FC Barcelona player Isaac Cuenca underwent therapeutic arthroscopy surgery to correct the injury he sustained to the exterior meniscus of his right knee. Doctors Ramon Cugat and Ricard Pruna, in collaboration with Mutua Egarsat, performed surgery this afternoon. According to FC Barcelona’s medical staff, the player will be out of action for three to four months. That means he will miss the chance to play in the Olympic Games in London and also the preseason with FC Barcelona.

Source: fcbarcelona.cat, Picture credit: MIGUEL RUIZ – FCB

OPPORTUNITY THIAGO SILVA

The possibility that Milan will be sold and Italian’s football discredit increase Barça’s interest for signing him

Jordi Alba. Barça are just waiting for Valencia to set a price for him

Del Bosque: “If Piqué and Ramos have bad relationship, they’ll have to forget about it”

Tito, two years. The negotiations are going well.

Doctor García Valdecasas doesn’t rule out that Abidal will play again soon: “it all depends only on him”

Josep Guardiola decided that his FIFA World Coach of the Year 2011 for Men’s Football award should stay where it belongs and dedicated it to FC Barcelona. The award he received on January 9, 2012 at the FIFA gala held in Zurich is currently on display in the FC Barcelona Museum.

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“He is not human; he’s from another planet. I’ve played against him several times and he’s incredible – he’s not a normal player. In the same way that there’s Barcelona and the rest of the world, there is also Messi and the rest of the Barça players. He does things that only he is capable of doing. He’s exceptional.”

In an interview to FIFA.com, Sevilla player Frederic Kanoute is so in awe of Lionel Messi’s supreme skills he thinks that the Argentine doesn’t belong to planet earth.

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MEETING TITO – ZUBI

What Vilanova wants:

1- Thiago Silva, first option as a central defender

2 – He wants Alves, Keita, Tello and Cuenca on the team

3 – He wants Alba and loves Alaba

Pep’s farewell. The excoach went yesterday to Ciutat Esportiva to take his belongings

THIS AGRESSION WILL BE FORGIVEN

The two-matches ban to Mourinho and the match-ban to Vilanova will were minor infractions and will be forgiven now

The Supercup on August 22nd and 29th will be their first face-to-face

Guardiola emptied his office so Vilanova can have it

Vilanova asked Zubi to renew Keita’s contract

His agent negotiated his new contract

Messi suports him from Argentina

FC Barcelona today announced the dates and some initial details of two preseason friendlies, in Germany and Morocco, which will mark Tito Vilanova’s first games as coach of Barça.

On July 24, the blaugrana squad will travel to Germany to face Hamburg SV on the occasion of the home team’s 125th anniversary. The match will take place at the Imtech Arena, a FIFA 5-star stadium, which was built in 2001, holds 57,000 fans, and was one of the stadiums used during the 2006 World Cup.

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On Thursday, May 31st, FC Barcelona forward Isaac Cuenca will undergo arthroscopic surgery, as reported today by the Club’s medical services. The latest tests performed on the player have confirmed that the external meniscus of his right knee is injured, and will require surgery.

The operation will be performed by doctors Ramon Cugat and Ricard Pruna, who will hold a press conference afterwards, at 18:00, in the Ricard Maxenchs press room of the Camp Nou.

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Guardiola 2008/2012
The 14 titles that made us cry …

Mourinho 2010/2012
The two titles achieved by crying

Calcio: “Police operation against Tutti and Manganti”

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Yesterday FC Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés shared on his Facebook account a picture of him with club teammate Xavi Hernandez and former Barca player Samuel Eto’o. As reported in Diario Sport, the players  flew to Gabon to support Samuel Eto’o's Foundation, sharing some time with kids that are part of the Foundation’s football centre. The duo were there to inaugurate a new formation centre to give education through sport to kids from the country.

Samuel Eto’o has been actively involved in promoting football and making life better for kids in several countries in Africa. More information about his Foundation can be found here.

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Worldreader and FC Barcelona are teaming up to send one million e-books to the children of Africa. Lionel Messi, Xavi, Eric Abidal and Seydou Keita joined forces with the non-profit organization Worldreader in a campaign to inspire a wave of literacy in sub-Saharan Africa through the use of e-readers.

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Fans gathered in the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona experienced a unique show on Sunday when Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova’s teams played each other in a charity futsal match for TV3 and Catalonia Radio’s Marathon against Poverty.  The 14,000 fans truly enjoyed the game put on by the Blaugrana players. Continue reading to find out the result of that extraordinary game, see pictures and enjoy highlight videos and a link to the complete game video.

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FC Barcelona’s young forward, Cristian Tello, has today been speaking of his desire to remain with the Catalan club despite the fact that many other sides, most notably Atletico Madrid, have made no secret of their desire to add the speedy forward to their ranks.

