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All About FC Barcelona

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An Unexpected Ray of Hope
2008-02-03 13:18:00
Its strange how Hope chose to resurrect itself from its deep slumber now and then. Barcelona's title hopes were revived yesterday by the most unlikeliest source of it all - Almeria. Almeria are currently at the seventh spot but nobody expected to beat Real Madrid - and that too by a 2-0 margin. Juanito Gutierrez put the hosts ahead after 18 minutes through a goal which might be put on question about its validity. Alvaro Negredo doubled the lead just after half-time from the penalty spot after he had been brought down by Fabio Cannavaro. It didn't come as a surprise that they kept another clean sheet, five in a row.Almeria buyoed by their excellent defensive record faced the with a defensive mind set up. They were clinical in defense and when they got the window of oppurtunity, they made Madrid pay. But the real beneficiary would be Barcelona which may find themselves reducing the lead to six points, provided they win. With last week draw with Athletic every hope seemed to lose. B...

Barcelona-1, Villareal -0
2008-02-01 07:33:00
With the 1-0 victory over Villareal , Barcelona steps close to a coveted Copa Del Rey glory. Barcelona should have won more comfortably but they failed to find the second killer blow. Anyway this victory takes them one step closer and they look the most strongest among the other semi final contenders.Match started with Villareal allowing Barcelona to dominate. Barcelona started the match with four of their very best guarding the defense - Abidal, Milito, Puyol and Zambrotta. Marquez as expected donned the role of defensive midfielder, but the most surprising selection was Deco getting the nod ahead of Xavi. Iniesta joined these two in midfield and Henry, Bojan and Messi made the front three. barcelona's back four had an excellent night as there were very few chances created by Villareal and the best of which was Rossi's effort which went wide in the 17th minute. Messi, indeed was the player to watch and created all sort of trouble with his excellent dribbling skills which accounted...

A Pichichi without Barcelona Presence
2008-01-31 07:19:00
To get a testimony of how bad this season performance is, don't have to look beyond the present Pichichi s table. I can't remember the last time when we had a total absense from the Pichichis table top ten. The only guy who is near the top is Lionel Messi . This just shows how much we have missed Eto this season. He used to be in the top five evry season. Victor Valdez leads the Zamoras table just ahead of Cassilas. That also shows that our defense and Goal Keepers are not doing much wrong season. What is hurting us the most is inability to create Goal. Above all the shots on target and off target statistics looks like coming down this season by huge. Barcelona never used to convert everything they create. The maximum they used to convert was 30% of all shots on target. With those shots on Target coming down, logically goals have dried up. Anyway Messi and Eto still can make it to top ten.Pichichi League Cup Europe Total(Penalties)Luis Fabiano (Sevilla) 14 2 7 23 (4...
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Copa Del Rey QF Return Leg
2008-01-31 07:03:00
If there is a trophy which Rijkaard might be craving the most, it had to be the Spanish Kings Cup. It may not have the stature of the La Liga title or the Glamour of a UEFA Champions League title, but for him this one trophy has eluded him the most. Considering last season was a trophy less one - he will be in immense pressure to bring home at least one and Copa Del Rey trophy looks like the most gettable one. If they succeed to get past Villarreal, they may well easily end up with the crown (considering Getafe, Valencia all are having a torrid season). But then that would be only possible if they get past Villarreal at home. Even though the first leg ended in a goalless draw, but i consider that result a s good as a victory. Barcelona has been very strong in their home matches and should win this match by at least a couple of goals. Last time when Villarreal visited Camp Nou they were thrashed 4-0. Ronaldinho didn't have a great game then, but scored one of the best goal of last s...
More About: Return

Accepting the Inevitable
2008-01-28 11:39:00
With the last night draw against Athletic Bilbao, Barcelona quest for another Spanish League title has taken a serious setback. If anything hurts more is the fact that Real Madrid won against Villareal yesterday. Barcelona failed to hold on to the lead and perished for their goal scoring nuances. mathematically barcelona is still in the hunt even with the huge nine point gap between the leaders. And there have been a huge sense of optimism among Barcelona fans (saw it in the many barcelona blogs i visit) about getting the job done this season. Barcelona have no one else to blame for the mess they are in now. They started the season without much purpose and are catching up with Madrid for their lack of effort and enthusiasm. Actually from last January Barcelona are desperately trying to catch up with Real Madrid, a team many pundits wrote off some season ago.Barcelona will be trying their best to keep the league alive till 7th of May, when they play Real Madrid at Bernebeu. For that...

