A report in Mundo Deportivo suggests that Eric Abidal has played his last match in the Barcelona colors. Miguel Rico, writing on Saturday, has revealed that the club have offered the French defender an administrative position in the support squad, but that top management, including Tito Vilanova and Andoni Zubizarreta, have decided against gambling with Abidal as a player in the first team next season. This decision is alleged to have been communicated to the player in a secret meeting last week with club president Sandro Rosell. Rico goes on to imply that even if Abidal were to look for another squad as a player, the door in Barcelona would always be open to him in recognition of his exemplary service to the club. Continue reading »

FC Barcelona B faced Alcorcón this weekend in a match that went down to the wire. While Barça B looked to solidify their eighth position in the league table, the visitors, tied in third place with Villarreal and Almería (65 points), were keen to secure a position in the play-offs for promotion to the Primera División.

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FC Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova confirmed in the press conference on Saturday that he will be returning to New York next week to be part of a study on oncological immunotherapy. This pioneering treatment is developed by a specialized unit and is based on personalization.

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FC Barcelona’s first team trained this Saturday in what was the penultimate session before Valladolid’s visit to the Camp Nou on Sunday (21:00). There was positive news coming from the session as Mascherano and Valdés have both been cleared to play by Barça’s medical team. Mascherano has recovered from a torn ligament in his right knee picked up on April 2nd in the match against Paris Saint-Germain in France. Valdés has been struggling with plantar fasciitis in his left foot for the past few weeks. Both players trained today with the group.

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Final track record of crybaby Mourinho [three sad titles and some ‘trophies’]

Casillas … Tito’s eye … Stolen Copa … Weeping league … Super Luck … Broken nobility … Valdano

Cartoon by Caye

 THE TENTH…IS FOR ATLÉTI

Real Madrid 1-2 Atlético Madrid 

Atlético left Real trophy-less after a typically hard fought final, and broke the 14 year old jinx

Dismal show from Mourinho, sent off; Ronaldo, sore loser, got a straight red for a premeditated attack on Gabi

War for Neymar

Barcelona counts on the wish of Neymar, which is to play with Messi

Money is the argument of Florentino, and Santos value the Real offer as twice as much

 NEITHER COPA, NOR LIGA, NOR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The final failure of Mourinho

He was sent off for protesting

The Portuguese coach saw a red card and his team finished short, with a sending off for Cristiano and a scuffle

1-2 – Atlético broke its jinx in extra time, and left Real without a trophy

Neymar only wants to play for Barça

Sport has featured reports in recent days placing FC Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdés in Monaco for the upcoming 2013-14 season. The Catalan is said to have made up his mind about a new adventure in his career and it only remains for the two clubs to work out the details of the transfer.

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 BARÇA-NEYMAR-SANTOS

Frantic Negotiation

Sanllehí met the player’s father yesterday in his office

The signing enters into a critical stage and the only OK left to get is from Santos

NEYMAR CLOSE

The Santos board sees in plain sight the offer from Barça and the negotiation takes a step forward

Reina / Ter Stegen – The Two

Barça plans on signing both keepers in June to replace Valdés

Yesterday, May 16, FC Barcelona were honored by FIFA with the “Medical Center of Excellence” status. This recognition is given to institutions that portray a mission “of which is to use medical knowledge and experience to improve the care and medical treatment of footballers of all categories“. This is in actuality quite a prestigious award for the club. Before yesterday’s official announcement, only 33 other such centers of excellence existed globally, and the majority were university medical centers or private medical practices. FC Barcelona are in fact the first ever football club to be donned with such an illustrious title and are also now the only medical center in Spain with this accreditation. More after the jump.

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“My son is 14 years old and he still hasn’t seen them win a derby … I don’t want to pressure, but … Don’t you think it’s about time?”

“Jinxed Atleti.”

Cartoon by Caye
 

Sky Sports football pundit Gary Neville interviewed former teammate David Beckham this week on the details of his recent decision to retire from the sport. Beckham singled out Barcelona star Lionel Messi as the culprit:

Neville: “When did that moment come, when did it hit you [that it was time to retire]?”

Beckham: “I probably knew when Messi was running past me in the home game, but I’m privileged to have won the trophies I have won.”

Words: SkySports • Image: Kevork Djansezian [Getty]

This evening FC Barcelona has celebrated the league title with a dinner at Arola, a restaurant at the Hotel Arts Barcelona. All members of the first team squad and the technical staff were invited, as were their partners.

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At today’s lunchtime press conference at the Ciutat Esportiva, Pedro Rodríguez expressed his pleasure at winning the league title, as it is a mark of consistency across the entire year and the effort that the team exerted, although he would have liked to have given more.

About the possibility of reaching the 100 points record through the last three remaining games, he echoed the sentiments of his teammate Jordi Alba by saying, “the 100 point record is a motivation for us and an objective we have in mind. We know it will be difficult because the other teams we are playing are still playing for things – but we intend to try.”

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It’s time for another Crackòvia episode! Today we have a video about Alexis Sánchez (Jordi Rios) who taught his teammates to interpret the “murmur” of the Camp Nou, as he has become an expert on it this year. Click “continue reading” to enjoy the video. Continue reading »

FC Barcelona’s preparations continue for Sunday’s league match against Valladolid at the Camp Nou. The team held a training session this Thursday morning at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper in which goalkeeper Víctor Valdés began to work on the pitch with his fellow keepers. Valdés continues to recover from plantar fasciitis and a calf strain in his left leg that have prevented him from taking any part in the last two league matches.

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[Lineup for 2013 Copa: Modric, Xabi Alonso, Essien, Diego López]

Mou: “I’m thinking about playing the final with the players that are still loyal to our sect.”

Karanka: “There aren’t many, but against ‘the Jinxed Ones,’ they should win.”

Cartoon by Caye
 

 NEYMAR, DONE DEAL

Total offensive from Barça, already in Brazil to finalise the transfer of the superstar

It is a difficult negotiation, but the club hopes to close the deal this week

Thiago Silva wants to come

The central defender from PSG likes Barcelona’s attacking football and wants titles