It was a rather good display by Barcelona last night even though, in the rain-soaked pitch, they only managed to score one goal. Pep Guardiola even admitted that it was one of the best matches he had seen from his players this new year.

Barcelona’s goal again came from the golden touch of the history-making ‘Six-competitions goal-scorer’ Pedro Rodriguez (min. 29) – his fifteenth this season.

As always we compiled the first reactions from the top 4 Spanish sports newspaper to last night’s match. Continue reading »

Serie A club Fiorentina has announced on its official website that they are negotiating with FC Barcelona over a move for their Brazilian striker Keirrison de Souza on a two season loan deal.

Florentina said the deal also includes a clause which would allow them make the transfer permanent after the loan deal expires. The negotiations will be formalized pending a medical test that will be carried out on Monday.

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“We wouldn’t be where we are this season without Puyol. He’s the player who’s performed most often and he’s solving a lot of problems.”

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola praises skipper Carles Puyol at the post match press conference on Saturday.

Several players were voicing their opinions at the post-match press conference and heres what they had to say:

Rafa Marquez

“we did the job. I’m happy with how I played and my performance in general. I want to continue like this and I know I have to make the most of the chances the boss gives me”.

“it was a tough game, because the pitch was in a bit of a state. We had plenty of chances in the first half, but weren’t able to put them away and then in the second we had to withstand their onslaught. The team continue in good form and playing the way the boss wants us to”.

Finally, Marquez refused to be drawn on the fight at the top with Madrid, insisting: “we have to focus on our work and then see what happens!.

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FC Barcelona captain Carles Puyol will miss the La Liga match against Getafe next weekend, 6 February  at the Camp Nou after he received another yellow card last night, his fifth in the league this season, and according to Spanish Football Federation, RFEF’s rule, he is to be suspended for one league match.

His absence will not be overly disruptive to Guardiola’s preparation however, as Dani Alves is expected to be back in his right-back position after being rested for last night’s match because of a right-calf pulled muscle. As for central defense , the choice is abundant with Chygrinskiy, Marquez and Milito likely to be paired with mainstay centre-back Gerard Pique.

The player had picked up his four other cautions in the La Liga matches against:

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Other than talk about the match against Sporting Gijon in the La Liga post-match press conference last night, the FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola also touched on his team’s set-up.

“It is normal that we will eventually suffer towards the end of a match if we fail to kill it early. The pitch is very bad but despite that, we played a very good game of football.”

“We created a lot of opportunities but failed to convert them, but I’m happy with the team’s attitude and disposition.”

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“INVICTUS” (Unbeatable)

Sporting 0 – 1 Barça

Pedro’s ‘golazo’ (great goal) won the team a victory which deserved to be by a bigger margin.

Barça, which is still undefeated,  had 8 ‘canteranos’ in the starting line-up.

[Non Barça Related]

Espanyol 1 – 0 Athletic. Three golden points that move Espanyol away from the danger zone

Depor 1 – 3 Madrid. Madrid bears blaugrana‘s pressure and breaks its Riazor’s curse.

SUPER PEDRO

Barça won in Gijón with another goal from the ‘canterano’.

Sporting 0 – 1 Barça

New record: 20 matches without defeat in la Liga.

Pedrito, who started instead of Henry, has scored 15 goals so far this season and last night was decisive again for the blaugrana‘s victory. They are still unbeatable.

In the Pic: Pedro and Messi hugged after scoring the goal which would give the three points to the blaugranas. The goal was the result of a quick freekick in minute 29.

[Non Barça Related]

Deportivo 1 – 3 Madrid. Madrid broke his Riazor’s losing strike.

Espanyol 1 – 0 Athletic. Luís García gave the victory.

British sports tabloid, Daily Mail has linked FC Barcelona forward and France international striker Thierry Henry (32) with a return to the premier league with Manchester City looking to sign him up.

It seems Henry’s future at Barcelona looks to be drawing to a close, with the European champions apparently deciding on Valencia’s David Silva or Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery as their main options for the left-sided attacking role.

