Just Barcelona News

It has been a long, hard season for FC Barcelona, with injuries hitting the squad hard throughout. La Liga is wrapped up and, although there is a chance to equal the 100 points record set by Real Madrid last season, Tito Vilanova is not too concerned with the result against Valladolid tonight.

The Camp Nou will be a place of celebration and Vilanova has hinted that he will rest a few of the players who are tired and give games to some of the second string whose chances have been limited. Valdes is expected to return in goal and Mascherano has recovered from injury and could play, but there may be starting places for the likes of Bartra, Montoya, Thiago and others.   .....Read more here.......

It is becoming clear that the transfer of Neymar to Barcelona is going to be far from simple. Representatives from the Nou Camp are in Brazil to meet with representatives of the striker and his club Santos, but their initial terms have been rejected, according to the Santos vice-president Odilio Rodrigues.

“There is no agreement for Neymar, there are talks. I met Rosell and Raul Snhelli last week,” Rodrigues explained on Radio A Xarxa.

“We had a very frank conversation. Talks need to continue because the offer was not good enough.

“We know Real Madrid will make an offer too.   .....Read more here.......

It was reported in the Spanish media last week that the Brazilian striker Neymar’s move to FC Barcelona could be in jeopardy. It is thought that an agreement has been in place between the Spanish champions, Neymar and his current club Santos for some time, but representatives of Real Madrid went to Brazil offering ridiculous sums of money to try to hijack the transfer.

This appears to have sparked officials at Barca into action, according to Mundo Deportivo. They have apparently decided to push the transfer forward rather than wait until next summer and are already in Brazil to negotiate this, the paper reports.   .....Read more here.......

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.......

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.......