The Spanish senior national team brushed off Uruguay 2-1 for a victory in their opening Group B match in the Confederations Cup, in a game that saw FC Barcelona midfielder Andrés Iniesta named Man of the Match. Spain drew first blood after 20 minutes on a deflected shot from Barcelona striker Pedro, and Roberto Soldado scored 12 minutes later after a brilliant assist from Cesc Fàbregas. Mercurial Uruguayan attacker Luis Suarez salvaged some pride with a beautiful free kick with two minutes remaining that beat Iker Casillas at his far post.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque gave his midfield to Barcelona players where Sergi Busquets was joined by Xavi and Fàbregas in the starting eleven. Gerard Piqué and Jordi Alba shored up the defense, while Pedro and Iniesta were constant threats in the attack.

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Spain’s U-21 squad, featuring a core of four Barcelona youth players, routed Norway 3-0 and will face Italy for the Euro U-21 crown. With Thiago orchestrating the midfield, Spain opened the score through Rodrigo just before the end of the first half, and then sealed the victory with late strikes from Isco and Morata. Barcelona senior players Martin Montoya, Cristian Tello and and Marc Bartra joined Thiago in the starting eleven.

In a replay of the senior men’s final in 2012, Spain will face Italy in Tuesday’s final match in Jerusalem. Italy beat Netherlands 1-0 on a goal from Fabio Borini despite being outplayed by the Dutch for long periods. Be sure to watch totalBarca on Tuesday for more on the final match.

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Huffington Post reporter Mandy Fridmann scored an exclusive interview with Gerard Piqué which was published in two parts earlier in the week. Piqué opened up to Fridmann about FC Barcelona, Shakira, Milan, Messi, Neymar and his plans for the future. When asked about the future, and the temptation of a return to the Premiership, Piqué was firm: “FC Barcelona is my family, it’s my life. I’ve spent almost all my career with Barca, with the exception of my time at Manchester United, but this is where I’ve been for many years, and it’s here that I want to finish my career.”

For more, including pics and video, check out the original interview here.

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I know this is old but we couldn’t help ourselves. I mean, come on: could you resist that face?

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FC Barcelona resident Sandro Rosell addressed the press on Thursday to recap the 2012-13 season and to project a vision of the future for the Catalan club. He began by emphasizing that the economic recovery of the club continues, with a projected profit of 30 million euros from the last sporting campaign, and he underlined his support for Tito Vilanova.

Other highlights from the address include: Continue reading »

Seven FC Barcelona players will seek the one major trophy that has so far eluded them: the Confederations Cup. Valdés, Piqué, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro and Villa have won every conceivable honor at club and national level except for this one. The CF, often described as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup, gets underway this weekend in Brazil. It pits eight teams against each other: the WC host nation [Brazil], the previous WC winners [Spain], and the previous winners of the six FIFA confederation championships [Italy, Japan. Mexico, Nigeria, Tahiti and Uruguay].

Stay glued to totalBarca for our ongoing coverage of this event.

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Argentina took one step closer to the 2014 Word Cup finals in Brazil with a 1-1 draw with Ecuador in Quito on Tuesday in an encounter that saw an odd red card for Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano. Argentina opened the scoring through Kun Aguero in the 4th minute from the penalty spot; Segundo Castillo equalized for Ecuador 13 minutes later. Lionel Messi  was withheld once again from the starting lineup as he recovers his match fitness; the Barcelona man did play out the last 30 minutes but failed to rally his team to victory. In the closing moments, Mascherano was bizarrely issued a straight red card for kicking out at his own injury cart driver. Yes: you read that right.

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José Mourinho was officially presented in London today as Chelsea’s new coach. The Portuguese lost no time in responding to Andrés Iniesta and taking one last shot at FC Barcelona: “I damaged Spanish football by being the man that broke Barcelona’s dominance. It looked like a dominance without end – Real Madrid won the cup final against Barcelona, the Super Cup against Barcelona, we won in Barcelona and won the historical championship of 100 points and 121 goals. I hurt them.”

José Mourinho: will you miss him?