Henry’s injury-blighted season has seen him score just twice in 13 games and the club would be willing to sell him this summer, one year before his contract expires.

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Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, speaking at the post-match press conference, said he was satisfied with his sides victory against Sporting but added they were lacking in the final third.

“It was a good win considering very few teams have won on this ground. It (the win) carries a lot of merit.”

“Defensively we were good as Sporting have created very few opportunities but offensively we we were lacking in the final third.”

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Valdes : The Catalan shot stopper made a couple of saves from Bilic in the first half. Quick to react whenever he was called into action and made no mistakes on the night. Had a very quiet 90 minutes as Sporting failed to threaten to score and will be glad to have picked up his fourth clean sheet in a row.   – 6.5

Puyol : In the absence of the Dani Alves , El Capitan slotted in at right back against the hosts  and did a good job defensively, a perfect sliding tackle to dispossess Sporting forward Bilic, who was through on goal, stands out. Got forward quite often as the game opened up in the latter stages. A good stand in performance by the veteran.   – 7

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Yup. The subject is being brought up yet again. This time it’s your turn to do the debating, state the facts, and argue your points. The question is: Who should be the left-winger for next season?

In this EXCLUSIVE totalBarça article you’ll find:

- a list of over 40 possible candidates for the left-wing position that have been linked to FC Barcelona
- a link to the players profiles on Wikipedia
- a video showcasing their talents and skills
- a poll of the top-10 realistic candidates
- a place to discuss and share your thoughts and ideas about this issue

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RESULT:

Sporting Gijon: 0.

FC Barcelona: 1.

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Sporting de Gijon vs FC Barcelona
(Saturday January 30, 2010 @ 20:00 Barcelona time – Convert to local time)

Chat Link: http://fcbarcelona.hopto.org/

Facebook Application: http://apps.facebook.com/fcbarcelonachat/ (direct chat through Facebook)

Have you ever sat in front 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?

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Back in May of 2009, FC Barcelona enjoyed two historic matches: the 6-2 victory against Real madrid and the 1-1 tie against Chelsea, where the last minute goal by Andrés Iniesta carried the team through to the Champions League final.  Recently, Barcelona based Com Ràdio released the results of a study among various hospitals and clinics that showed a 45% increase in the birthrate nine months later (read here).  When asked about this mini “Baby Boom”, Guardiola joked “Its a surprising fact. But I insist, its Iniesta’s who should be blamed”.

Josep Guardiola knows it won’t be easy to win three points at El Molinón. He has noted how strong Sporting are at home, where they have won 18 of their 24 points.

Speaking to the press after training on Friday at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, Guardiola pointed out that “El Molinón is a very difficult ground this season. Sporting are very strong at home and of the 24 points they have, they got 18 on their home ground, where the have only let in six goals. Those figures say it all.”

El Molinón the only concern

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Barcelona Atletic player Victor Vazquez (22) has been through a rather difficult period offlate. Catalan sports paper Sport reports that Vazquez arrived late for training with Barca Atletic last Wednesday, due to oversleeping. Barca Atletic coach, Luis Enrique, decided to fine Vazquez by suspending him from the team for a week. Vazquez tried to return to training next day but Luis Enrique said he dosen’t want him with the group until Monday.

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American actor Viggo Mortensen was in Venice several months ago for the premier of his latest film, The Road. According to an article in the Spanish newspaper El País, Mortensen turned a lot of heads, when he appeared in the lobby of the Hotel Excelsior for a press conference; he was dressed in the blue and white jersey of the Argentinean national team, with the name “Messi” on his back.    At that  time, in September, 2009, Argentina and Lionel Messi still had two World Cup Qualifiers left to play, the last being the decisive match in which Argentina defeated Uruguay 1-0 to  confirm their place in the World Cup.

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“Barcelona will win the league, but struggle at the Molinon”

Sporting Gijon player and Barcelona loan-out Alberto Botia, when asked about his sides chances against the Champions on Saturday.

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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
You can give your starting line-up until 3 hours before the start of the game against Sporting Gijon.

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13 J (June)

Barça’s new president election will be done on June 13th.

