Henry out, Puyol quits training early 18
FC Barcelona continued preparations for the next league game against Valencia on Tuesday, without French international Thierry Henry, who had discomfort in his Achilles tendon in his left foot.
Tag Carles Puyol
Internationals Round-Up: Spain defeats Henry, Alves and Messi win 9
It was international duty for most Barcelona players this past week. What follows is a round up of the matches our players participated in.
Five Barca players called up for Spain 35
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has revealed his squad to face France in a friendly next week. Five Barcelona players namely Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta have been included.
The five players have been named for the encounter on Wednesday and all five are also likely to earn a place on the plane to South Africa for the World Cup Finals in the summer. Thierry Henry will be captaining the opposing side in the Stade de France in Paris as he was called up by Les Bleus’ trainer Raymond Domenech.
FC Barcelona winger Jeffren Suárez (22) has also being called up by coach Luis Milla for Spain Under-21, for their encounter with Liechtenstein. The game in Ponferrada on Tuesday is a qualifier for the European Championships.
Caption This: Kung Fu edition 12
Shoot away in the comments after the jump. Don’t know what to do? Look here.
Puyol: “If we don’t go there focused, we could really have a bad time” 2
FC Barcelona captain and Spanish international defender Carles Puyol (31) admits Barcelona could be in for a bad night if they underestimate the threat posed by in-form Stuttgart in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
Barca make the trip to Germany having bounced back from their first league defeat of the season against Atletico Madrid by thumping Racing Santander 4-0 on Saturday night.
That was the Catalan giants’ sixth victory in seven league games, but on Tuesday night they will come up against a Stuttgart who are in just as good form.
Quote of the Day: Carles Puyol, Captain of FC Barcelona 2
“We cannot afford to make any expensive errors, but I see that the team want to win the Champions League again and to do that we must give everything.”
Carles Puyol, FC Barcelona captain and Central Back, at a press conference.
Ibrahimovic and Messi within top 3 highest paid players of 2009 33
A chart was released by Portuguese marketing agency futebolfinance.com publishing the top 50 player salaries for 2009. Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi completing the top 3 list.
FC Barcelona leads the rankings in the top 50 with 8 players followed by Chelsea (7), Real Madrid & Manchester City (6), Manchester United & Bayern Munich (4), and AC Milan with 3 players. Liverpool along with the 3 other big Italian sides (Inter, Roma, and Juventus) have 2 players each in the rankings. Andrei Arshavin is the only player representing Arsenal on the list.
The Four Captains Speak 2
Speaking to Catalan sports paper Sport, Spanish radio station Ona FM and their personal websites and blogs, the four captains of FC Barcelona, had some words of encouragement for their fans:
Puyol
In Puyol’s post match blog entry he wrote, “There is no need for alarm. This team has demonstrated that it rises to the occasion when faced with adversities and always comes out stronger than before. Obviously, the injuries we have are important but the team is ready to move forward. Now we’ll have to work a little harder to cover for all of the injuries. Hopefully everyone will heal quickly because the most important part of the season is upon us. Competing for titles is the best part of a footballer.”
Speaking about this weekend’s game, Puyol said, “We look forward to seeing all of our fans in the Camp Nou this weekend. We need to be united as a group and in order for that to happen we need your help.”
Indispensible Puyol 11
Dedication, professionalism, heart, strength, courage, humility . . . Carles Puyol.
Quote of the day: Pep Guardiola, FC Barcelona coach 6
“We wouldn’t be where we are this season without Puyol. He’s the player who’s performed most often and he’s solving a lot of problems.”
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola praises skipper Carles Puyol at the post match press conference on Saturday.
Puyol accumulated his fifth caution; out of Getafe match 13
FC Barcelona captain Carles Puyol will miss the La Liga match against Getafe next weekend, 6 February at the Camp Nou after he received another yellow card last night, his fifth in the league this season, and according to Spanish Football Federation, RFEF’s rule, he is to be suspended for one league match.
His absence will not be overly disruptive to Guardiola’s preparation however, as Dani Alves is expected to be back in his right-back position after being rested for last night’s match because of a right-calf pulled muscle. As for central defense , the choice is abundant with Chygrinskiy, Marquez and Milito likely to be paired with mainstay centre-back Gerard Pique.
The player had picked up his four other cautions in the La Liga matches against:
Puyol overtakes Rexach 9
Carles Puyol overtook Carles Rexach on Saturday having played 26.898 minutes in the league and next week he could beat Zubizarreta and become number three on the all time list of players who’ve played most minutes for the club.
Puyol made his debut on 2nd October 1999 at Valladolid under the guidance of Louis Van Gaal. After more than 10 years in the first team, it was the same stadium that saw him beat Rexach’s record on Saturday night.
Since his debut in the 1999/2000 season Carles Puyol has become a fundamental part of the team and a reference within the club over the last few years.
Puyol and Xavi told Pep not to get Robinho 39
British sports tabloid Dailymail, report that Barca’s senior players, including the influential Carles Puyol and Xavi, have told Guardiola – a Robinho fan – that the Brazilian would hurt team spirit in the dressing room.
Robinho’s hopes of seeing out the season in the sunshine of Barcelona look like being dashed as the club’s players are urging coach Pep Guardiola not to sign him on loan from Manchester City.
City boss Roberto Mancini has apparently given the all-clear for £32.5million Robinho to spend the rest of the season somewhere else after a series of poor performances.
Puyol doubtful for Valladolid; Keita back in training 5
The big news at training today was the return of Seydou Keita, who has rejoined the team after being knocked out of the African Nations Cup with Mali. Puyol, who has back trouble, was missing.
It was a day for reunions and congratulations on Thursday at Barça. Seydou Keita is back in town, and spoke to Josep Guardiola before training in isolation with two fitness coaches.
Guardiola congratulated
Puyol: “We are very proud of Guardiola” 13
Speaking at a press conference yesterday at the Sant Joan Despi, Spain international and Barcelona captain Carles Puyol did not mince words about his boss, Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola:
” The players are very proud of him. I absolutely disagree with his words. He has not failed anyone. “
Five Barca players in the “eleven of the decade” 17
British newspaper The Sun published a lineup which includes the best football players of the decade. Up to five players who play or have played in Barcelona, are included in this lineup of football stars.
Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon
Defense: Cafu, Fabio Cannavaro, Carles Puyol, Paolo Maldini
Midfield: Ronaldinho, Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane
Attack: Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo
Caption This: Carles Puyol 18
Last time, Cristiano Ronaldo apparently had skin issues, self esteem problems and a whole host of other things to worry about. This time, it is our dear Captain Puyol, who’s in the crosshair. Is he enjoying a cool-down during the summer, or is this a cruel punishment from Guardiola, as staff-member Cerridwen noted? You tell us!