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FC Barcelona’s newest recruit, Neymar, will be the sixth best paid player at the club when the new season gets underway in August, according to a report on Saturday in Mundo Deportivo. The Brazilian will slot in just under Gerard Piqué in the pay scale, and in general will occupy the third tier in Barcelona’s compensation system along with Victor Valdés and Carles Puyol. Lionel Messi is the club’s highest wage earner [at 16 million euros annually], with the second tier occupied by Xavi, Iniesta, and Villa.

Image: Pep Morata

Fifty-six percent of Liga revenues during the last season were divided between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, according to a study by the sports consulting section of firm Deloitte, reported on Friday in Spanish daily El País. Deloitte publishes an annual overview of the top five European football leagues, and this year’s edition contains some eye-opening statistics. The Spanish Liga is the third most lucrative European football market, with total revenues of 1.8 billion euros. Spain is in third place just behind the Bundesliga [1.9B] and the English Premiership [2.9B]. Italy [1.6B] and France [1.1B] round out the top five.

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Those of you suffering from Barça withdrawal, the end is in sight! The club on Wednesday officially announced that the first friendly of the pre-season will be played on July 20 in Poland against local team Lechia Gdansk at the PGE Arena. This will be the first of a series of warmup matches, including a visit to an old friend in Munich on July 24, and trips to Oslo (July 27), Bangkok (August 7) and Kuala Lumpur (August 10).

La Liga officially gets underway on August 17 with the Supercopa tie against Atlético starting a week later on the weekend of August 24. This seems like an eternity to wait, but the new season will be upon us in a flash!

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Now that the euphoria around Neymar’s arrival is beginning to settle down, Barça fans and football analysts are turning their attention to the details of the deal to sign the Brazilian. The first thing that must strike you about the operation was its sheer financial cost: club Vice-President Josep María Bartomeu told the press on Monday that Neymar had cost the club 57 million euros, making the player the eighth most expensive signing in football history. Sporting Director Andoni Zubizarreta promised that Neymar would bring “many magical nights of football to the Camp Nou,” and while this may prove to be true, it is also true that an outlay like this will come at the expense of other potentially more worthy transfer targets.

totalBarça has a post in the works that explores the complexities of the deal, but for now we want to hear your reactions to this number. Is Neymar worth 57 million euros? If not, how would you have spent that money differently?

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Brazilian star Neymar made a five year commitment to the Catalan club this Monday, signing a contract that binds him to the squad until June 2018. Accompanied by his father, the Brazilian prodigy put ink to paper in the company of club President Sandro Rosell, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and Andoni Zubizarreta. Other details of the deal have yet to made public, but tB will post them as soon as they become available.

Stay glued to totalBarça as we chronicle Neymarmania throughout the day!

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Our very own Lionel Messi recently posed for Italian high fashion outfit Dolce & Gabbana and all I can say is good lord what have they done to our little prodigy? D&G are apparently Messi’s official style sponsors, and had a hand in his ridiculous adventurous Ballon d’Or gala outfit. Just for the sake of comparison, I’ll leave you with this:

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Emotions are running high after FC Barcelona officially announced the departure of talismanic French defender Éric Abidal. This decision has divided culé opinion around the world with some fans vigorously condemning the move while others are equally passionate about this being the best course of action for all involved.

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By all accounts, new FC Barcelona signing Neymar was in high spirits as training sessions began for Brazil’s run in the Confederations Cup. What do you imagine he was saying to David Luiz?

Image: AFP

“Cristiano Ronaldo is so fast, so strong, so incredible, but he has one problem: Leo Messi. Cristiano reminds me of German tennis player Michael Stich. He was destined to make history, but then Boris Becker showed up.”

– Borussia Dortmund Manager Jürgen Klopp

Image: AFP

The city government in Barcelona has ignited a mini-firestorm of controversy in deciding to dress the iconic Christopher Columbus statue marking the port with the Barcelona colors ahead of the derby this weekend with cross-town rivals Espanyol. The giant jersey appeared on Tuesday after club sponsor Nike agreed to pay Barcelona 100,000 euros for the publicity stunt. The blue and red will remain in public view until June 9, much to the annoyance of Espanyol fans and management.

