The following is a translation of Johan Cruyff’s weekly article with El Periodico.  The original can be found here.

The few, the proud, the blaugrana

I don’t know if Barca is planning on signing another player for the attack in the next few hours but it would surprise me if they did.  With the departure of Ibrahimovic and the arrival of Mascherano, the team is made of up 19 players, two of them goalkeepers.  It seems crazy to start a season consisting of three competitions with only 17 players but with a team like Barca anything is possible.  It’s Guardiola’s gamble and it reaffirms the philosophy of the club: we start with nineteen first team players but we have numerous possibilities from the cantera.  These youth players have talent and will fit in due to having been brought up under this same style of play.

Continue reading »

FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique sat down for an interview late last week with Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo.  The conversation included a variety of topics such as Ibrahimovic, the Champions League and of course, Real Madrid.

Continue reading »

Florentino: After the match against Mallorca, I’m willing to do a late signing…who do we need to sign to improve Madrid’s playing?

Mourinho: Our Lady of Lourdes.

Ibra keeps running Guardiola down in Milan (and he will keep doing it for a long while!)

Ibra: Guardiola shouldn’t be angry because I called him a philosopher…after Hleb, Cáceres, Chygro and me, he clearly is more a philosopher than an economist.

CULE MASCHERANO

“You can’t say no to the best team of the world“

He stepped in Camp Nou’s field yesterday.

The Argentinean crack relinquished a 20% of his fee to sign for Barça.

“El Jefecito” said that he comes to help the team and that he decided to come to Barça because of the its human quality.

THE LAST SIGNING

“Masche”, a luxurious reinforcement

The vice-president Bartomeu said that the 2010-2011′s squad is closed.

“I know why I’m here. I would be an idiot if I thought that I’m playing every single match.”

The most feared agent by the European clubs. Mino Raiola, the market patriarch.

[Non Barça Related]

Ronaldo, three weeks KO. He will miss at least two matches and he will not play with Portugal.

Barcelona have officially revealed that Martin Caceres (23) will be spending the 2010-2011 season on loan with Sevilla, having previously spent last season on loan with Juventus. As part of the deal, Sevilla will have the option to buy Caceres following his loan.

Continue reading »

According to Catalan based newspaper Sport, Andres Iniesta (26) is contented to see Javier Mascherano (26) signing for FC Barcelona. “It’s a great boost, I know Mascherano and I have played against him on several occasions against Argentina and Liverpool. Moreover, he is the captain of the the Argentinian national team. Mascherano will come in handy, not only because he has defensive skill, but he also has great skills with the ball,” said Iniesta.

Continue reading »

Source: FC Barcelona’s Official YouTube

Today we’ll show you the first “anti-madridista” chant (even if it’s a very light one).

Two years ago, former Madrid’s president Vicente Boluda said that Madrid was going to “chorrear” (literally, “to drip”) Liverpool and Barça, meaning that Madrid would beat them soundly, scoring many goals. Liverpool won (4 – 0) and so did Barça (2 – 6) and from then on, the fans have used the word “chorreo” to make fun of Madrid if they lose. Continue reading »

After undergoing his medical this morning and signing a four year contract, Javier Mascherano has been presented on the Camp Nou pitch to the fans as the new number 14. As described by Barcelona’s official website, the midfielder has already experienced one of the most special moments as a new player of FC Barcelona. The Argentine has put on the blaugrana shirt, jumped onto the pitch at the Nou Camp and has had his first touches of the ball in Barcelona. A description and pictures of the event are after the jump.

Continue reading »

“He is an immense player. I wish him all the best in his new adventure. He was part of the five trophies that we won.”

In the post match press conference after FC Barcelona won at Racing Santander, coach Josep Guardiola stays clear of negative talk and wishes the Swedish striker well in his new stint at AC Milan.

The Ibrahimovic transfer continues to generate heated discussions among FC Barcelona fans. Count on Sid Lowe to put the pros and cons of the deal straight up. In his latest column for Guardian, the writer couldn’t sum up the entire saga better. Lowe suggests that while the club let go of Ibrahimovic, they got a significant signing in the form of David Villa, who was always the first choice of Pep Guardiola. However, as the headline suggests, this transfer came at a heavy cost.

Continue reading »

Argentina international Javier Mascherano (26) has passed his medical at FC Barcelona in the early hours of Monday morning and will now sign his contract to make the move official at 18:00 CET.

