Roman Abramovich has not taken too good Chelsea’s defeat in the Carling Cup and has decided to make another huge investment for next season. He had chosen Frank Rijkaard to replace Avram Grant, considering that the Dutchman was questioned in Barcelona after an erratic performance in La Liga. However, some weeks later, things are seen in a completely different way in Camp Barça, with the team in Semi finals of the Copa del Rey, very close to the quarterfinals of the Champions League and, specially, only two points behind Real Madrid in La Liga. That phenomenal comeback in the Spanish League, reducing 6 points the gap in just four games, has brought the optimism to the club, that now sees in Rijkaard the perfect coach to manage the team next season.

The news in the British media stated that if finally Rijkaard stays in Barcelona, Avram Grant might keep coaching the Stamford Bridge team in the 2008/2009. 

It is not a secret that the Russian Chelsea owner always liked Ronaldinho, and apparently is ready to take advantage of the Brazilian’s poor season to sign him at a good price. However, Dinho’s performance in the last games has improved significantly, and now the Catalan Club is expectant to see what is his evolution in the last part of the season before making the decision of accepting offers for him.

FC Barcelona | No Comments »

A late strike from Xavi Hernandez gave Barça a deserved equalizer in last night’s Copa del Rey semis first leg game with Valencia. David Villa had given Valencia the lead (70′), but Barça’s efforts were at the end rewarded with a result that leaves the second leg in Mestalla open.

Rijkaard changed the team, so Iniesta started the game on the bench, the Spaniard was replaced by Deco. Abidal and Henry returned in place of Sylvinho and Ronaldinho.

Barça wanted to reinforce the image that had offered in the last four games, after the disappointing draw in Bilbao, and by the 7′ they have enjoyed a triple chance to beat Hildebrand. Valencia also had their chances a couple of minutes later when it appeared as if Joaquin had given Valencia the lead, but the goal was disallowed for handball. It seemed that the teams gave themselves a break after the the lively until Henry had two clear chances just before the half hour.

Before the first half came to an end Toure, Messi, Etoo and Abidal had their chances, for none from Valencia.

Messi started very active the second half, but his and Eto’o’s changes were neutralised by the keeper and the defense. Rijkaard then moved the bench, bringing in Bojan and Iniesta in place of Deco and Henry, but two minutes later (69’) Silva took the lead after a pass from Arizmendi, in the only chance that Valencia had in the second half.

After the goal Barça tried to react forcing three corners in a few minutes. In the last ten minutes that the chances became continuous. First Messi had a shot stopped after a meritorious run (81’), and Iniesta’s shot from the rebound was blocked between a defender and the goalkeeper. Then Milito and Zambrotta had good opportunities. Then Hildebrand tipped away Toure’s shot for another corner, and within the four minutes of added time Eto’o’s effort was intercepted after a neat flick from Xavi.

Barça got the equalizer after Toure passed Eto’o who touched the ball with his hand before shooting, Hildebrand made another save but Xavi shot the rebound to the net. It was the least Barça deserved after another good performance. Barça will now need a win or a high scoring draw in the second leg to get through to the final on April 16.

Goals: m70 Villa 0-1; m94 Xavi 1-1.

Copa del Rey, FC Barcelona | No Comments »

It’s time to make the maths in Camp Barça. After the meteoric come back of the team, that turned the nice points gap with Real Madrid into a much more manageable two points difference, no one in the club ignores the fact that Schuster’s teams lower their performance in the second halves of the season. The German does not like to be reminded this fact, but the truth speaks for itself. Only in his first season coaching Getafe, the team got more points in the second half of the League (25 v 29). But in his other five seasons in the Spanish League, the figures are not that positive. Getafe (29 v 23), Xerez (39 v 30 and 28 v 27) and Levante (21 v 14) got worse numbers in the second half of the season. It seems that the same curse is affecting Real Madrid, a club were the targets are considerably more challenging than in the German’s previous teams. It is undebatable that the White Team are still on the lead, but FC Barcelona are ahead on the physiological factor, which is key at this stage of the tournament.

