Always willing to entertain peculiar questions regarding his future with a quip while still keeping a respectful tone, FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said he is willing to listen to “any offers from Athletic as I still have many friends there.”
The Blaugranas have attained a higher level of football; not only the regular starters but also the substitute players as well.
Total-football in the Catalan club is manifested at all levels: the presidency to coaching to players to the game style and play. And everyone knows what to do and how to do it.
By scoring the opening goal for FC Barcelona in the match against Athletic Bilbao last night, Jeffren Suarez has become the fourteenth player to register his name on the team’s Liga goal-scorers list this season. The goal was his first for the FC Barcelona first team since he debuted on 25 October 2006.
Fresh from FC Barcelona’s 4-1 win over Athletic Bilbao last night, coach Pep Guardiola only has accolades for his players. Delighted that he can count on each and every one of his players – including those he seldom used, the Catalan coach believes his team “can go to the end of the world.” Continue reading »
Watch the full highlights of the La Liga Round 30 Match between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, after the jump:
Spanish Primera Liga Fixture 30
3rd April 2010, CET 20:00
Venue: Camp Nou
Attendance: 77,630
Referee: A. Miguel Mateu Lahoz
Who was today’s best performer? Here’s what we think.
After the team’s final training session – held at the Camp Nou as they always do on matchdays when they are playing at home – FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola unveiled his squad for tonight’s match against Athletic Bilbao. Continue reading »
Athletic Bilbao forward Fernando Llorente confessed, in an interview with Barca TV, that Barcelona’s first half against Arsenal in the first leg of the Champions League was a joy to behold. Continue reading »
Valencian Mateu Lahoz will call the shots in Saturday’s clash at the Camp Nou when FC Barcelona take on Athletic Bilbao. Let’s hope for a better performance than the one we were treated to on Wednesday in London!
FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola emphasized the importance of every game in his pre-match news conference held at the Ciutat Esportivo on Friday.
Saturday, April 3, 20:00 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona
In contrast to FC Barcelona’s mid-week exploits, this game seems to be of minimum and scarce importance. However, the statement that this game is insignificant could not be further from the truth. For at this stage of the competition, each breath taken by the Catalans has a magnitude of the greatest proportions. Each match in the Spanish Primera is as important as the last, for at this stage of the competition a win could spell triumph, while a loss could point toward the ultimate demise.
Andalusian Joaquín Caparrós will be the latest manager to match wits with Pep Guardiola at the Camp Nou, as he brings his Athletic Bilbao squad to Catalonia to face FC Barcelona this Saturday.
Daniel Alves – Defender
The Brazilian right-back said that “despite playing well and having control of the match, it was very difficult score. Hopefully, starting Sunday, in the match against Real Madrid, everything returned to normal.”
Daniel Alves who puts Barcelona ahead, also felt guilty in his failure to back-track quickly enough to prevent Toquero from scoring, openly admitting: “It was an oversight of mine, more than anything else”.
“We struggled but at least we scored a point. A draw in the San Mames is not a bad result because they pressed us hard and it is not easy to play here. The Real Madrid lead is not important, because on Sunday you can change all that, and we will give everything to make it so. We have to look forward because we are going to have one tough week,” he said.
Barcelona dropped their third consecutive points away from home with another drawn match, this time against Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames. It was a match that does not favour Barcelona because of the absences of key players due to injury and illnesses but one Guardiola will not accept as an excuse.
The goals came courtesy of Daniel Alves for Barcelona in the 54th minute with Toquero equalizing for the home side nine minutes later.
As always we compile first reactions from the top 4 Spanish sports newspapers to last night’s match. Continue reading »
FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, said that he is not worried about losing the league lead to Real Madrid a week before el Clasico after the team’s tie with Athletic Bilbao (1-1) at the San Mames last night, according to Spanish news agency EFE.
“What worries me is for my players to recover, do well on Tuesday and then prepare for that match. Obviously it’s better to be the first (league leader) but these are circumstances we could not prevent and we need to push on,” Guardiola lamented when asked about all the injuries and illnesses, including that of Lionel Messi, that beseeches the team ahead of Barcelona’s crucial matches this week.
Guardiola also considered the draw a “fair” result and convey his congratulation to Athletic “for a great match”.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, FC Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola was resigned by the number of casualties with which his team has to deal with ahead of their match against Athletic Bilbao, the last of which was that of Yaya Toure, who was suspected to have contracted the H1N1 virus. “I don’t want to give any excuses nor do I whine,” said the coach when asked to reflect on Zlatan Ibrahimovic being one of those absent through injury, wishing him a speedy recovery.
As for the news of the day, with Eric Abidal and Yaya Toure contracting the H1N1 flu, Guardiola said, “We have isolated them. What is necessary now is to minimise the number of people infected. I hope they’ll get well soon. It is always bad that these things happen. Yes it’s true that we have big matches coming up, but we still have other players and they (the absentees) could recover by then too”.
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Saturday Nov 21, 2009, 22:00 CET, San Mamés, Bilbao
“Not Again!” Despite the Basque boys protests, Barcelona have once again returned to haunt and torment ‘Los Leones’.
Athletic Bilbao.
The team donning the red and white are one of 3 sides never to be relegated from the Spanish Primera.
Through honest and patient football Bilbao have also claimed themselves 8 La Liga titles, the 4th most in Spain, behind Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico. For years Athletic Bilbao have been the dark horse in many a title race, their stadium the San Mamés or the ‘Football Cathedral’ as its known has over the years become some what of a fortress for the team with a Cantera policy to only sign players from within the Basque country> This policy has cost them dearly over the years with their last La Liga title coming in 1984 after being denied of silverwear on two occasions by one FC Barcelona.
Continue reading »
Catalan sports paper Sport reports that due to the four casualties faced by Barcelona – injuries or illnesses to Milito, Ibrahimovic, Abidal and Touré – Pep Guardiola have to summon Barca Atletic’s Jonathan dos Santos into the first team for the first time for a league match.
It could have been much worse for Barcelona had Jeffren and Keita had not recovered in time for this weekend’s match against Athletic Bilbao. The other good news for the day is the return of Thierry Henry who could join the team’s group training today after he was excused yesterday.
The eighteen players summoned are as follows: Goalkeepers Valdes and Pinto; Defenders Piqué, Márquez, Puyol, Chygrynskiy, Alves and Maxwell; Xavi, Iniesta, Keita, Jonathan and Busquets in midfield; and a forward line comprising of Messi, Henry, Bojan, Pedro and Jeffren.
Barcelona defender and France international Eric Abidal (28) has been diagnosed with the swine flu according to the official website.
FC Barcelona Goalkeeper, Victor Valdes (27), is just a mere 17 minutes away, from beating his own personal record for not conceding a goal. The record currently stands at 542 minutes. The match against Inter Milan on Wednesday was the Barca keeper’s fifth clean sheet in a row.
The last time Valdes had to pick the ball up from the back of his own net, was in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup in August. Since then, he has kept five clean sheets in a month and a half against Sporting Gijon, Getafe, Athletic Bilbao, Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan.
Valdes set his current record in the season of 2005/2006 against Panathinaikos (0-0), Osasuna (3-0), Malaga (2-0), Real Sociedad (5-0) and again Panathinaikos (5-0). Valdes got close to his record last season, when he didn’t concede a goal for 538 minutes. The streak was then broken by Bayern Munich attacker Franck Ribery in the return leg of last season’s Champion’s League quarter final. Continue reading »
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