said. It did not matter that García's show was broadcast on a multiple-format station at midnight - many stayed up to listen so they could talk the next morning about what Super García had said. But as García's dominance faded, new personalities developed. García retired about 10 years ago after waging an often bitter war with a rival host, José Ramón de la Morena, Torres said. Radio Marca, which is owned by the same company that operates a sports newspaper and television channel, began its all-sports-radio format nationally about 12 years ago and opened its studio here about four years later. Now, Radio Marca in Barcelona runs much like an American station. Its offices are on the third floor of a modest building with an elevator so narrow it barely fits three people. On a recent weekday afternoon, the control room for Locutori No. 2 smelled of French fries as Blai Iniesta, a producer, regulated the sound levels while scrolling through audio clips on a computer screen. Instead of file names like "A-Rod homer" or "Manning postgame," though, many of the file names began with "Messi," for the revered Barcelona striker Lionel Messi. In the hallway, memorabilia on the walls includes soccer jerseys from several teams (one is signed by England's Alan Shearer) and, near the entrance, a prized possession: a Messi shirt, autographed and inscribed, "Para Mis Amigos de Radio Marca." You know Messi, right? Iniesta asked a visitor. Everyone loves him. Not all the players love listening to the radio, however. Ivan San Antonio, a reporter for the newspaper Sport, often participates in radio roundtables, or tertulias, in which commentators have spirited debates about sports issues and personalities. Some players, like Messi, San Antonio said, do their best to block out what is being said about them on the radio. Others, like Xavi or Dani Alves, are known for following more closely. Barcelona Coach Pep Guardiola, who stepped down Friday despite having won 13 trophies since taking over the team in 2008, could share tips with many N.F.L. coaches about the news media. Guardiola often says that he does not routinely track the coverage of him and his team, but he somehow knows everything that has been said or written (as well as who said it or wrote it). He has been said to ban cameras from training sessions just before Spanish League games to avoid tipping off the opponent to any strategies. "He knows everything," San Antonio said of Guardiola. And what I know is that most of the players know, too. Even if they don't listen, they have people who do it for them and tell them about it. That, too, is a common approach for athletes in the United States, though the most striking similarity between American sports radio and the Spanish variety lies in the listeners. Hysteria, it seems, crosses all geographic (and linguistic) boundaries. Early last week, Torres considered what might happen on the radio if Barcelona - seeking its third title in four years - did not beat Chelsea and fell one match short of the Champions League final, which is what happened Tuesday night at Camp Nou. "It would be bad, bad, bad," Torres said. But for radio, sometimes, that is good.