“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Racing Santander - FC Barcelona
(Sunday August 29, 2010 @ 19:00 Barcelona time – Convert to local time)
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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.
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.
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?
Cules all over the world are shocked, dismayed and confused about what drove FC Barcelona to finalise a deal with AC Milan for Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic which has clearly resulted in a major loss for an already debt-ridden Catalan side. In the tension between coach Pep Guardiola and Ibrahimovic that came to light in the last couple of weeks, the former FC Barcelona player blamed the club’s coach for his departure. After signing his new contract with the Serie A club, Ibrahimovic told the reporters, “Guardiola is the philosopher who has shattered my dream to play with Barcelona.”
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