FC Barcelona News

“David beats Goliath” is how the Catalan television news put it, but however it is expressed there can be no doubt that Barcelona should have won this match. Once again the team is playing little differently from under the steardship of Frank Rijkaard, with plenty of opportunities that are wasted. Josep Guardiola needs to make a difference, or his honeymoon period with the fans will be very short lived.

If you’ve been waiting for pricing details for FC Barcelona you’ll be happy to know that the wait is over! We’ve just finished adding prices to the website and so you can order now.

We have availability for ALL home matches including Real Madrid in December - for this match in particular make sure you book soon because ickets sell like hotcakes and availability is limited.

The new manager in the shape of Pep Guardiola, who played in Cruyff’s dream team” in the golden years of Barça, is something of an unknown uantity, having no experience of managing a club at the level of Barcelona  he was the coach of the B team before Frank Rijkaard was sacked and very much the popular choice among Barcelona fans, although there is a
significant minority who don’t like him.

And it’ll be interesting to see how Lionel Messi does in a fundamentally altered squad - will he continue to play a leading role as he did in the last season, when it often seemed like he was the only player on the pitch?

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The Spanish League fixtures have now been drawn, with Barcelona v Real Madrid on 14 December. Other notable dates include the two Barcelona derbies on the weekends of 27/28 September and 21/22 February. Click here for details of the Spanish League 08/09.

That’s it for the year, with Frank Rijkaard’s final match as manager of FC Barcelona. The Catalans visited Murcia on Saturday, where they provided a massive goal-scoring display - the final result was Murcia 3, Barcelona 5. In many ways this is the end of an era for Barça - perhaps it fell short of reaching the heights of Cruyff’s dream team, but despite this last season, it has been a hugely successful team. However, the days when Ronaldinho could do no wrong are long past and it’s time for him to find a team where he can return to his former glory; and it is for Barcelona to replan, refocus and build an equally strong side.

Frank Rijkaard’s final appearance as Barça’s manager at the Nou Camp ended in another humiliating defeat for the Catalan club.

After going 2-0 up following goals from Henry and Eto’o , Mallorca fought back and equalised. However, they  made good use of injury tim, scoring a third goal in the 93rd minute, securing a victory against Barcelona. The small number of supporters who attended the match showed their clear displeasure at Deco, Henry and Eto’o, who were continuously booed throughout the match.

However, appreciation was shown towards Frank Rijkaard and despite him leaving with Barça in a seemingly poor condition, his time with the club is sure to be remembered fondly once Barcelona has moved on.

Once again Barcelona were humiliated, this time in El Classico at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. For most of the match there may as well have been three players in the Barça squad, with only Messi, Puyol and Valdes showing any kind of spirit. Goal after goal was delivered by Real Madrid in the pouring rain, so much so it was painful to watch and when Deco was shown the yellow card in the second half, his comment to the ref saw him expelled,  surely done to get aware from the slaughter as soon as possible.

The only compensation came towards the end when Messi passed a long ball to Henry, who put it in the net - small compensation for a 4-1 defeat though.

Following Barça’s ejection from Champions League following their defeat by Manchester United and the near certainty of Real Madrid winning the league - which they did last night - the pressure has come right off the squad, although theoretically they should be fighting for second place in the league. During the week we had the news that 10 members of the squad would be put up for sale means that next year the team will look very unfamiliar, surely deflating some fantastically overinflated egos.

So how is it, at the very moment that it doesn’t matter, Barça was able to beat Valencia 6-0?

Valencia certainly have had their share of problems this season, but remember that they managed to knock Barça out of the Copa del Rey.

I ask again; how is it possible for Barcelona to beat Valencia 6-0?

Barcelona appears to have given up the fight for the league title in favour of concentrating on the Champion League trophy after fielding a second rate team on Saturday night that lost 2-0 to Deportivo. With Messi spotted at the Spanish Grand Prix at Montmelo and first team goalkeeper Victor Valdes among those being rested, Barça struggled to get anywhere. Let’s hope that this strategy pays off, as Barcelona are now fighting for second place in the league and Tuesday is the big decider in Europe against Manchester United.

Saturday night saw Espanyol visit the Nou Camp in the goalless return leg of the Barcelona derby. With Madrid winning again, their lead over Barcelona, now placed third in the league, is now 11 points.

Meanwhile Samuel Eto’l has apparently indicated that should Barcelona win no trophies next season he will be leaving.

On Saturday night it looked as if Barcelona might be able to close the gap with Madrid again, when Mallorca hosted a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid, but Getafe’s visit to the Nou Camp on Sunday ended in a goalless draw. However, with Villarreal losing against Sevilla, Barcelona was able to close the gap to second place and although remaining in third they are on equal points.

Barça fans were vocal in their displeasure of the result, with Barcelona’s attack running out of steam again and again. Although there were opportunities, they were unable to do anything with them, with the ball striking the post on three occassions.