Random: Purple Sweaters, Vic Talk, and More of Leo's Girlfriend

Fashion Choices: What is it with our players and purple sweaters these days? Eto'o and Yaya have both been caught in the hideous things, and we are really not liking. Yaya, Samu, please be sure to check with us before you ever consider coming on TV in something like that again.

Victor Bashing: Our man Victor Valdes has been criticised a lot lately following the goals he conceded against each of Lyon and Espanyol, and that's really been upsetting us. However, Pep isn't taking any part in it; on the contrary, our beloved coach continually renews his confidence in Victor, praising him for his "mental strength", saying that the keeper has proved his worth on the club and that he is entitled to making all the mistakes he wants. Good old Pep!

Vic's Renewal: While we're on the subject of Victor, the player has denied knowing anything of the club's plans for his renewal, saying: "There has been some talking about my renewal but I hear these things through the media. Until now, nobody from the club has contacted me." We find this amusing much. After all the rumours that the renewal has been put off because Vic's demanding more money, here he is oblivious to the entire matter!

Leo & Antonella: More photos have surfaced of the couple out on Sunday. Enjoy!

Transfer Talk: Unfortunately, Ribéry

Well, we've tried to ignore it, but the persistent story that Barca are to sign Frank Ribéry just won't go away.

There's been talk about the necessity of signing a left winger, and rumours have linked us to the likes of David Silva (don't we wish), but now it seems that Ribéry will be the one to join the team. Though nothing has been confirmed by the club, the deal seems to be all but sealed; as Catalan sports papers Sport and El Mundo Deportivo both claim that Barcelona has already reached a formal pre-agreement with Bayern Munich for the transfer, even if nothing will be finalized until the season ends and the summer transfer window opens.

We're not feeling too enthusiastic about having him on our team; that's why we take comfort in the fact that Bayern still aren't willing to let him go very easily, even with the rumours that Barca might use Hleb to negotiate for him. In the end, all we can do is hope that this won't work out.

La Liga: FC Barcelona vs Athletico Madrid, Vicente Calderón, Sunday, March 1 2009, 19:00 CET

Barca's last few matches have resulted in somewhat disappointing results, the worst of which was our previous Liga match. That's why we're really hoping that this game will be good one.
Barca faces Athletico Madrid for the fourth time this season, once in the Liga and twice in the Copa del Rey. And all three times our team came off with a great result, especially that first 6-1 thrashing; and this time should be no exception. We're expecting a win, and a good one no less, so let's hope the boys don't let us down.

The past results don't worry us much, as Pep believes that the team has a learned a lot from the experience, and that it will help them in the future. We quote: "From all the games this season, the game against Lyon was the one we can learn the most of for the future. It was an excellent lesson for me. We can get more out of it than out of the thirty previous games. Especially the first half can serve to talk very straight with the players about certain things. If they learn from it, we will compete for everything."

And who better to believe than Pep?

Keita won't be able to make the match due to his red card, and niether will Pique because of his fifth yellow card. Iniesta and Abidal are still on the inured list, while Pedro and Victor Sanchez were both called up to the squad from Barca Atletic.

Injury Report: In, Out, and In-Between

In: Gaby Milito returned to training with the squad last Tuesday, after he’d been unable to do so for a while. Hopefully this means that his recovery is going as planned and he’ll be rejoining the team in not too long.

Out: Eric Abidal picked up an injury in the game against Espanyol, which, upon examination, turned out to be the rupture of a muscle in his right thigh. Reports are that he could be out for up to eight weeks, and that’s truly distressing, but we hope he’ll recover well and be back soon.

In-Between: Andres Iniesta picked up an injury in training prior to the derby against Espanyol, and was at the time reported to be out for ten days to two weeks. We’re still awaiting any news of his condition, but he might make this weekend’s Liga match as Barca face Athletico Madrid.

Match Report: Barcelona 1-1 Olympique Lyon

It’s not an entirely satisfying result, but we’ll take it. Sure beats losing to Espanyol, anyway. We’re not going to lash out on the team for this one… the draw is acceptable given the circumstances. And the circumstances here being the fact that this match comes just three days after the last one, a derby which didn’t exactly leave the lads in the highest of spirits, plus the fact that they were playing away, and had the whole trip from Spain to France to make. They couldn’t really have gotten more than two days’ worth of training for this one, and for that we’re cutting them some slack.

Also, since for the next leg we play at home, that means that a 0-0 draw is sufficient for us to qualify, which makes things a whole lot easier. Takes off some of the pressure too, but we don’t want the boys to slacken their performance because of that. We’re sure the result will be more favorable when we meet Lyon on Camp Nou.

As to the match itself, we’re going to break down team performance here and look at the separate parts of the squad. We felt that Victor looked a bit shaky at first, but he actually did a very good job and made some great saves later on. One thing you can say for Vic is that he doesn’t panic. He’s always quick to run out and go for the ball, even if it may seem a bit dangerous. As for the conceded goal, well, to quote Pep, “It was a brilliant goal and not even seven goalkeepers would have stopped it.” Enough said.