Losing More Grounds on the Champions
2008-01-28 06:31:00
Barcelona inherent lack of ability to kill the match off came back to haunt in the last quarter of the match against Bilbao. Courtesy of this draw they now find adrift of the champions by a huge nine points. Barcelona went into the match with their task really cut down - they need to win this and hope Villareal at least hold the champions. Neither did happen. Barcelona started with the Deco, Xavi and Iniesta in the midfield. Did they paid the price of not having a tall Defensive Midfielder? I don't know even though they may be weak in defense because of that, these three should have provided more attacking stint. Deco was as usual very rusty. But the real surprise was Iniesta who had an average night and that showed in Barcelona's attacking chart. The game started really boring; it took quarter an hour for Barcelona to create a meaning full attack. Messi was the first to test the Bilbao Goalie in the 17th minute. Messi received a throw in and turned inside of his marker and s...
More About: Champions , The Champions , Champ

Iniesta Gets the Contract
2008-01-26 11:07:00
Andres Iniesta extended his contract with barcelona till 2014. the contract was due to expire in 2010. He still had two years in his existing contract but the Club might be forced to offer him a much better deal after all the transfer rumours. Last transfer window there was too much speculation surrounding him with Madrid's wish to sign him. But there was no concern shown about the speculation by barcelona. Maybe they know the kid too well. Anyway its not known how much he is going to take home weekly, but his Buy-out clause is being increased to 150 million euros. So that's a statement made by barcelona about how much they rate him. There were complains that he was one of the worst paid stars among the barcelona players (Iniesta never made any complaints), hope now he get paid as good as others also.Iniesta is a fabulous product which barcelona youth academy should be proud of. And the extended contract should be a Medal of Honour for the hardwork put by the Academy to churn out ...
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A Good Victory : Villareal-0,Barcelona-0
2008-01-25 08:50:00
Just completed watching the highlights of the game and have to admit that the match looked like having more memorable moments than I expected. But whatever a goal less draw at El Madrigal will be as good as a victory only if Barcelona can finish their good work in the return leg. I believe they can do it.The first Barcelona attack came in the fifth minute, when Iniesta received a cross from Deco. Iniesta dribbled into the the box well and crowded by a bunch of defenders, in the mayhem the ball reached Henry who could only place the ball just wide of the post. Villareal responded in the 16th minute with Nihat shooting wide of the Goal. In the 20th minute Victor Valdez, who was Barcelona's best player on fieldtheir produced a spectacular save from a tremendous long range effort from Rossi. The majority of the first half remained with Villareal, with Barcelona attempting to break the Villareal defence with some cut through pass. In the 18th minue oone of such pass found Giovanni, who...
More About: Victory , Good

Gearing Up for A Tough Task
2008-01-24 05:55:00
El Madrigal stadium does not bring happy memories to many teams, especially Barcelona who failed to win there the last two times. The funniest fact is that Frank Rijkaard has never won there, the only time Barcelona has won there after he became the coach - Hen Cate was in charge. Villarreal is the most improved side in La Liga this season. Last season they were not at their best, but the last week 3-0 thrashing of Valencia should put them in the right set of mind (May be there is a curse associated with Valencia - Any team thrashes them will lose the subsequent game(remember El-Classico), I hope ;-) ). As Rijkaard said in the pre match press conference "They are a team that can wait for to play in their half before launching counter-attacks or can come out and attack you from the first minute". They will be very tough opponent to deal with especially at home. As Lionel Messi said "We have to keep the return leg in mind when we play?. This Leg also has to be planned well like t...
More About: Tough , Task

