Captain Carles Puyol has undergone arthroscopic surgery this Thursday evening to clean up his right knee. The operation was performed by doctors Ramon Cugat and Ricard Pruna, with the support of Egarsat. The progress of the knee’s recovery will determine when the player can return to the pitch.
Sporting Director Andoni Zubizarreta was cautious after learning that Paris Saint-Germain would be FC Barcelona’s opponents in the quarter finals of this season’s UEFA Champions League.
Busquets is undeniably FC Barcelona’s unsung hero. Recently, he has finally been getting the recognition that he deserves. Most often praised whenever he is not playing, his immeasurable talent often falls under the radar; difficult maneuvers, accurate passing, and exceptional positional awareness have all become so routine that it is easy to forget their difficulty. Against AC Milan, Busquets was everywhere.
Asked for his opinion on drawing Carlo Ancelotti’s PSG, the nouveau-rich Parisians, Jordi Alba voiced his overall satisfaction, though he cautioned that Barça still has “a lot to learn from the matches against Milan if they are to advance to the semifinals.” While admitting that there are no easy teams left, even more important than the opponent itself is the fact that Barça will be playing the return leg at home, just as had occurred against AC Milan. The Catalan left back reflected that “this is phenomenal since playing the second leg at the Camp Nou gives the team a lot more possibilities.”
The Appeals Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) denied FC Barcelona’s attempt to appeal the four-match sanction against Spanish international and FC Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdés Friday following his expulsion after the most recent El Clásico against Real Madrid CF.
FC Barcelona’s first team trained this Friday morning at the Ciutat Esportiva at 10:30, half an hour earlier than usual in order to follow the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals at noon. Marc Bartra was back with the group at today’s session after receiving his medical clearance on Thursday. The defender is now available for selection by Jordi Roura for Sunday’s league match against Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou (21:00).
The quarter-final match-ups for this season’s Champions League were determined earlier today at a draw held at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. FC Barcelona will face French side Paris Saint-Germain in the next round of the European competition.
The first leg of the quarter-final will take place at the Parc des Princes stadium on April 2, with the second leg at Camp Nou scheduled for April 10. If Barça makes it past PSG, the semi-final pairings will be determined by draw on April 12.
After destroying Milan’s bus, now it’s time to enjoy the Champions League sort
May the same thing happen to the next bus!!!
Cartoon by Caye
THEY WANT TO FACE EACHOTHER
The Blaugranas want reveng and the White Ones feel strong
Culé poll: 34% of the fans want to face Madrid in the quarterfinals
Madridista poll: 22% of the fanst want to face Barça in the quarterfinals
Piqué, in his father’s book presentation: “I want to be a champion”
Tito, last 10 days in New York
Valdés is staying until June 2014
Dani Alves’ new look
LET’S GET NEYMAR
Key moment for the Brazilian’s signing
Barça is still the priority but Florentino doubles their offer and Bayern and City are also keeping an eye on the striker
Excitement. Today’s draw is full of challenges and Barça is the one to beat. The players, who will follow the draw, made their own bets
Juve is the other hard rival and Málaga and Galatasaray, the easier
Blaugrana fans want to play against Real
On behalf of totalBarça and its entire community, we proudly present our third contribution to UNICEF via The totalBarca Project…
Former FC Barcelona defender Gabriel Milito (32) took some time to speak to the media following Barcelona’s incredible comeback against AC Milan. The defender was quoted as saying, “it wouldn’t have been fair for Barcelona to have been left eliminated after one bad game in Milan.” The Argentine drew parallels to the situation as well as praising his compatriots, Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano.
We’ve all seen the images of a capacity Camp Nou filled with 90,000 fans, but the spectacle that unfolded reached a far wider audience. According to numbers published Thursday in Mundo Deportivo, over ten million people watched the match on Spanish TV alone, making this one of the most-watched sporting events of the year so far in Spain. Extrapolate these figures out across the global fan base, and you have…a very, very big number!
If you were one of the few who missed the match live, do whatever it takes to watch it – a truly enthralling encounter across all 93 minutes!
The official draw for the quarter-finals of the Champions League will be midday on Friday from Nyon, Switzerland, but let’s take a sneak preview at FC Barcelona’s next potential opponents. Remember there are now no selection limitations whatsoever, so everyone is as likely a rival as the others.
This Thursday, Catalan defender Marc Bartra has received his medical clearance after recovering from a ligament strain in his left knee.
“I’m very happy for all of them. We saw a lot of positive things and it’s worth sitting down and analysing it all when we’ve calmed down a bit,” said FC Barcelona’s director of football Andoni Zubizarreta after the team’s 4-0 victory over AC Milan.
“Dedicated to those who talk of the ‘end of the cycle’ [Respect]”
Cartoon by Caye
David Villa got the decisive goal in the 2011 Champions League final and celebrated the goal against Milan on Tuesday the same way – as FC Barcelona remains on course for a return to the same venue, Wembley stadium.
Picture credit: MIGUEL RUIZ (FCB)/UEFA.COM
“YOU ARE THE BEST”
Tito congratulated the team
The football players went through a wander in the wilderness
Debate: Are Barça the favourite in Champions?
Poll: The fans want to play against Madrid in the quarterfinals
Pichi Alonso’s analysis: “They’ve got back their best virtues”
“Habemus Papam” The social networks beatify Messi
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