This Sunday sees Villareal welcome Barcelona to El Madrigal, in what is undoubtedly the game of the weekend. Despite the absence of several key men, Barca have enjoyed a straightforward start to their La Liga campaign, with a 3-0 win over Elche last week thanks to the reliable shooting boots of Lionel Messi. Villarreal, by contrast, were less convincing in their 2-0 victory over Levante. … [Read more...]
Barcelona v Elche match preview
The La Liga opening weekend is upon us and ‘los cules’ open up their season at the Camp Nou against Elche CF. A fresh face on the sidelines in Luis Enrique, he will be hoping to start off with three points and keep ground on the always tight La Liga race for the title. FC Barcelona will look to forget a trophyless season, while Elche will look to improve on last season’s finish as they just avoided relegation. … [Read more...]
The FC Barcelona query
It is really hard to remember the last time Barcelona were looking into the new season with so many question marks over their head, probably not since Pep Guadiola was first appointed coach. Since then, Barcelona had two mini cycles. First was defined by Pep's legacy, in which the late Tito Vilanova managed to win the title but subsequently failed to repeat that level of performance in the Champions league, whilst dealing with a life threatening disease. Last season Tata Martino made a huge leap away from the Barcelona that was lauded as the 'best Barca team in history', installing new ideas … [Read more...]
Ones to Watch in La Liga – Almeria to Celta Vigo
With the new season just days away, we have assembled a list of players who are most likely to cause an unexpected stir in La Liga this season. La Liga has been the breeding ground for the Premier League for a few seasons now, and some of these future stars could be bound for England next summer. Almeria There was no mistaking which area Almeria struggled most with last season as they survived in La Liga by a whisker, despite conceding a whopping 71 times. If anything, credit must go to the attacking department, for without their contributions, Almeria would have been sent straight back down … [Read more...]
Player Focus – Sergi Roberto (Barcelona)
Last season saw a somewhat rise to prominence for 22-year-old La Masia graduate Sergi Roberto. Making 27 appearances in the first team last season, the young midfielder was often the first choice to rotate into the Barcelona line-up when key first team players – Xavi, Iniesta, Fàbregas – were either injured or being rested. … [Read more...]
Battle for the Barcelona number one
Barcelona fans will have awoken to the news this morning that goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen injured his back in a training session on Monday afternoon. He will now train alone for the next few days while the extent of the damage is analysed. The young German shot-stopper, along with Chilean custodian Claudio Bravo, are new signings at Camp Nou this season as the club aims to replace the seemingly irreplaceable and influential Víctor Valdés who decided to take up the option of departing the club on a free transfer to stimulate himself with new challenges having amassed an amazing 21 major … [Read more...]
Vermaelen an astute signing for Barca
FC Barcelona has been quite busy this transfer window in preparation for the 2014/2015 La Liga season and their latest signing is Belgian center-back Thomas Vermaelen from Arsenal. The fee is reported to be around 10 million Euros and consists of a five year deal according to fcbarcelona.com. The former Arsenal captain will bring much needed depth to a Barcelona back line that has been lacking true center-backs bar Pique and Bartra. … [Read more...]
Valencia’s Mathieu pushing for Barca move
Valencia defender Jeremy Mathieu has issued a statement in an attempt to get his club negotiating with Barcelona ahead of a possible transfer. The club want up to €20m for the defender but Barcelona have been put off by the figure, offering around €14m initially. Mathieu, 30, was the subject of a bid from Barca but Valencia rejected the offer. Now desperate to clinch a deal to move to a club he calls 'the biggest in the world', Mathieu released a long statement clarifying his position and why he feels the club should reward his loyalty. "Valencia CF has an offer on their table from an … [Read more...]
Analyzing the Signing of Luis Suarez
With Barcelona publicly announcing the successful signing of Luis Suarez, the constant rumor has become a reality. When Neymar is fit and Suarez’s ban is over, Barcelona will boast a frontline that contains 3 of the best strikers in the world: Messi is the best in the world, Suarez was the best in the EPL last season, and Neymar was arguably the best at the World Cup. Thus, on paper Barcelona’s new attack looks nearly unstoppable. However, just because something looks good and sounds good, doesn’t mean it is. As such, it is worth analyzing the problems Suarez’s arrival could have, as Eric … [Read more...]
Dos Santos brothers to reunite at Villarreal
Jonathan dos Santos will link up with his brother Giovanni once again after he completed a €2m move to Villarreal from Barcelona. The Mexican pair came up through the Barca academy but will now represent the Yellow Submarines in La Liga next season. JDS has agreed a five-year-deal with Villarreal, ending 12 years at Barcelona where he found first-team football tough to come by. He made just 28 appearances for Barcelona in a period of his career blighted by serious injury. A cruciate knee injury in October last year left the 24-year-old on the sidelines for many months during the previous … [Read more...]