European Clubs Association - Killing National Football
2008-01-23 10:13:00
UEFA on 21st January 2008 announced the creation of the European Club Association (ECA), a move it said would be the start of a new era of the game. "The creation of the ECA paves the way for harmony to return to football between the governing bodies and the clubs," said UEFA, the governing body of European football. What is the sole aim of creating the European Club Association - Increase the buying power of Clubs when dealing with FIFA. And in the initial rounds the dominating clubs have won the round against FIFA. UEFA looks like very cleverly sided with ECA to isolate FIFA in the whole process. ECA has made some agreements with FIFA and UEFA about international matches. The first is the agreement with UEFA which involves the distribution of an amount from UEFA European Championship to these clubs. The amount will be approximately 4000 euros per day per player basis. Actually there was a big fight between clubs and FIFA in dealing with players getting injured in internationa...
More About: National , Football

A Boring Win ; Barca-1, Racing-0
2008-01-21 07:30:00
Barcelona went in to this match trailing the league leaders by a massive ten points. They were looking forward to cut down the lead back to seven points and suceeded in just doing that. The manner in which Barcelona may raise some criticsm neverthless it was a massive three points, as it helps them to stay in hunt for the League title. For the first time Barcelona started with the two new kids - Bojan and Giovanni upfront, Iniesta was given the role of defensive Midfielder (may be inorder to give Marquez some rest ahead of Villareal match). But Iniesta staying in a defensive position cuts down Barcelona's attacking instinct a lot. Deco started the lineup ahead of Xavi and should be awarded by the Worst player on the pitch title.Both the teams started the game very quietly, Racing looked like more settled in the early exchange, Barcelona was ver nervous with their passing. Racing came to camp Nou with the idea of keeping barcelona quiet for the first hour and hurt them when they are...
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Remembering Those Moments - Ronnie's Goal Against Villareal
2008-01-18 05:43:00
With the whole world against him, Ronaldinho will find it difficult to rediscover the form which made him the "World Player of The Year". Every one who loves Barcelona (that includes me also) has called for his head, but there is no doubt that everyone of us still hopes and prays that he finds his touch as soon as possible. But it looks like he needs a change now to re assess his priorities and game. Whatever be the reason or whatever be the outcome, nobody including the Great Cryuff cannot question his contribution to this Barcelona team. So let's forget all the nuances surroundinghim and just enjoy this goal again
More About: Villareal , Goal , Moments , Remembering

Moving Ahead With Hope
2008-01-18 05:37:00
With Real Madrid up against the challenge posed in the Madrid derby by Athletico, Barcelona will be surely hoping to cut down the defending champions lead. Barcelona fans will be positively looking towards Athletico Madrid to do them a favour. With Madrid's form of last weeks and considering that Casillas may not be able to keep everything out of Goal, there is a sure chance. But this Madrid side has raised their game every time they came across a tough opposition. But first of all Barcelona should and will (hopefully) concentrate fully at the job in hand. Playing Racing at home should be easy, especially with the good results running up to the match. Racing currently is at 6th position eying for a UEFA cup spot this season. If Barcelona?s away form has been worse then Racing's has been appalling (but better than Sevilla). Are they capable of a surprise at Nou Camp? I don't think so. Again Barcelona can become own enemy. Henry needs to start at the left; he looks more comf...
More About: Moving , Hope , Ahead

Everything Happens for Good
2008-01-18 04:38:00
From the most beautiful offence in Europe, Barcelona in the recent past has slowly transformed into a highly effective defense. How much of this was contributed by the lack of form and understanding of their recent players is the only matter of question. Certain injuries also have added to the recent state of affairs - mostly of the talented Lionel Messi.It came as a surprise to a lot of people across the world that Barcelona with their ultra talented line up won nothing the last season. They played bad at crucial games and juncture and looked like a completely spent force. So naturally everyone expected things to turn around this season. From the administration front all efforts were taken to plug any weakness in the side. Yaya, Abidal were brought inorder to plug the defensive holes. Henry was brought so that the Champions League title come visiting back again.Heaven O' heaven, you can plan as much as you want, but somebody else will be controlling things around. The season start...
More About: Good