FC Barcelona, Real Madrid | No Comments »

Things seem to be going good in Camp Barça. The team have recovered their best version and that has helped several players to improve their performances. As a proof, Eto’o signed his first hat-trick in La Liga for the first time since he has been playing in the Spanish League. The two previous times he scored three goals in one game were in UEFA Cup (against Hapoel Nicosia in the season 2003/2004), playing for Mallorca, and Champions League (against Panathinaikos in the season 2005/2006), already playing for Barça.

Samuel has scored 8 goals in the current edition of the Spanish League, which could seem mediocre numbers for a world class striker. However, the figures are outsanding as Eto’o has only played six League games, due to being injured for over two months and his performance in the Africa Cup of Nations, where Cameroon were defeated in the final.

FC Barcelona, Liga | No Comments »

FC Barcelona are now just two points behind Real Madrid as the White Team suffered another setback last Sunday, this time at home against Getafe, while the Catalan team had taken advantage of Levante (5-1) a couple of hours before.

FC Barcelona resurrection

Barsa did not seem to notice the effort of having played during the week and looked fresh from the 3-2 win against Celtic, and got an easy 5-1 win against the bottom La Liga qualified Levante UD at the Camp Nou. Eto´o scored a fantastic hat-trick, following the initial goals from Xavi and Messi.

This win, united to the first Real Madrid loss at Santiago Bernabeu sin February 2008, closed the gap between the two teams to two single points. Real Madrid have still the lead but FC Barcelona have the psychological factor in their favour, after closing the gap 5 points in four games.

Easy win against Levante

FC Barcelona had no mercy of Levante UD, showing that the team are back in good form. Leonel Xavi scored the first goal just after 14′. Riga scored a penalty (41′) after an unnecessary handball by Zambrotta, the weakest player of the team during the first half of the game, but just three minutes later Messi put things clear with a good strike after an even better series of passes with Xavi.

The game finished there and then, as Levante completely dissapear from the pitch. However, Eto’o wanted to make clear that he is back and did it scoring a hat-trick (56′, 62′ and 87′). The best version of FC Barcelona was back.

FC Barcelona, Liga | No Comments »

FC Barcelona are closer to the quarter finals of the Champions League, after a brilliant victory at Glasgow. The fantastic four honoured their name and completed an outsanding performance. After almost 6 months, Messi, Henry, Ronaldinho and Eto’o were eligable for a game. It was in the first game of the League, against Racing Santander, on August 26th. But it was worth waiting and it’s inevitable to think where the team would be in the League if they could have played together more often.

Even Ronaldinho, who has been absent over half of the season, for different cirumstances, performed at higher standards, even though he is still far from the level he offered in the past years. But it was Messi, participating in every action, and Henry, with an outsanding goal, who drove the team to a very well deserved victory. The frenchman’s world class goal has been one of the best of the current edition of the Champions League.

Despite the happy ending, the team had to make two comebacks as Celtic showed an amazing effectiveness, scoring two goals in the very few opportunities that the Scottish team had during the game. In their first chance, Vennegoor of Hesselink took advantage of a good cross from Mc Geady (16′). However, two minutes later Messi equalised the score after a good action with Deco. Still in the first half, Robson took advantage of the second approach to Valdes Goal after another cross from McDonald.

The reaction from the catalan team was magnificent, and the second half became a monologue of FC Barcelona. The second 45 minutes offered a more effective Barsa. After seven minutes within the second half, Ronaldinho gave a perfect pass to Henry who, from the corner of the area, beat Boruc with a incredible kick. The last goal, from Messi (79′) made justice to what was seen during the game, and took FC Barcelona much closer to the next round of the Champions League.

