“This trophy goes especially to those that did not play today. There are always players left out that deserve to play.”
“We want to have few players and try to give them all games. With the ones we have, more than a hypothetical new signing, we have players from the youth ranks who we can step up.”
FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola at the post-match press conference after the winning Super Cup against Sevilla.
“I used to love the tricky, flashy players, but those whom I’ve come to appreciate more and more (maybe, in part, because it reminds me of my own style) are the simple, consistent playmakers. To me, Xavi and Iniesta are brilliant. They are the maestros leading the show, and they do so with few touches and extremely simple decisions and techniques.”
Midfielder Yael Averbuch, a member of the US women’s national team and club Sky Blue FC, in her post on New York Times’ football blog, Goal.
“Every player from Cercle must be ambitious to ever play for Barcelona. If you ask me my ambitions as a trainer, I would say Barcelona coach. It was my goal as a player to be Barça related. Players must always aim for the top. They must believe in themselves.”
Bob Peeters, coach of Cercle Brugge, from an article in Dutch newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.
“Creativity, in this context, does not mean trickery, though there is some of that. It means orchestral passing. Spain exclude the opposition from the game. They have mastered the art of circulation and space manipulation. At Barcelona’s urging the nation’s team turned their backs on power and automation in favour of agility and self-expression.”
Paul Hayward writes in the UK newspaper The Guardian about Spain’s tactics and its endurance.
“No side containing Carles Puyol could be accused of disdain for passion or physicality. Beneath those cherub’s curls is the face of a man you might not want to encounter in a darkened side street off the Rambla del Raval. He may not wear the national team’s armband, but he has behaved throughout this tournament exactly as he does when captaining Barcelona, and the marvellous headed goal that eliminated Germany in the semi-final – a technical achievement on a par with any of David Villa’s goals – was perhaps the key moment of the entire campaign.”
Richard Williams, in an article published in The Guardian (UK) about the World Cup champions, La Roja.
“Sneijder and me are not the world’s best, that would be Messi. It’s a pity for him that Argentina has been eliminated…. To me being World Champion is much more important [than individual acknowledgment].”
FC Barcelona and Spanish International Xavi Hernandez, speaking at a press conference before the World Cup final.
“When you look at Spain, you see Barcelona, you see Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and Pedro in midfield, players who want the ball but then will put pressure on high up the pitch to win it back.”
“Spain, a replica of Barca, is the best publicity for football. Who am I supporting? I am Dutch but I support the football that Spain is playing.”
“That comparison makes no sense. For me he is still by far the best. I’m very realistic, I know exactly what I can and can not [do on the field].”
Dutch international and Bayern Munich star Arjen Robben, when asked about the comparisons between him and Lionel Messi.
“I’m a footballing romantic just like Cruyff. We like football that is attractive, attacking and easy on the eye. When you win playing like this it’s twice as satisfying…. I’ve always played attacking football: my footballing ideals are very clear and well-defined. I’ve grown up at Barcelona with that style and that’s the one I like. I think it’s good to win like that, by taking the initiative right from the off.”
FC Barcelona’s midfielder Xavi Hernandez, in an exclusive interview with FIFA.
“Here (Spain’s national team) they give us much more information than they do at Arsenal, definitely. At Arsenal we don’t really look at anything from the other team, we look for ourselves and that’s it. Here, maybe two three days before the game, we start looking at some videos, we know more or less the starting eleven that is going to play … we know nearly everything about them.
You just have to have your group of friends here, you play cards, you play Playstation, you have fun. We train morning, afternoon, go to sleep early … you don’t have much time to think about it really.”
Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal Captain and Spain international speaking to BBC.
“I am very confident that Arsenal will end up understanding the situation. For Cesc the best thing would be to complete the transfer as soon as possible, before the start of the World Cup. But I recognize that it will be complicated because Arsenal are totally within their rights to stand firm and we have to respect that.”
FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta, commenting on the lines of communication between Barcelona and Arsenal about Fabregas’ bid, at a conference in the Universidad de Vic entitled ‘Barça, more than a club. The keys to a successful plan’.
“When you get older, it’s good to have all the memories of your career on hand and I wanted this cup [Champions League trophy] so that my kids and all my family can be reminded of everything I achieved with Barca.”
Former Barcelona player and current Chelsea player, Juliano Belletti (33), commenting on the European Champions League cup replica that the Club awarded him, in honor of the winning goal he scored against Arsenal in 2006.
“They [Real Madrid] are looking for ways to answer our model of football and I believe they have Barcelonitis. They are in a situation where Barcelona have won everything and they have not won a thing. We will continue to impose ourselves on the pitch and it will be up to them to find a response to our model.”
FC Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, commenting on the presentation of Real Madrid’s new coach Jose Mourinho.
“I’ve always seen him [Fabregas] as an excellent player and a great friend. You’ll hardly ever see him get wound up. He’s a very calm guy. We’d all like to know what his future holds, but right now he has a contract with Arsenal and nobody knows what’s going to happen. It’s only normal though, that great players are connected to great clubs”.
FC Barcelona captain, Carles Puyol, speaking at the Spain training camp.
“Well I don’t like focusing on one single player, the important thing is that the team played well, but he is a boy with great qualities and is one year younger than the others and that is very important. He’s worked well and is very young, we have to let him rest a bit now, but he is a very interesting player and I believe he has a very promising future.”
