FC Barcelona News

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?

The 1-0 result against Manchester United means that Barcelona is certain to remain with put a trophy this season. Despite playing well for much of the match, the team simply didn’t have the stamina to put the goal in the back of the net, as a 1-1 draw was all they needed.

Manchester played well too, and there is no doubt that they deserve to go through, but this will come as a further blow to Barça which must be planning some big changes over the summer.

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.

Despite the fear that Barcelona would be completely overwhelmed by Manchester United last night, it didn’t happen. And despite the fact that Barcelona dominated possession throughout the match, once again the weakness of the team to actually score was highlighted once again.

Manchester should have gone one goal up early in the first half, but a penalty kicked by Cristiano Ronaldo failed to make it home. Despite several attacks on Manchesters goal, Barça was unable to capitalize and the end result was a goalless draw again.

Barça may be feeling happy that Manchester didn’t beat them at home; but the second leg will be in Manchester’s favour and the support of the home crowd may be all that’s required to put them through.

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.

Despite being just outside the relegation zone, Recreativo managed to tie 2-2 with Barcelona on Saturday night. For a moment it looked as if Barcelona were on top form, when Samuel Eto’o stormed ahead and scored in the second minute. However, the pace settled down and it was clear that Barcelona’s problems are still not behind them.

Whatever the result, it was clear that even allowing for bad luck Barça were not on form. Carlos Marcos’ goal in the 41st minute was clearly saved by Victor Valdes in the playback, but that is the nature of football. And when Eto’o scored again in the 46th minute it looked as if Barcelona might be able to take the three points. Recreativo weren’t going to allow it though at Marcos again scored, this time in the 71st minute.

Although not on top of their game it was noticeable that Eto’o is being highly supportive of Frank Rijkaard. While Rijkaard must be finding life tough at the moment, it must do him some good to know that somewhere he has some support.

Barcelona are currently 9 points behind Real Madrid and just 1 ahead of Villarreal.

Once again Barcelona scraped by against Schalke, with a 1-0 win that was barely deserved. Barça was booed by its own supporters and Schalked applauded for their tight performance that didn’t quite pay off. Barcelona’s single goal came from  Yaya Toure in the 43rd minute, although the only player who seemed to be in form - for a change - was Bojan Krkic.

Barcelona face Manchester United in the sem-finals, but it is hard to imagine going any further on current form.

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.

Barcelona’s Champions League match against Schalke was a disaster, despite the fact that they finished winning 1-0. Bojan seems to be one of the only players to have any substance to him, and it was he who scored in the 12th minute.

However, after scoring Barcelona seemed to relax, and although Schalke aren’t in the same class, they were unlucky not to score before the half time whistle. Back on the pitch for the second 45 minutes, Barcelona seemed to lack energy and focus. Their play was sloppy and nowhere near what they are at their best. They were extremely lucky to walk out off the pitch with a win, as the last few minutes saw Schalke repeatedly attacking the Barça goal. It wasn’t to be though and Barça must await the second leg of the quarter final knowing that they have to do better.

With the team out of the Copa del Rey, dropping into third place in the league and showing such poor skills on pitch, it remains how long Frank Rijkaard can remain at Barcelona. There has been much speculation about his imminent departure, but surely there will be a massive change throughout the club come the end of the season.

A disastrous result against Betis on Saturday combined with good results for Real Madrid and Villarreal combined to not only open Madrid’s gap, but also for Barcelona to fall to third place in the league.

After ending the first half 2 goals up with goals from Bojan Krkic and Samuel Eto’o, Barcelona switched down a gear for the second half, while Betis got down to work. With three goals inside a 15 minute goal scoring window, Barcelona walked away with no points.

Training on Sunday morning looked to be tense, with Barça supporters taunting players, calling them mercenaries.