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.......

The pain of defeat, and the manner of it, was written large over the faces of all the Barcelona players last night. There is no time to feel sorry for themselves, though, as the next game is another Clasico against Real Madrid, this time in the Primera Liga at the Bernabeu on Saturday.

Barcelona have hit a poor run of form at precisely the wrong time in the season, prompting suggestions that the players are tired from too many games and not enough rotation. The performance was similar to the one against AC Milan last week, with Barca looking slow and predictable, and Messi struggling to influence the play. Even the passing was not sharp, and very few chances were created.   .....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.......

The hype and expectation surrounding the build up to this game was huge, but Barcelona and Malaga did not disappoint, producing a fantastic feast of football. Barcelona’s relentless passing game finally wore down the resistance of Malaga, but the result was in doubt right until the last 10 minutes.

Barcelona now face Real Madrid three times in a month. The first leg of the semi-final will be played next Wednesday at the Bernabeu. The second leg will not be played until the end of February, followed that weekend by the Primera Liga game in Madrid. Madrid will host Barca next week without Casillas, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Coentrao and Di Maria. It is hard enough playing Barca with three of your best defenders missing, but when your keeper is out as well that is a nightmare.   .....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.......

David Villa has been getting increasingly frustrated with his lack of playing opportunities for FC Barcelona, so he will want to prove his worth against Cordoba tonight. After playing for just 50 minutes as a substitute in the last six league games, Villa will start in the Copa Del Rey tonight.

There will be a number of first team regulars who are not in the team, including Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro and Pique, who are all rested. Adriano has failed a fitness test so will also miss out. Messi is in the squad but may not start, which raises more questions about the relationship between the two strikers. It is more likely, however, that they occupy the same position so are not ideally suited to playing together, although they have done so with some success when Villa has played this season.   .....Read more here.......

Tito Vilanova was back in charge of Barcelona for the Catalan derby against Espanyol, and it could hardly have gone better for him. With Barcelona 4-0 ahead by half time, Espanyol must have been fearing a cricket score, but Barca lost some of their urgency, understandably, and that remained the score until the end.

Pedro was unlucky not to get a hat-trick, having seen two perfectly good goals chalked off for offside. Pedro will be happy, though, as he was desperate to add to his tally of just one goal in the Primera liga this season. His performances have deserved more, and a bit of luck with a slight deflection from Messi’s shot settled his nerves. His second was taken with a striker’s skill and confidence, as were the two that were disallowed.   .....Read more here.......