According to reports carried out by Spanish outlet AS, Barcelona attacker Lionel Messi is set to be offered a whopping €500 million five year contract by Chinese outfit Hebei China Fortune. It is no secret that Lionel Messi and Barcelona share a mutual love for each other and many feel that the Argentine international will never be leaving his beloved club. That said, reports have emerged recently claiming that Messi could well end up departing Barcelona during the summer of 2018 as he has not yet agreed a contract extension with the Catalan giants. Premier League outfit Manchester … [Read more...]
Barcelona’s Top Three performers against Granada
Lionel Messi Lionel Messi is widely expected to claim the Balon d’Or award in the gala which is set to take place in Zurich on Monday and his wonderful performance in Barcelona’s 4-0 victory over Granada served to show exactly why. Messi was simply sensational on the day and managed to fire three past the hapless Granada backline. The Argentine genius has been delivering such majestic performances on a consistent basis throughout 2015 and there is no doubt whatsoever that he deserves the title as the ‘Best Player in the World’. Arda Turan Following a mediocre debut for Barcelona in the Copa … [Read more...]
Barcelona 2015/2016 Season Preview
Last week Barcelona opened their 2015-2016 season in the same fashion they ended last season: by winning another trophy. Their 5-4 extra time victory over Seville, gave the club their 4th trophy of the calendar year. The celebration was quickly ruined however by a crushing 4-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup and then a 1-1 draw back in Nou Camp. Bilbao's victory handed them their first trophy in 41 years and ensured that Pep's 2009 Barcelona squad remains the only European club to win 6 trophies in a calendar year. … [Read more...]
Copa del Rey Final: Three Key Battles
Barcelona will look to seal their second trophy of an incredible season against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to maintain their chances of winning the treble. Having already wrapped up the La Liga title, the Copa del Rey would sign off their domestic season in some style ahead of the Champions League Final against Juventus. The match will be staged at the Nou Camp, much to Barca's advantage, and is also expected to be the final match on home soil for midfielder Xavi which would make it an even more special occasion. Despite having already qualified for the Europa League by finishing 7th, … [Read more...]
Lionel Messi leads our La Liga team of the week
Barcelona are champions, what else matters? And we might as well even go on and tag the Barcelona side the team of the penultimate round of La Liga games, and we won’t be so far from the truth – especially after they pulled off a 1-0 win at the Vicente Calderon…But so much more mattered. Valencia and Sevilla were at the forefront of a fight for the final Champions League spot, while the battle at the bottom was fierce as always. … [Read more...]
Barcelona stars lead our La Liga team of the week following 8-0 rout at the weekend
The La Liga title race is going down to the wire but the elite players of Spain’s top tier are certainly stepping up to make it a worthy contest. … [Read more...]
Infographic: Lionel Messi’s penalty misses
If there's one glaring weakness in Lionel Messi's near-perfect game, it is his penalty taking. Lately the Barcelona record-breaker has made headlines because of his awry penalties rather than the bucketload of goals he grabs every week. His miss against Manchester City last night was the fifth penalty Messi has missed in the last 12 months for club and country, proving that he is in fact human after all. It is a weakness slowly growing into Messi's game after he had almost perfected the art of penalty taking, rarely missing from the spot. However, it appears as if an element of pressure has … [Read more...]
Messi outshining CR7 as Barca surge continues
Barcelona and Lionel Messi are breaking records once again, rekindling the memories of the team that won multiple honours under Pep Guardiola. The club have won their last 11 games since defeat at Real Sociedad, equalling the run set under Guardiola in 2008/09. Manager Luis Enrique received plenty of criticism early on in the season, yet is quick to dismiss these records comparing him to Guardiola and Tito Vilanova. "I care about titles, not records," the former Barca man was quoted at the weekend. Enrique may receive his titles with the club firing in all three major competitions, and Real … [Read more...]
The best La Liga XI of the 21st Century
La Liga has hosted many of the modern day greats. Yet, many pundits in the United Kingdom are keen to criticise the apparent monopolization of resources by Barcelona and Real Madrid. Is this really any different to Manchester United and Liverpool until recently, anyway? Or in Germany where Bayern Munich essentially buy off the competition? Or about in Italy where Juventus appear to be on track for a fourth Serie A title? Since 2000, five, yes five different teams in La Liga have won the league. This number is more than all the other major leagues, including England. Valencia, Deportivo, … [Read more...]
FC Barcelona in turmoil
Any way you want to define it, Barcelona is in turmoil: Throughout this season their play has been lackluster and the team has lacked a definite identity, the transfer ban was upheld ensuring that the club cannot sign any new players till January 2016, the president had to resign due to less than professional behavior, their director of football—Zubizarreta— was fired, club legend Carlos Puyol stepped down from his administrative position, on Monday their star player skipped practice in what is being reported as a power play to force out the Luis Enrique as the coach, and if you … [Read more...]