Catalan paper Sport today reported about Andres Iniesta’s return to Barcelona’s starting line-up 126 days after his last first XI appearance, which was at the Champions League final against Manchester United in Rome. Since then, until last night, he was only given a few minutes as a substitute in the last few league matches.
According to Catalan paper Sport, FC Barcelona will submit an appeal to the Appeals Committee of the RFEF (Royal Spanish Football Federation) in attempt to reduce Tito Vilanova’s two match ban. FC Barcelona’s assistant coach was expelled by match referee Delgado Ferreiro in the 75th minute in the match against Malaga.
The VIP box, which brought together many of the top echelons of the club together for the European match-day match last night, looked normal for those tracking the behavior of the elite.
There was little cause of speculation, as nothing out of the ordinary happened, even though Laporta was a few minutes late coming to his seat, which in itself was nothing unusual. The VIP’s greeted each other, and followed the protocol which is fitting for such an occasion. In his appearance to the media, the club president emphasized the value of the Dynamo Kiev match.
He states how the win, and the sequential topping of Group F, was very important because of the quality in this group, which was shown by Inter Milans draw against european minions Rubin Kazan. Laporta says he was elated by the team’s performance both in Europe and in the league, adding, that it is too early to say that the league will be a two-horse race between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Barcelona defender and Spanish international Carles Puyol (31) shared his thoughts with Catalan news paper El Mundo Deportivo. The team captain’s performance has been highlighted by Pep Guardiola and cheered by the fans. He feels very good and optimistic to meet the ambitious challenges that await Barcelona team that won record fine cups.
Barca seek new challenges after winning a historic treble, and has already won two titles this season. “The team is working very well. We had a perfect season, but we want more,” Puyol said after a victorious Champions League game against Dynamo Kiev.
Benfica attacking midfielder and Argentinian international Pablo Aimar (29) shared his thoughts with Portuguese sports paper Record, about his countryman and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi. Aimar did not spare any praises for the young Barcelona star: “I blushed (when Messi stated his admiration for Aimar). I do not have enough words of gratitude for what he said about me, because, ultimately, he is the best in the world.”
Diego Maradona has recently included Aimar in his squad for the two upcoming international matches, after two years of absence from La albiceleste. This has brought great joy to Aimar: “Being in the selection is a huge challenge, mainly because it is a very important moment” he explained. Argentina has two crucial World Cup qualifying matches in October, against Peru and Uruguay.
Catalan newspaper Sport, brought an article about the Chairman of the Technical Committee for Referees, Vitoriano Sanchez Arminio. Arminio was interviewed by Onda Cero, a Catalan radiostation, where he hinted that Delgado Ferreiro, the referee officiating the Malaga – Barcelona match could be suspended, for the mistakes he made in that match.
The Committee Chairman said that Delgado Ferreiro did not make “one mistake, but a series of mistakes” in Saturday’s match, where he among other things, missed Weligton’s attacks on Messi and Pique. He also managed to confuse Messi with Chygrynskiy, and Abidal for Toure when submitting his match report.
Johan Cruyff writes a weekly column in Spanish newspaper, El Periodico. In this edition, Cruyff analyses the title-race. Barcelona and Real Madrid have won their five matches and notched up a maximum of 15 points so far, left the other teams behind in the dust.
Reuters today reported a study released by Professor Gay of the University of Barcelona that criticized the amount spent by all 20 clubs playing in the Spanish Primera Liga. His research covers the period between 1999 and 2008. Last year alone (2008), he calculated debts racked up by all the clubs increased by €650 million for a total of €3.5 billion.
“We are faced with a situation where the economic life blood of the clubs is seeping away,” the professor said.
FC Barcelona Economic president, John Boix confirmed to Catalan newspaper El Mundo Deportivo that intelligence was gathered by the club about the four vice-presidents (John Boix, Joan Franquesa, Rafael Yuste and Jaume Ferrer) and admits that he was angry and had a bitter conversation with the instigator of the safety audit, General Director, Joan Oliver.
Boix told COM Radio that though the conversation was heated, the Director General gave his explanation and at least for him, the case is closed.
Barcelona legend Johann Cruyff has reportedly been offered the job of coaching the Catalan national team by the Catalan Football Federation. While Cruyff is taking his time to mull over the matter, Catalonia is left in a state of anticipation. Another Catalan sporting icon, Pep Guardiola, was recently asked about his opinion upon Cruyff, Pep’s coach in his playing days and his mentor to this day, taking on the mantle of the Catalan coach.