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Edu Pons will join the staff of FC Barcelona’s first team next season, taking the spot made free by the departure of fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura, who is leaving with Guardiola for personal reasons. Pons, who is currently responsible for the conditioning of the Juvenil A squad, knows firsthand about the philosophy of work at the blaugrana club and, in turn, has extensive experience in the First Division.

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Mathematical review of the Guardiola Era

Pep: “And very soon, the second part.”

TITO ALREADY LEADS THE TEAM

Tomorrow he will start to plan the team along Zubizarreta

Vilanova details his staff

Del Bosque calls Pedro: 7 blaugranas on the team

Puyol: The captain rejects two superoffers from Russia and the Emirates

Barça’s girls team wins La Liga for the first time

PEDRO, TO PLAY THE EUROCUP

Barça’s 7 wonder players. Valdés, Piqué, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta and Cesc are also included on Del Bosque’s definitive list.

The fans support Tito. The new coach was given an ovation by the fans during the match against poverty

Fox Sports said on Twitter that Messi had died!

In earning a 14th trophy under Pep Guardiola, cules around the world found their own way of taking in the game.  With technology the way it is, fellow fans (and opposing fans) are closer than we think.  Going beyond stadiums, pubs, and living rooms – there are chat rooms (like the live chat), social media, and hangouts.  In this edition of We’ve got mail, we are pleased to share with everyone an infographic of the Copa del Rey produced by a  mobile app development company that partnered with totalBarca for the match.

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Barça (Guardiola) vs. Barça (Vilanova)
Sunday, May 27, 2012 at 19:00 (Convert to local time)
Charitable futsal match at the Palau Sant Jordi (Barcelona)

FC Barcelona Chat: http://apps.facebook.com/fcbarcelonachat/ (direct chat through Facebook)

Click here to chat!

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It is D-Day for 16 European teams to announce their squad for the upcoming UEFA European Championships. Spain manager Vicente del Bosque followed suit and revealed the names of the 23 players who will be travelling to Ukraine and Poland to defend the title. Seven Barca players made the cut including Pedro who after an injury-marred season did enough in the last stint to convince del Bosque of his abilities. Accompanying Pedro will be his teammates midfielders – Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc and Busquets – defender Pique and goalkeeper Valdes. Barca yet again was the club with the most members in the national team.  That number would most likely have been NINE if not for injuries to David Villa and Carles Puyol.

Spain kick off their Euro campaign on June 10 against Italy, later facing Republic of Ireland and Croatia respectively in the other Group C clashes.

Full squad after the jump.

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Caricature review of the Guardiola Era

Pep: “Here I leave you this last title … but I leave something even better: a team prepared to win many more titles!”

The victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey finals on Friday has come at a price for Barca albeit not that heavy given that the 2011-12 season is finally over. What it does is jeopardise the fitness of the three players – Cesc Fabregas, Thiago Alcantara and Isaac Cuenca – for the upcoming tournaments namely Euro and Olympics. Fabregas and Thiago, who were on the bench before getting a few minutes in the match, were both reported to be injured post it. As the club’s official site stated, Fàbregas complained of problems with his right leg. Medical tests confirmed he had pulled the “femoral bicep in his right leg“. The 25-year-old player is expected to be out for seven to 10 days. On the other hand, Thiago ”suffered a knock on his right tibia“. Medical tests showed that he has “an edema in his right leg” and how he recovers from it will determine  how soon he’ll be back. Finally, Cuenca ”suffered a knock on the articular surface of his right knee”. Tests indicated that “he has an external meniscal cyst” that will sideline him for 15 days.

Source: www.fcbarcelona.com; Photo credit: David Ramos/Getty Images

Netherlands international and FC Barcelona Ibrahim Afellay had double the reason to be jubilant on Saturday May 26 as the 26-year-old player was named in the final 23 of Bert van Marwijk’s squad for Euro 2012. Afellay will be part of the tournament which will see Netherlands face off Germany, Portugal and Denmark, in what has been termed as the group of death. The 2010 FIFA World Cup finalists begin their quest for Euro on 9 June when they will be up against Denmark before facing Germany and Portugal. All matches will be played in Kharkiv in Ukraine, one of the hosts alongside Poland. Prior to the tournament, Netherlands will play three friendly matches: against Bulgaria (lost 1-2), Slovakia on May 30 and Northern Ireland on June 2.

Full squad after the jump.

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HEROES!

Deserved tribute from Camp Nou to the champions

Barça celebrated the end of a course that ended with four titles with a party

Iniesta, Valdés, Xavi and Puyol gave thanks to the fans for their support

VISCA EL BARÇA!

Long live the Cup!

Tribute to the champions in Camp Nou

Today the team gathered with fans and celebrated the Copa del Rey together! The team’s captains spoke to the crowd, thanking them for their support this season. But the Copa was not alone at the Camp Nou: it was accompanied by the other 3 titles Barça won this season.

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