La Liga: FC Barcelona vs Racing Santander, El Sardinero, Sunday, February 1 2009, 17:00 CET

Barcelona marches on, and the next on the list is Racing! Again, this is a team we were not so lucky against in the first leg, so hopefully tomorrow's match will bring a better performance. It won't exactly be a walk in the park, but we stil firmly believe that our boys will be able to win this one without much difficulty.
Rafael Marquez has been included in the list for this match, after being out with injury ever since the first leg against Espanyol in the Copa Del Rey. Finally, he's back. We're really hoping to see him start, alongside Pique. Puyol is sidelined after acquiring an injury during last Thursday's match, and Keita also won't make this one since he's not yet recovered from a bruised knee.

Injury Report: Carles Puyol

After last being subbed out upon request during last night's match, it's now confirmed that our beloved Captain suffered from a small muscle tear in the back of his left thigh. We're not very surprised, since he's played about four matches in the last two weeks, and that's a high risk for overburdening. No worries though as it's not serious, and Carles should be back in action in around ten days' time.

Match Report: Barcelona 3-2 Espanyol

It's all about the youngsters! Bojan, Pique—Pique, Bojan—we just can't choose between them. Both of them were just equally amazing last night.

Bo was mind-blowing, incredibly determined and incredibly dangerous as he played out his best match this season, leading Barca to victory. He scored Barca's first and second goals, and the second one was so amazing, Messi himself couldn't have finished it off more beautifully.
Bojan led the attack, and the defense was all about Pique; he was fast and alert and simply unstoppable, and even came ahead to score Barca's third goal with a wondrous header.

Daniel Alves will soon be giving Xavi a run for his money as the King of assists, because with every new match he's always there to create the chances and set up the goals, while still maintaining his defensive duties, and last night was no exception. Sergio Busquets was simply shining, and showed that he can be as good as Yaya Toure when it comes to thwarting the defense and gaining back possession.

As a whole, the team could have done better. This is a match in which general performance was wanting, but a few individual talents stood out. Bojan and Pique were the stars of the night, and this match is, for them, truly unforgettable. But Barca has to be careful, because the 3-0 lead turned swiftly into 3-2 after our players grew lazy. The boys got too comfortable with their lead and the pace simply slowed down, and if in this match it didn't make a difference in the outcome, in another it will. Also, Pinto was completely unimpressive, conceding what should have been an easy save and acting very slow on the whole...

But we're not going to let that mar our elation for Gigi and Bo. All the elements of exuberence, youth talent, blue eyes and hot hair are brought together in this magic duo, and if watching them play is exciting, seeing them celebrate together is just sensational.

Random: Camp Nou, the Second Wonder

Camp Nou is truly the most amazing football stadium ever—our team's home pitch has been named second in the "Seven Wonders of the Sports World", a survey conducted among British fans.

The Formula 1 circuit in Monaco was deemed the first wonder of the sporting world, followed by our beloved Camp Nou; the Olympic Stadium in Beijing came third, and Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu managed to take fourth. The fifth place went to San Siro in Milan, closely beating out the Maracana Stadium in Brazil at sixth, while the cricket field in Melbourne, Australia, came in at seventh.

Injury Report: One More Month

After being out with injury since April, Gaby Milito's return date has been re-confirmed so many times that we really don't know what to believe anymore... however, the latest is that he could be ready to join in a month's time. He returned to the pitch earlier this week and had been taking part in training, and hopefully, this means that his recovery is going according to plan and there won't be anymore surprises and delays...

Transfer Talk: Villa and Silva

With the possibility that Thierry Henry or Samuel Eto'o or both might be leaving this summer—Henry because of his age and the offers he's been recieving, Eto'o because he's insisted on postponing his contract renewal—Pep and Txiki have been looking into possible replacements as part of the club's summer transfer plans. The main man to take Henry's place would be David Silva, and the position of Eto'o would preferably be filled by David Villa, with Benzema and Adebayor next on the list.

We don't think much of signing Adebayor, or, for that matter, the fickle-minded Benzema, who declares love for a different club every day; but Villa and Silva? As much as we want Eto'o to stay, that prospect is just too exciting. The flair and exuberence of spikey-haired Villa paired with the subtle skill of sweet, shy Silva gives the utmost in great performance on the pitch as well as complete and utter hotness. They're amazing together on both Spain and Valencia, and, if fortune smiles on us and the two come to Barca, they'll be just incredible here.

Copa Del Rey: FC Barcelona vs RCD Espanyol, Camp Nou, Thursday, January 29 2009, 21:30 CET

Tomorrow's match is the crucial second leg of the Copa, since the first round ended in a goal-less draw, and we're actually a bit anxious about this. Espanyol seem like they mean business, and we're by no means underestimating them, especially after the last match.
This game comes a bit late in the week for a midweek match, which means that the players will be well rested, especially as Barca are playing at home. Hopefully, we'll see a good perfomance and the team will come out with a good result...
Its highly unlikely Marquez or Keita will be available for this match, but apart from them the rest of the squad is good to go. Also, Pep has called up three players from Barca Atletic; Víctor Vázquez, Jeffren and goalkeeper Miño; they've been training with the team and are apparently part of Pep's plan for Espanyol.