Champions League, FC Barcelona | No Comments »

Samuel Eto’o defended coach Frank Rijkaard, who has been questioned after irregular play this season. “With him we’ve won everything and we’ll return to winning just about everything again,” Eto’o said Monday. “It’s a lack of respect that there is talk of replacing him halfway through the season.”Rijkaard guided Barcelona to league titles in 2005 and ‘06 — when the club also won the Champions League. But the Catalan club failed to win a trophy last season, surrendering the league title to Real Madrid after losing to Liverpool in the first knockout stage of the Champions League. The team are now five points behind Real Madrid in the league standings.

Former Barcelona great Johan Cruyff, who is said to advise Joan Laporta -FC Barcelona president, speculated that Marco van Basten would be a good choice to replace Rijkaard. “Van Basten also loves football and the same qualities as well as winning in a certain way,” Cruyff said. “As a player he played for some great teams and would not be overawed at all.”

But Cruyff said he was not calling for Rijkaard’s resignation. “Rijkaard has had a fantastic time and some fantastic results and has helped Barcelona become a club that everyone around the world likes again,” Cruyff remarked. “He has converted the club into an institution of good football. The fact that Barcelona did not have that a few years ago shows how hard he has worked.”

The reality is that FC Barcelona is alive in the three titles this season. They play Celtic in the first knockout stage of the Champions League on Wednesday. They are also in the semifinals of the Spanish Cup.

FC Barcelona | No Comments »

FC reduced the gap with Real Madrid to five points, when there are still 14 games to be played -or 42 points. After a very irregular season, the team seem to realise that Real Madrid are not unbeatable, after they lost against two, theoretically, minor teams (Almeria, the revelation of the League, and Betis). Next weekend could be favorable to the Catalan team, as they play Levante (last classified) just before Real Madrid play Getafe in Bernabeu Stadium. FC Barcelona have closed four points in the last three games, which has increased the optimism of the squad. However, they need to understand that there is not any scope for further mistakes. The impact of the defeat against Real Madrid in Nou Camp that increased the gap to seven points was, as expected, difficult to overtake. However, seven League games afterwards, the reality is that the gap has closed up two points.

The target is to reach the game in Bernabeu Stadium (two before the last league game) with chances to overtake Real Madrid. There are 11 games to be played before that much expected “el clasico” in which the team have to face every game as a final, in order to reduce further the 5 points gap.

FC Barcelona, Liga | No Comments »

With 15 Liga fixtures to play and being still alive in Champions League and Spanish Cup, it’s surprising to read all the rumours that circulate in the Spanish media around the arrival of new players and, specially, a new manager to replace Frank Rijkaard. We can read today in Diario Marca that the club met Mourinho in Ghana during the Africa Cup of Nations. It’s even more suprising that a Catalan media like Diario Sport publishes today a list of potential replacement for the Dutch manager. Based on Sport, the Top 3 candidates to replace Rijkaard would be Van Basten, Wegner and Mourinho.

It seems obvious that this kind of news can easily disturb the atmosphere in the Catalan squad, after an irregular performance in La Liga where the team is 8 points behind Real Madrid, so it surprises us to see how the Catalan media start and emphasize this kind of rumours day after day.

FC Barcelona | No Comments »

After the draw in Sevilla and the 7-0 Real Madrid victory, the spirits in Camp Barsa aren’t as good as last week, where they saw the gap with the White Team reduced to 6 points. Even though the team are still alive in the three competitions (Liga, Champions League and Spanish Cup), the vibe within the club isn’t as good as it could be, so they have started to focus in planning the next season. And the first player to be signed will be Ezequiel Garay, probably this week. FC Barcelona have agreed with Racing de Santander the transfer of the Argentinian defender for €14,2 million, after some weeks of negotiation between the two clubs.  FC Barcelona have also negotiated with Garay’s agent a 5 years contract.

This way FC Barcelona would be signing a player that was a target of some main European clubs, including Real Madrid, that negotiated with the player last summer.

Another story is the interest of the club to sign Cesc Fabregas. 76% of Barsa fans voted yesterday in the Catalan Newspaper Sport that the return of Cesc should be the highest priority for the club next season. The fans still don’t understand why the club let him go when it was one of the most young talents of the continent.

FC Barcelona | No Comments »