A Job Well Done ; Barcelona-0, Sevilla-0
2008-01-16 06:45:00
In a match where Barcelona were prepared to defend and attack on counter, a goal less draw looks as good as a win, particularly when you proceed for the next round of Copa Del Rey. The defending champions could not break down the Barcelona defense and had to exit the Copa del rey race much earlier than they expected. All across Barcelona forums and blogs there is a sense of disappointment in the way Barcelona went with the Job. But Let me congratulate the team and their coach for a job well done. They planned this two legged tie well and executed it to perfection.Sevilla started the game brightly with a wonderful attack on Barcelona Goal mouth which should have (on any other day) resulted in a goal. Daniel Alves one of the best Left Wingers in the game, provided a inch perfect cross to which Chevanton could not make a decent contact. A goal there should have changed the game towards Sevilla. The first half had few chances and the only one clear cut chance was the early mentioned on...

Sweet HeadAches
2008-01-14 05:33:00
With the 4-0 away victory against Murcia, the spirits should be high in the Barcelona Camp ahead of the second leg match against Sevilla. In the form of the away Goal, Barcelona has a definite advantage in this tie. But as we have seen in the past barca also has a disastrous tendency of folding down at the crucial juncture. How much inspiration can be taken from the Murcia match will be another question, especially considering that we managed to lose to Madrid after an excellent away win against Valencia. With that sense i will prefer the team start the preparation a little cautious. In the match against Madrid we could not carry the excellent form of the previous match because there were too many changes in the side. In this match also there will be some changes, especially centre forward position. I will come to that a little later. I expect Thuram to be replaced by Milito, apart from that and the Centre Forward position, there should not be anymore changes. Gudjonsen and Xavi ...
More About: Sweet

Barca Getting Back to Best - Barcelona-4,Murcia-0
2008-01-13 06:18:00
Real Murcia has surprised many by being in first half of the table. But their dreams of surprising barcelona was blown away by a resurgent Barcelona side,which looked like their old self in the second half. But still Murcia players walked away with their head head high. Especially in the first half they did make a match to the renowned Barcelona lineup.As expected there was not much surprise in the Barcelona Lineup.Marquez moved forward to take up the defensive midfielder role. Puyol and Thuram started in the Back along with Zambrotta and sylvinho as full backs. Marquez was parterned in the midfield by Xavi and Gudjonsen. Bojan joined Eto and Henry to form the attacking trio. Both the teams started the match pretty brightly. Barcelona started the attack pretty decently with Eto shooting twice in the spate of two minutes. The second attempt (even though the angle was tight) was kept away by an alert Murcia keeper Notario, who had a wonderful game. Murcia was not the one to be backed ...

Giovanni to ManU? Are You Kidding?
2008-01-11 07:24:00
Even if Barcelona is not involved that much in the mid season Transfer market, many of the barcelona players are getting involved. Marc Crosas has just signed a loan deal with Olympique Lyon for the rest of the season. Its rumoured that there is a clause for making this arrangement permanent and that disturbs me. Marc Crosas looked like a solid midfield player and did impress a little. How much playing time he will get in Lyon is also doubtful, I expect them to extend the Loan next year. But it will be disastrous if he signs permanently for Lyon or other club, it sets up a wrong precedence and a wrong notion that the talented players coming out of Barcelona Youth Academy needs to look somewhere for a permanent position.The most wierd rumours coming out the transfer market is involving Giovani Dos Santos, he is being linked left, right, centre. the latest clubs which are linked to his transfer is Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Totenham. I don't think he will be leaving Barc...
More About: Kidding , Manu

The Great Barca Defensive Midfielder Challenge
2008-01-11 06:49:00
God only know if there is any curse involved with Barcelona's defensive Midfield position. Last season everyone with a little bit of footballing sense was complaining about the lack of a quality defensive midfielder. So Barcelona went and acquired Yaya Toure and it looked like he was doing well in that position. Now the inevitable comes, Yaya has to leave for African Nations cup and its understandable as Nation comes before club. We were never that worried as we had edmillson coming back into the side. To go by his performance in last match he looked very good. But when it comes to Barcelona's DM position, it looks like nothing can be taken for granted. Now its confirmed that Edmillson has indeed torn adductor muscle in his left thigh. How long he will be out is the only fact to be decided and the club doctors are taking their time on it. There is only one somewhat genuine option left for Rijkaard for that position - Rafael Marquez. We will see Iniesta donning that role in so...
More About: Great , Challenge , Halle