Catalan newspaper El Mundo Deportivo reports Guardiola’s ironic response, “He is not a bad coach”, before going on to elaborate, “If it (his acceptance) is confirmed, I will be happy. It will be very good news.”
In a statement to Catalunya’s Onda Cero (Zero Wave), Gaspart is said to have advised Joan Laporta to let anyone run as a candidate for the presidency of FC Barcelona. Furthermore, Gaspart states that the socios of FC Barcelona should not be forced to vote for a “continuity” candidate.
Finally, Joan Gaspart expressed his skepticism about Laporta’s recent political role by saying, “(as the president of FC Barcelona) it is one thing to express an opinion, but it is a totally different thing to make a declaration”.
Catalan sports paper Sport carries a story about the presentation made by Jose Maria Gay, Professor of Financial Economics and Accounting from the University of Barcelona, titled “Football finance, Barca versus Madrid”. The study compares the economic models of both clubs, in relation to other European clubs.
Speaking at the College of Commercial and Business Graduates in Barcelona, he presented his findings for the public. He stated, that the current economic models of European clubs is untenable, because it is based on the dependence of extra-ordinary income (TV rights, marketing, transfers etc.) as opposed to regular income (football revenue).
He criticizes Real Madrid for their over-reliance on extra-ordinary income, saying “if this is galactic football, it does not work” because they spend more than they earn. While he praises Barcelona for having “a more positive model of development”, he also mentions that FC Barcelona needs to correct their spending as well.
Minutes after final whistle of the match last night, which ended in a home win for Barcelona (2 – 0) against Ukraine’s Dynamo Kiev, all four prominent Spanish-based sports papers came up with an article regarding the outcome based on their interpretation and perception.
Catalan-based paper Sport proclaimed Barcelona’s victory with an upbeat title “Barca Victorious and is already leader of the group”. The article says Barcelona clearly dominated, “despite a quiet start, they got the win against Dynamo Kiev without too much trouble, placing themselves leader of the group and address their passage to the next round”
El Mundo Deportivo, another Catalan paper also celebrates Barcelona’s victory by publishing a report titled “2 – 0 : Barca already leads the group after beating Dynamo Kiev with goals from Messi and Pedro”. The paper also hails Dynamo Kiev’s goalkeeper, Shovkovskiy as the player who prevented the match from becoming a rout.
Just a incredible night for the whole team. Puyol and Abidal were like defending rocks. Goals from Messi and Pedro. Pedro again proving his worth for the first team.
Barcelona has played 10 official games (5 in the Liga, 2 in the Champions League, 0 in the Copa del Rey, 2 in the Spanish Super Cup and 1 in the European Super Cup)
The Barca Atletic midfielder, Jonathan dos Santos (19), is expected to make his international debut for Mexico against Colombia in Dallas, USA, today, September 30, 2009. Jonathan’s elder brother Giovanni dos Santos (20), another product of the Barcelona Cantera, is already a regular feature in the Mexican team after having made his debut in 2007. Giovanni has since played 22 games for the national team and scored 5 goals.
Barcelona based newspaper Sport reports Mexican national team coach Javier Aguirre as saying, “He (Jonathan) deserves this opportunity.” Jonathan, in turn said, “Since childhood I’ve wanted to play for Mexico.”
The Competition Committee RFEF has suspended FC Barcelona’s assistant coach Tito Vilanova for two matches. Vilanova, Guardiola’s right hand man was sent off in Saturday’s match against Malaga after protesting during the game. The committee also took a look on Albert Luque who was sent off and Weligton (read more here). Luque got suspended for one match after a hard tackle on Daniel Alves.
Also in the press conference earlier, Weligton said that what he did was wrong, but he did not feel the need to apologize and that his conscience was clean. Furthermore he added, that the case was closed to him.
Catalan sports paper Sport has reported that the Italian Olympic Committee’s anti-doping court (CONI) has cleared Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola of doping charges.
Guardiola tested positive for the steroid nandrolone soon after he joined Brescia in October 2001. Italy’s football federation first suspended him for four months, but later in May he was cleared of all charges.
The CONI anti-doping prosecutor appealed against the decision to the committee’s anti-doping court, which was rejected on Tuesday.