Gossip on the Guys: Samu's New Look

Samuel Eto'o has gone and gotten a new haircut, and we're not too sure how we feel about it. The completely shaven head with just that sole strip of hair in the back is really making us cringe, and it's also reminding us of that awful hairstlye worn by Ronaldo in the 2002 World Cup.
Ah, for the days back in 2007 when Samu's hair was long and he sported a bit of beard...

Injury Report: Recovering

The two gents on our injured list are slowly getting better. First is Rafael Marquez, who returned to training yesterday for the first time since his injury. He's not fully recovered yet but he's improving, working aside from the squad on some physical work and ball exercises.

Then we have Seydou Keita, who's been experiencing problems with his right knee after recieving a blow on it during Barca's Copa clash with Espanyol; Keita's been doing recuperation work in the gym.

Get well quick, dears!

Gossip on the Guys: Leo in Love?

We've all heard the stories linking darling dimpled Messi to several girls in the past, but it was never certain whether any of it was really true. We personally think that they were nothing more than rumours, as Messi never spoke about the matter and he was never actually seen with anyone. Most of all, we'd hardly expect Leo to be hooking up with a fourteen year old girl (Macarena Lemos) or a plastic model seven years his senior (Luciana Salazar).

But now, during an interview he did last night with TV3, for the first time Leo actually spoke about his love life. It was just one sentence: "Yes, I have a girlfriend and she is living in Argentina."

But it's enough. There you have it, straight from Messi's mouth, he is dating someone! We're just itching to find out who she is, but it looks like we'll have to wait as Leo's not being very open about it.

Also, we're a bit curious as to how this relationship actually works with them living in seperate continents.

Birthday Boy: Xavi Hernandez

It's Xavi's Birthday today and he turns twenty nine, but he looks and plays like he's twenty five. He's as phenomenal as ever, and with every year, he just gets better and better. Xavi is such an important icon of Barcelona, one of the most devoted players ever and a true Barcaman. Whether for his incredible talent or appealing looks, having him on our team is so incredible and we can't appreciate him enough. Here's wishing Xavi a wonderful birthday and a mind-blowing season!

Barca Buzz: The Best Team in Modern Football

It's more than fans claiming that Barca are the best team in the world just because we support them. Here its is, all in the statistics people: Barcelona is the best team in modern football ever, read it and weep, in the all-time club world ranking put together by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). The top five on the list:

1. Barcelona (Spain) 757

2. Manchester United (England) 678

3. Juventus (Italy) 621

4. AC Milan (Italy) 611

5. Real Madrid (Spain) 605

Whether you want to look at current form or past achievements, manner of play or cold hard statistics, Barca's the best, and there's no denying it.

Match Report: Barcelona 4-1 Numancia

Barcelona truly are unstoppable... the second half of the season opens up with yet another spectacular victory, with four lovely goals, wonderful performances from everyone, and altogether, an awesome match... and sweet revenge over Numancia.

Truth be told the lads were a bit slow at first; but once things fired up there was no stopping them.

Messi is more and more spectacular with every match he plays. He scored the opening and closing goals, and also set up the third one before Henry beautifully finished it off; and was his usual magical self all through the match. And Eto'o is purely unstoppable; his attack was relentless and he had oh so many lovely chances, besides scoring the second goal; and sticking out his tongue like that to celebrate the goal was just utterly adorable.

We're happy too that Bojan got some minutes, even though he looked as if he'd just woken up, with touseled hair and half-tucked shirt, but cute nonetheless.

La Liga: FC Barcelona vs Numancia, Camp Nou, Saturday, January 24 2009, 22:00 CET

Second half of the season starts with this match, as we go back around to destroy—er, play everyone again.
Barca didn't exactly have a picnic against Numancia the first time, so tomorrow's match means revenge! No newly-promoted-from-the-second-division-team is going to stand in our way, not now. Our gents should be able to thrash them easily; we're really looking forward to an entertaining match.
Apart from Marquez, everyone should be available. Lovely Pique didn't play in Barca's last match so we're looking forward to seeing him this time.

Transfer Talk: Interest in Guddy and Titi

Manchester City is the new Real Madrid! They're trying to buy up every star they can get their hands on, and next on the list is our very own Thierry Henry. After wasting the winter transfer period unsuccessfully trying to sign AC Milan's Kaka, now they're looking ahead to summer transfers, and Henry is their top priority. Apparently he is the player who meets their needs for an iconic signing to raise their commercial profile as well as their prospects on the pitch, and its reported that negotiation talks have recently begun. If the transfer takes place, City will be paying anything between ten and fifteen million Euros, and they'll match the salary Titi currently recieves.

Elsewhere, the Blackburn Rovers have expressed an interest in signing Gudjhonsen. Their manager, Sam Allardyce, is said to be very eager to sign Guddy, whose current contract expires in 2010 and could be available for about two million Euros.