Spain U-17 coach, Gines Melendez, when asked about FC Barcelona starlet Gerard Deulofeu (16) during the post-match press conference after his team won their final group match against Portugal in the UEFA European U-17 Championship on Monday.
“For me it is an honor, pride and an important step in my career to be here now. I finally achieved one of my aspirations - to be a player of FC Barcelona. Pardon me, for I am a bit nervous. I will dedicate my life for this club. I hope that all the culés are delighted with my performance, and I’m sure things will be great.”
“There are perhaps five central midfielders in world football who can open up a field so artfully [as Cesc Fábregas] and two of them are already at Barcelona: Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta.”
Paul Hayward, in an article published in The Guardian, UK.
“The player must show his desire to play for the best team in the world considering he was once a blaugrana himself. Because of that, he needs to tell his (current) club he wants to come to Barca.”
“Experience tells us a player’s price becomes a lot more expensive after the World Cup, as such it would be wise if we can make any signings before then.”
“Messi is one of the best players at this moment just as Maradona was from another era. Messi has a decade left to demonstrate his capacity and secure his place in the annals of footballing history.
“He is reaching his full potential with Barcelona where he is given the freedom he craves, interacting with his teammates, and receiving and moving balls at a rapid pace. And because of that, he does not have to be concerned about (overcoming) Maradona or any one else (records).
“Pep knows best how to get the best out of him; keep him happy.”
“Everybody says Barca’s style of play is better, perhaps because it is more beautiful, more touching, more opulent, but at the end, all styles that lead to victory are important.”
“They’re two great players, perhaps the two best in the world, but the one who strikes me more is Messi. He does things that I had not seen done by any player in the world and I’ve seen them done by Messi in many games this season.”
“I’m sad because there won’t be a Spanish team in the Champions League final. It wasn’t a problem for me if [FC Barcelona] were to play the final in the Bernabéu. I’m not one who has those types of things in my head. The elimination was a shame. I have friends there, too.”
Real Madrid and Spanish International goalkeeper Iker Casillas at a press conference on Friday, April 30, 2010.
“I have mentioned Barcelona from the beginning as an example of the level that we have to reach. If we finally have to go against them that would be nice. And also in Madrid. Yes, that would be a dream.”
Bayern Munich and former FC Barcelona coach Louis Van Gaal, speaking at the post-match press conference (after his team secured their place in the Champions League Final in Madrid, triumphing against Lyon 3-0)
“I appreciate that they consider me among the best, but I think Lionel Messi is the best player in the world. What he does with the ball is incredible. And he scores so many goals. He’s been fantastic again this year. He’s the best player in the world.”
Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney speaks to Manchester United’s official website.
“Barça is a lot better than Inter and showed it in the last 15 minutes of the game the other day, when they trapped Inter in their own area. If they play like that again in the Camp Nou, I believe that they will be able to make amends.”
FC Barcelona Legend Carles Rexach
“I think there are no excuses for the trip. We are not a club that are looking for excuses. This is a great team that knows how to play. A very prestigious club, but the result can be overcome. The remaining 90 minutes are to be played at home. I hope Pedro’s goal is crucial.”
FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta
“Mourinho will enjoy this comedy terror. One of those knowing smirks will creep across his features. You can almost see his thought bubble: ‘Let these people burble about this little Argentinian boy and his magic. Let them have their fun. I’ll end it when that whistle blows.’”
“The neutral’s prayer, plainly, is that Mourinho fails in this dark assignment and ends up a broken man. It may be too simplistic to present him as a bringer of death to creative play but it would offend his nature to have to buy a ticket to the Leo Messi show.
“I watched Real Madrid against Almeria [on Thursday] and turned off after 30 minutes – it was unwatchable.”
The Arsenal FC manager giving his reason as to why Cesc Fabregas should not leave and play in Spain – claiming the EPL is a much better league for top players.
“He (Messi) does what we did when we were young in the plazas (open spaces). We would take the ball and dribble past the six worst players. He does it against professional players.
“I’m also very impressed with how he celebrates his success. If you see how the team celebrates his goals, it looks as if one of them has scored a hat-trick. Messi is generous and this allows everyone else to benefit from his success. He is not egotistical and has won the affections of the dressing room.”
“We are the only Spanish team left in the Champions League and that means Madrid and the rest of Spain is going to be behind us. The rivalry is now focused on the League but not in the Champions League.”
“If the situation has been the opposite, we would have liked Real Madrid to win it.”
“Knowing the club as I do, they will already be dreaming of May 22 and receiving the famous trophy on Madrid soil — it would be the greatest moment in their 111-year history. I learned all about what drives FC Barcelona during three highly enjoyable years there in the Eighties. Their slogan is ‘Mes que un club,’ Catalan for ‘More than a club.’ And it really is. In the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, the only place the locals could speak Catalan freely was in the Nou Camp, when the football was on…
…I became an adopted Catalan when I scored a hat-trick against Real Madrid in 1987 and the following month got four goals for England against Spain in the Bernabeu. The Barca fans couldn’t have been happier — I woke up to headlines in Barcelona along the lines of: ‘Catalan player scores four goals against Spain.’”
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