Godall: “We want to give preference to the sports interests”

Ferrer: “It’s a good day”

Rosell: “The day doesn’t matter, what really matters is to celebrate an exemplary elections”

Guixà: “The day selected is within the framework of the statute”

The Committee approved that Sunday to not interfere in the team’s performance.

The technical staff an players’ opinions were important in the election.

Sporting – Barça (20h, TV3/ La Sexta)

To put pressure on Madrid. Barça wants Madrid 8 points behind when they play their match in Riazor.

Guardiola, who won’t be able to play Alves, calls the just arrived Touré.

[Non Barça Related]

Madrid: Cristiano without the ”cautelar“.

Espanyol: Pochettino leaves Kameni out to play against “Los leones” (Athletic)

TODAY THE LEAGUE CAN BE DECIDED

If Barça wins and Madrid loses…+8!

Sporting – Barça (20h, Gol TV/ Canal + Liga)

Don’t stop Messi! Guardiola can’t play Alves but he can play Leo, who is in a scoring strike.

Elections on June 13th, confirmed!

[Non Barça Related]

Deportivo – Madrid (22h, TV3/La Sexta)

Florentino fails, Ronaldo can’t play. In all fairness, Ronaldo wasn’t conceded the “cautelar“.

Espanyol can’t fail at home again.

British sports tabloid The Sun claims that Barcelona is interested in Manchester City winger and English international Shaun Wright-Phillips (28).

A former English Premier League winner with Chelsea, Wright-Phillips has recently failed at attempts to renew his contract in the City of Manchester Stadium, a contract that has three years remaining. Changes at the English side has seen Wright-Phillips miss out on regular starting roles in the Premier League and this along with disagreements between the representatives of both the player and the club would have alerted Barcelona.

The tabloids sport columnist Ian Wright claims that the viewpoint of Manchester City chief executive Gary Cook and the clubs football administrator Brian Marwood are not helping the situation.

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English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur has officially announced the signing of former Barcelona attacker and Icelandic international Eidur Gudjohnsen (31) who will join on a loan deal after the player underwent medicals on Thursday.

The North London outfit will become Gudjohnsen’s 8th team in the player’s 16 year long playing career and will team up with an attacking line-up that already boasts the likes of Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko within it’s ranks.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp spoke highly of Gudjohnsen. “He’s player I’ve always admired, he can play several positions and is a very clever footballer. It was his decision to come to us. I rang him and left a message on his phone and he came back to me and said, ‘I want to come to Tottenham’. He gives us lots of options. He is a top player.”

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At a press conference on Friday evening Barca president Joan Laporta has announced that the elections for the presidency of Fc Barcelona will be held on the 13th of June 2010.

“The board has decided that elections will be held on June 13th, the decision has been made and will be confirmed when the elections will be called at the end of April” said Laporta, thus clearing all the doubts that had been generated regarding to election date for the presidency of FC Barcelona.

“The date is right keeping in view the sporting reasons. We did not want the elections to interfere with the sport”, said Joan Laporta.

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Saturday, January 30, 2010 – 20:00 CET, El Molinon, Gijón

When it seemed the Catalan revolution that is FC Barcelona could not grow any stronger the Blaugrana once again blew all followers out of the water.
Sitting aloft 6 gleaming trophies and a World Champions label plastered to their names Pep Guardiola’s Gladiatorssynced their stunning form into yet another season in the league by going throughout the entirety of the Spanish Primera’s first half without dropping points. Becoming only the 5th side in history to do so in the Spain’s top tier of football.

The tables have now been flipped as players and fans alike gear up for what is known as ‘the run home’ as each side faces one another for the second time in the league in order to fully formulate what is already brewing as an intense title race.

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“I have never seen anything like Leo. Cristiano is special, has a different style and is more glamorous of the two, but the number one is Messi. After seeing Maradona I thought there would never be a better player, but then I saw Leo, Always finds space and takes on two or three players, showing a brutal level. It seems he has no limit!”

Sporting Gijon coach, Manuel Preciado speaks in awe of Barcelona superstar Leo Messi, when asked about who he preferred amongst Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo.