Just Barcelona News

Apart from the true stalwarts at Barcelona, every player will have a little concern over his future at the Nou Camp. The media are full of stories about the team being rebuilt and there are rumours of mass transfers in and out of the club.

One of the big names mentioned as coming into Barca is the Brazilian striker Neymar, so that means the other strikers, except Messi of course, may feel a little vulnerable. With just five league goals all season, the Spanish international Pedro must know that he could be one of the players at risk, but he insists that he is determined to fight for his place. His game time in La Liga has been limited to just 20 starts, because there are Alexis and Tello to consider as well.   .....Read more here.......

Barcelona play the first leg of the Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes tonight, and they are determined to avoid the pressure that they put themselves under in the last round. The turnaround against AC Milan at the Nou camp was magnificent, but was always in danger because of Barca failing to score an away goal.

Towards the end against Milan, the Italian side had a few scoring chances which would have been a disaster, and it was not until Jordi Alba scored at the end that the result was secured. We must avoid that happening again, and the best way to do that is to score a goal tonight.   .....Read more here.......

Despite having taken the Barcelona training session yesterday, Tito Vilanova was not in the dugout for the trip to Celta Vigo. He did pick the team, however, and obviously had the game against Paris Saint-Germain on his mind. David Villa, Iniesta, Busquets and Mascherano were on the bench, while injury and suspension meant that Puyol, Xavi, Alba and Valdes were unavailable. That meant a much weakened side, with some young players getting the chance to impress.

Starting Line Up;
Pinto
Alves, Bartra, Pique, Montoya
Song, Thiago, Fabregas
Alexis, Messi, Tello   .....Read more here.......

After Barcelona held a meeting in the week to talk about the recent struggles, there were a number of changes made to the starting line up for yesterday’s Primera Liga match against bottom club Deportivo. Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, Alba and Pique were all rested.

There was still plenty of quality in the team and Barca completely dominated possession but could not get the breakthrough goal until near the end of the first half. The good news is that they were creating plenty of chances, and it was Alexis Sanchez that finally finished one off with a good header from a pinpoint Dani Alves cross.   .....Read more here.......

There is no official confirmation of when, or even if, the young Brazilian superstar Neymat will become a Barcelona player. According to the Brazilian media, however, it is merely a matter of when, and the consensus seems to be that the transfer will be completed in the summer.

According to Mundodeportivo, the club have been negotiating the terms of Neymar’s arrival for the last 18 months. The 21-year old was believed to be keen to stay at his club Santos until the summer of 2014, when the World cup will be played in Rio, but the belief now is that the striker feels that the time has come to move to the big time in Europe. Neymar already has 17 goals from his 28 senior international games, and has gained enough experience at club level in Brazil.   .....Read more here.......

Barcelona were determined not to let a couple of games, including the first league defeat of the season, derail the Barca juggernaut, and a 5-1 defeat of Osasuna at the Nou Camp was just what was needed, especially with a visit to the Bernabeu coming up on Wednesday. Christiano Ronaldo had scored a hat-trick for Real Madrid in an earlier kick-off, but he will have had his day spoilt by Lionel Messi eclipsing his achievement once again and scoring four.   .....Read more here.......

Tito Vilanova will be glad that this was only the first of two legs in the Copa Del Rey, because Barcelona squandered a great chance to win the game. Malaga were excellent and put pressure on the home side throughout. Barcelona should still have won the game, but the two best chances were spurned by the Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez.

Vilanova did not rest as many of his Barcelona first team players as usual, aware that Malaga would be well organised and good on the ball, and so it proved. The visitors took the lead after Manuel Iturra pounced on a slack piece of play by the generally good Thiago Alcantara to steal the ball and slot it Past Pinto in the Barca goal.   .....Read more here.......

If anybody thought that the Barcelona and Spain striker, David Villa, was past his best and would never recover his goal scoring abilities following his long time out with a horrendous injury, then they were seriously mistaken. The 31-year old proved last night that he is still one of the best strikers in world football with a stunning double against Cordoba in the Copa Del Rey.   .....Read more here.......