LEADERS
Champions: Barcelona – Dynamo Kiev: 2 – 0
Barca had difficulties against their rival, and took command ahead of Inter
ALREADY LEADERS
BARCA’S IBRAHIMOVIC AND MESSI DOMINATE IN EUROPE
Barcelona – Dynamo Kiev: 2 – 0
Catalan-based El Mundo Deportivo today carried a story where they quoted Barcelona’s coach, Pep Guardiola being satisfied with the fact that his team tops their group after last night victory against Dynamo Kiev. Where as Inter Milan drew with Rubin Kazan.
He was also quoted as saying that the earlier they lead the group the better it is, as he admits that Group F is a very hard group. He sees possible complications during the second round with the return trips to Ukraine and Russia, hence last night win was very important.
The coach then complimented Dynamo Kiev by admitting his team experienced difficulties facing them and immediately remind those present that “this is the Champions league, and the rival is the champion of Ukraine”
Catalan sports paper, Sport, quoted Dynamo Kiev’s coach Valery Gazzaev admitting that his team did their best, against a Barcelona side but that their opponent was just on another level.
He says his team had their chances especially in the first half, but had to bow to their opponent’s superiority in the end. He proclaims that last night match was a great one, and goes on to lament his team’s lack of luck.
He added: “We started playing on the counterattack and there were times when we have our chances but that disappeared when we lost the ball”.
Marca today hails Jeffren debut in last night’s Champions League. By replacing Ibrahimovic towards the end of the second half, the paper says the substitution marks him as one of a classic product from the Barcelona youth policy. The Venezuelan-born player, who was born on the 20th January 1988, has been with the first team for some time, but was never used in continent’s highest tournament.
His league debut came this year in the match against Mallorca and was included in this summer’s pre-season, when he was one of the scorers for the team.
If still pictures is not your thing, you can watch Messi do his first half magic, followed by a goal from the Prince of Monaco!
A 15 minute video, from catalan TV station TV3, is available after the jump. The video contains highlights, along with match analysis in catalan.
Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta (25) will start in tonight’s match against Dynamo Kiev. Iniesta is yet to play from start for Barcelona this season since his injury in May last season. Still, Iniesta has been a substitute several times. Guardiola said earlier that he wanted Iniesta to to play carefully.
El Mundo Deportivo today carries an article that reviews tonight’s Barcelona vs. Dynamo Kiev encounter, in the Champions League.
This is the first home game for the Champions of Europe, after their debut game which ended in an admirable away draw against Inter Milan, another team amongst the favourites for the european crown. They will be hosting group leader Dynamo Kiev, who defeated Russia’s Rubin Kazan in their opening day match.
A win today can give Barcelona the opportunity to top the group ,yet a bad result, without being dramatic, would place pressure on them in the remaining last four matches, if they are to secure a place in the next round.
The Competition Committee RFEF have finished the case with Weligton, from Saturdays match between Malaga and Barcelona, according to Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo. Barcelona players claimed that Weligton commited several bad actions, which should have given him a suspension, but despite their claims the committee found him not guilty. Neither Weligton’s stamp on Messi without any ball near, nor the hit into the back of Pique’s head, was apparently enough to warrant any further penalty.
The Basque referee, Delgado Ferreiro, only awarded Welington with a yellow card, despite the clear situations where he should have faced red. This was the main topic for the Barcelona players on their way home, according to Sport. Despite these situations on Saturday, the players in Barcelona has taken the situation with humor. When a player on the training pitch stole the ball with a bit roughness the other would say:
“Do not push man, do not be like Weligton”
After the jump, you can find out what the fuss is all about in a video.
FC Barcelona – FC Dynamo Kiev
(Tuesday 29 September 2009 @ 20:45 Barcelona time – Convert to local time)
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Have you ever sat infront of your TV or computer while you were watching a FC Barcelona game and hoped you could share your excitement, feelings, and opinions with other fans LIVE as it happens?
NOTE: We were a little late with this post, and of such Guardiola has already named his squad. Should you guess the right lineup, you will still receive the extra point. Apologies for the delay!
It’s back… This is your chance to prove not only your knowledge about the game of football but also your psychological insight by cracking the code of Josep ‘Pep’ Guardiola’s master brain:
Predict Barcelona’s Starting Lineup
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