Ha!

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Reports this week in MundoDeportivo and Marca have asserted that La Masia product Thiago Alcántara is considering an exit from the squad, with both Manchester clubs being possible destinations. Alcántara was formally promoted to the senior team last season but saw limited playing time this year despite injuries and decline in the Barcelona midfield. Both Premiership outfits are said to be studying the fine print in Alcántara’s contract in order to sign the player without having to negotiate with Barcelona management. The contract, which carries a 90 million euro buyout clause, apparently has language which reduces the buyout threshold to only 18 million euros if the player fails to play a minimum number of minutes in the previous season.

Tell us what you think: can Barcelona afford to lose Thiago?

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The latest chapter of FC Barcelona’s battle with Jose Mourinho has come to an end, as Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez announced on Monday that the Portuguese manager would be seeking employment elsewhere for the coming season: “It was the right moment for us to go our separate ways.” Mourinho leaves after three seasons with the club, having taken over in 2010 after the sacking of Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini. Mourinho has yet to make an official statement concerning his future, but something tells me that it won’t be long before we once again cross paths.

What do you all think: is Mourinho’s departure something for Barcelona fans to celebrate? Perhaps more importantly: who do you think will replace him?

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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.

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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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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]

Both Sport and Mundo Deportivo are reporting on Tuesday that want-away goalkeeper Víctor Valdés has agreed in principle to a summer departure. This means that the club can try to sell the player before his contract expires in 2014; he is currently valued at 10-15 million euros. Óscar Zárate, writing in Mundo Deportivo, speculated that Valdés already had an offer from another team, and thought that Arsenal or Monaco were likely destinations.

It seems certain that Valdés will leave; where would you like to see him end up?

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There’s something striking about this image; I love it!

Image: Manel Montilla [MD]

FC Barcelona have been crowned Liga champions after Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw away at Espanyol means that they are mathmatically incapable of overtaking Tito Vilanova’s squad. Stay tuned to totalBarça for more celebrationsand reactions as the weight of this new title settles in! For once we have Espanyol to thank for a positive late-season result. Who would have thought?

Image: fcbarcelona.cat

FC Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova addressed the press on Saturday ahead of this weekend’s Liga match in Madrid against third placed Atlético. Vilanova spent most of his time validating the squad’s imminent Liga title: “This league means a lot. We’ll have beaten the best Madrid ever, the one that got 100 points. I know [Atlético] will want to beat us. It’s always an added motivation to be playing Barça. Atlético have the cup final to think about, but they have a big enough squad to be able to cope well enough with this match too. They’ve only let in ten goals at home and are having an excellent season.”

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FC Barcelona defender Jordi Alba underlined how important it was to the squad to wrap up La Liga title this weekend as the team faces a tricky away fixture with Atlético Madrid. Speaking to the press on Thursday, the defender made things clear: “We’ll do everything we can to win the league on Sunday. Hopefully after the game at the Vicente Calderón, we’ll be lifting the trophy. It’s a very important title and we’re eager to be crowned champions!” FC Barcelona need three points from their final few matches to clinch the title ahead of both teams from Madrid. “It will be my first domestic club title. People should appreciate the big lead we’ve built up ahead of the second placed team. The team values that lead very highly.”

Image: Ignasi Paredes

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FC Barcelona’s often sidelined defender Adriano Correia addressed the press today and stressed the important of securing the Liga title as soon as possible. Barcelona’s dramatic exit from the Champions League has overshadowed the fact that the squad is on the verge of winning what is arguably the most important title of the season. “We started today’s training session with higher spirits than yesterday and we are focused on the Betis match, an important game, a final for us and a step towards what has always been our primary objective, the Liga title,” Adriano stated.

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Former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, addressing an audience in Buenos Aires, declared that the chapter in his life as Barcelona coach was definitively closed. When asked about the possibility of an eventual return to the club, he replied: “That is a closed chapter. It would take a lot for me to go back to Barcelona … I felt a great sense of calm when I left there.” Guardiola went on to note that he had “great pride for the time I spent at the club. But life goes on and you have to seek other challenges.”

Image: BERNA BOSCO