Continue reading »

FC Barcelona sealed an all-important away victory to kick off their campaign to retain the La Liga title. Below are some of the comments the Blaugrana camp made to the club’s official site after the match.

Continue reading »

They speak about Barça…

Ibra’s agent: Blah, blah, blah, blah…

Ibra: Blah, blah, blah, blah…

Mourinho: Blah, blah, blah, blah…

…and Barça answers…on the field!

Racing 0 – 3 Barça

R.Santander 0 – 3 phy, phy, phy, long live our philosophy

Villa: Relax, I can assure you that Barça has not lost goal loaning Ibra…it has lost just a lot of money

Wonder what Valdes’ save against Racing looked like in person? This lucky fan was very, very close to the action!

Thank you to Zamaconiano for the video

MADRID FAILS, BARÇA THRASHES

Racing 0 – 3 Barça

Magic trident. Messi, Iniesta and Villa amazed the spectators showing their skills and made the first blaugrana victory to shine.

[Non Barça Related]

Mourinho, worse than Pellegrini. Mallorca 0 – 0 Madrid. Last year, los blancos won 1 – 4 in Son Moix.

Espanyol 3 – 1 Getafe. The new project had a strong beginning.

THEY ALREADY LEAD

Barça is two points ahead Madrid.

Racing 0 – 3 Barça

Villa, who had a very good chemistry with Leo, scored his first goal in La Liga with the blaugrana jersey in Barça’s debut in La Liga.

Valdés saved a penalty kick and the blaugrana machine won thanks to the goals scored by Messi, Iniesta and El Guaje.

Barça, about to sign Ibrahimovic’s substitute.

[Non Barça Related]

Mallorca 0 – 0 Madrid. First galactic fail of Mourinho’s era.

Espanyol 3 – 1 Getafe. Osvaldo ends the jinx and scores two goals.

FC Barcelona defender Eric Abidal recently sat down with Catalan sports paper Sport to talk about the World Cup, Ibra and the upcoming season.

This past Thursday was the three year anniversary of your debut in La Liga…

Really? I didn’t realize.  I’ve been so happy with the team, the city, and the level of football that the time has flown by.

Continue reading »

What we saw on Sunday night is a team that is the result of more than eight years of hard work. It is the continuous blend between experienced players and youth with a clear vision for the future, where every player takes part in the whole team. During the past couple days, culminating on Saturday night, many Barcelona fans have rushed to criticize Guardiola specifically, and the FC Barcelona club generally, for the poor handling of Ibrahimovic’s transfer bid. However, it is worth mentioning, before we proceed with the post-match review of Racing de Santander against Barcelona, a couple of important issues regarding the case.

Continue reading »

Continue reading »

According to a report on FC Barcelona’s official website, both Puyol and Xavi were rested during the game against Racing Santander as a precaution, after experiencing some minor discomforture in their calf (Puyol) and ankle (Xavi). Puyol was rested the entire match, while Xavi was taken off at the half.

Continue reading »

Racing Santander - FC Barcelona
(Sunday August 29, 2010 @ 19:00 Barcelona time – Convert to local time)

FC Barcelona Chat: http://apps.facebook.com/fcbarcelonachat/ (direct chat through Facebook)
Direct link: http://fcbarcelona.hopto.org

*UPDATE* NEW CHAT LINK: http://www.totalbarca.com/chat/

The chat is open 24/7. Feel free to drop in anytime and become a fan of the FC Barcelona Chat page on Facebook.

Continue reading »

The void that was left in FC Barcelona’s midfield with the departure of Yaya Toure (27), a loss that coach Josep Guardiola acknowledged he wanted to avoid but couldn’t, is now finally filled with the arrival of the Argentinean captain and defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano (26) from Liverpool.

Continue reading »

FC Barcelona striker Lionel Messi (23) will receive another prestigious individual award during the last week of September. European Sports Magazine (ESM) along with Adidas will present the Golden Boot award to the striker for being best goalscorer among European clubs during the last season.

Continue reading »

Here comes that feeling we all know too well, the tingling sensation that comes with anxious expectation about the start of the new season for FC Barcelona. Even though there were two official matches already under way in the Super Copa (that we won 5-3 in aggregate), the first match of the La Liga season is always seen as the first of many tests that are about to come to FC Barcelona. Will we see another mesmerizing display of fluid and accurate football that is our identity, or will our opponents refuse to yield and proceed to stifle Barca in our journey to ascendancy?

Continue reading »