A Good Result - Sevilla -1, Barcelona - 1
2008-01-10 07:32:00
How valuable will be the hard earned draw against Sevilla can be said only after Jan 15th, when the two teams meet against for the second leg. But there is no denial of the fact that as of now Barcelona has gained a definite edge over Sevilla to proceed for the next round. In the preview of the match I have written - how slowly Thierry Henry is gelling into the side. I was proven right by the great striker who had a very good night. He is showing slowly but steadily, why he is regarded as a great striker. Rijkaard against my wish again fielded Puyol as a Right Back. The only reason i can see for this stupid decision time and again - may be he needs a somewhat taller Centre Back. Giovanni found his place in starting line up along with Thierry Henry. Unfortunately Gudjonsen missed out, I always believed Iniesta is Rijkaard's favorite weapon - He can be put anywhere in the field. Iniesta joined the midfield with Edmilson. The game started with Luis Fabiano forcing a save from Vict...
More About: Good , Result

Iker Casillas - The Unsung Hero
2008-01-09 09:22:00
Many consider him as the sole survivor of the dreaded Galacticos era. But the way he plays, he resembles more of Hierro rather than Zidane's and Figo's - Gritty, Hardworking, Sensible and Extremely Talented. It should come as no surprise that he shares birthday with another gifted Goalkeepr - Peter Cech. Madrid's victory against Zaragoza laid rest (temporarily) my hopes of Barcelona cutting down the Madrid lead to five points or better three points. I downloaded the goals from the match and didn't care much about the rest of the match. Accidently I got a chance to see the highlights of the match yesterday.Boy O Boy, if it was not for this gifted player Barcelona would have cut down the lead to three points. The final 2-0 result does no justice for the way Zaragoza played. The irony was Zaragoza played with Madrdid's attacking style in Madrid. If it was not for the talented Iker the score line would have been some thing like 2-4 or maybe worse 2-8. Iker Casillas was stringing up...
More About: Real Madrid , Hero

Sevilla Up Next
2008-01-08 08:53:00
Rikaard will be looking for a good result in the first leg Spanish Cup match against Sevilla . Barcelona will be hoping that the result will be a repeat of their League match. Sevilla has been the team of La Liga for the last two seasons, but surprisingly were finding it difficult to maintain their high standards this season. But recently they were able to string up a series of good result and this along with the fact that its a home match for them, barcelona is not the best travellers should give them ample hope to win the match.Barcelona itself is having some sort of problem, the last time they face a tough opposition (Madrid) they failed miserably. This is a cup they failed to win for some time now, that also will not adda any confidence to the bunch. But the most significant factor might be their hero of earlier victory against Sevilla, Lionel Messi is missing. But still they can produce excellent football. If last match is some indication, I believe Henry is slowly gelling with...

Mallorca-0, Barcelona -2 , A Small Step Forward
2008-01-06 11:40:00
With the not so comfortable victory against Mallorca , Barcelona seems to have put their derailing quest for the championship back on track.In a match were goal scoring oppurtunities came at a premium Barcelona emerged victorious with Marquez and Eto getting in to the scoresheet. There were lots of talks inside and outside the Barcelona camp about playing with style and playing with substance. It looks like players have chosen to play with more substance rather than style.For the first hour of the match defence were completely on top. Both the defence looked extremely organized and were too good in cutting down any opposition chance. The first googd chance of the match went to Mallorca with Daniel Guiza showing some good skills, rounding off Milito only to see his shot go wide. He should have done better, atleast tested the Valdes. Some minutes later Iniesta returned Mallorca the favour by shooting wide after dribbling in to the box. A goal there would have changed the complexion of ...
More About: Small , Step , Forward

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