Just Barcelona News

It is maybe just as well that Barcelona have already secured the Spanish title, because we have seen the team struggle at times without the magic of Lionel Messi, and the number 10 of Barca and Argentina may have suffered a relapse of his recent hamstring problems against Atletico Madrid last night.

The 25-year old goal machine will be hoping that he recovers in time for the next three games, because he is just four goals short of the record he set last season in La Liga of 50 goals. It was Messi himself who decided to come off and it was not spotted straight away, because Vilanova had already used his three substitutes.   .....Read more here.......

The party started on the streets of Barcelona and all over Catalunya last night, with isolated pockets of celebration all over Spain and around the world. FC Barcelona were confirmed as winners of La Liga and the Spanish title holders for the fourth time in five years after Real Madrid could only manage a draw at Espanyol.

The troubles between the Real Madrid players and Jose Mourinho continued yesterday, with Cristiano Ronaldo being left on the bench after directing some abuse at Mourinho after scoring in midweek. He did come on in the second half as Madrid were struggling to get any control of the game. They should have been a lot more than one behind, but Espanyol missed a number of chances and an awful decision by the officials ruled out a perfectly good second.   .....Read more here.......

There have been wild speculations in the Spanish press this week around a player who was previously believed to have agreed a deal with Barcelona. The young Brazilian star Neymar is one of the hottest properties in the sport and would interest any club in the world, but it was thought that Barca had sealed the deal. The Catalan club have, reportedly, already made a down payment to Santos and the player although the transfer was not expected to happen.   .....Read more here.......

Barcelona are looking to make quite a few changes this summer in a bid to freshen up the team in the aftermath of the Chempions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich. The most obvious area that needs strengthening is the defence, but there will probably be players coming and going all over the pitch.

With David Villa probably on his way out of the Nou Camp this summer, Barca definitely need some more attacking threat, because there is too much reliance on Lionel Messi. Nobody really gave a second thought to the Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney, but in the wake of Alex Ferguson announcing his retirement, it has emerged that Rooney wants to move on as well.   .....Read more here.......

It would not have been the best way to win the Spanish title if Barcelona had got it by default last night. That did not happen, though, because Real Madrid beat Malaga 6-2 at the Bernabeu. They still need to beat Espanyol on Saturday to have any hope of retaining the Spanish title, but that will disappear if Barca can win at the Vicente Calderon stadium on Sunday.   .....Read more here.......

By beating Real Betis on Sunday, Barcelona went some way to getting over the Champions League disappointment against Bayern Munich. The win also put them on the brink of clinching the Spanish Primera Liga title for the 22nd time and the fourth time in five years. In fact, Barca could win it this week without playing, if Real Madrid fail to beat Malaga at the Bernabeu tomorrow.   .....Read more here.......

There has been a lot of talk in the media about Barcelona and what has happened to them recently. The fact that people see a Champions League semi-final loss as a disaster just shows how much Barca have dominated European football over the last few years. There have been two main thrusts to what football reporters and commentators have been saying.

The first is about it being the end of an era, not just for Barcelona but for the style of play known as tiki-taka. This is blatantly ridiculous, because the other main proponent of this style is Spain, the team that became the first ever to win three international tournaments in a row.   .....Read more here.......

Not too long ago, Barcelona were 16 points clear at the top of the Spanish Primera Liga table, but a poor run of form which has also seen an ignominious Champions League double defeat by Bayern Munich has seen that slip a bit. Real Madrid just managed to get the better of Valladolid in a seven goal thriller yesterday, so a win against Real Betis today would not be enough to confirm the title.   .....Read more here.......