Defense was hot. Really, really hot. All four defenders—Dani, Rafa, Pique and Puyol—were on fire for this one, they were just amazing. And all were looking pretty fine as well; this is basically the hottest starting defense line Barca could have. Pep should play it more often. And again, that goal Juninho scored for Lyon was just crazy and you can’t blame anyone for it. Who ever heard of a direct goal from a corner, anyway?

Midfield was so-so. Busquets, as usual, can’t go a match without getting booked. Yaya, not so hot as he was against Espanyol, but his effort goeth not unnoticed. Poor Xavi is tired and it shows; the man must be rested! And we’re begging for Marquez to be made the one to take free kicks from now on, or at least until Xavi’s in better form.

Attack line—Henry didn’t do much but what he did do was lovely. Besides the fact that he equalized for us—perfect positioning for that goal he scored, and a great header as well. Messi was good, but not as amazing as he can be; anyway, the opposition defense really gave him a hard time. And then that leaves Eto’o… frankly, these last couple of matches he’s been seriously off form, to a point where we’re begging for him to be taken off for Bojan—and not just because we miss the ever adorable Baby Bo. With the way Samu’s been playing, having Bojan on instead would seriously be much better for the attack.

But then, we can always just attribute bad form to the exhaustion factor, the tight match schedule, and the traveling. So, with that in mind, we’re okay with this result. Just as long as the team comes out of this midseason crisis they’re going through, and we see some more wins soon.

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Gossip on the Guys: Leo's New Girlfriend

Ever since Messi’s statement in an interview he gave around a month ago that he has a girlfriend who is living in Argentina, we have just been dying to find out about her. And finally, we have. The mystery lady has been staying in Barcelona with Messi and his family for a few days, and these are the first pictures of the couple, out for a walk together last Sunday.
Her name is Antonella, and she’s studying to be a dietician. She’s from Messi’s home city, Rosario, and that’s where he met her last December when he was home for Christmas vacation. Well, no wonder Leo was the last one to arrive back in Barcelona after the holidays.
Reports are that she’s 22 years old and the sister of Messi’s best friend, Lucas. We think she’s just adorable, and she and Leo are just too utterly cute together! She’s the perfect height for him too—Leo actually managed to find a girl who is considerably shorter than him.
So there you go, Messi now officially has a girlfriend. And about time too! Now this is a couple we shall eagerly be following.

Gossip on the Guys: Bojan's Tattoo

So After Bojan took his shirt off, much to our delight, after the game against Real Betis, something that looked suspiciously like a tattoo was apparent on his right shoulder. And now, Catalan sports paper Sport claims he does indeed have a tattoo, his first one in fact, and that it's of a phoenix. A better picture couldn't be found, but anyway, we find that intriguing—could it possibly of the same nature as the good luck tattoo Henry has, after it was reported that Bojan got one of them as well?

Match Report: Barcelona 1-2 Espanyol

We’re not just upset by this, we’re angry too. This was undoubtedly the worst match night we’ve had all season, and it really shouldn’t have been. It’s the first time we lose at home and only the second Liga loss since the very first game against Numancia, and there was never a more unjust outcome.

Barca did not play a full ninety minutes for this one. We’re going to say more like seventy, at most. Espanyol did a good job of wasting time, oh a very good job, what with all the fouling, diving, and absolute nonsense that went on.

And we were blessed with an oh so intelligent referee who made his contribution by stopping the match, but not the clock, as many times as you like to make his ridiculous calls, even going so far as to book Sergio Busquets when he while he was sitting on the bench! Now, that’s just plain idiocy, say what you will. Out of all the stupid refs we’ve had to put with this season, he is by far the worst.

Espanyol really overdid it with the fouling and diving. The referee really overdid it with the booking. And yes, even our players overdid it with the arguing. Now, don’t get us wrong, it’s always hot to see the guys get worked up like that, but when we’re two down and time’s running out, we’re just too anxious to be able to enjoy it.

So with Keita getting a red card early in the match, leaving us with ten men and a two-attacker formation, and with Abidal getting injured almost right away, things were looking bad from the start. Come into the second half, and what do you know, Espanyol have scored, once, twice! We don’t want to be harsh, but blame goes to Victor for the second goal after he basically passed it right to De la Pena who went on to shoot it right past him into the net.

Yaya Toure soon scored a lovely goal for us and it looked like things were picking up, but the equalizer that should have been just never came. Our attack was mainly Messi, and he was always met by a throng of defenders impossible to get around and no one to pass to, with Eto’o off for a coffee break somewhere and Gudjhonsen doing little more than screwing up a few chances after he came on. And as for Xavi, well, we’ve said it once and we’ll say it again. He’s tired, and should be rested. If you ask us he shouldn’t have played this match at all, he should have been left to rest up for the Champions League clash this Tuesday with Lyon. It’s upsetting, all those free kicks he lost because he was off form. Marquez ought to have been to one to take them.

It’s a bit annoying that Espanyol netted two goals when they were playing a ten man defense and really just trying to waste time and keep us from scoring for the entire match. And it’s really disgusting that this is what football has come to. If you’re not going to play fair, don’t play our game at all.

But all that’s only half of it. Let’s take a little trip to the Bernebau and see how things are going with Real Madrid, shall we? And look at that! They’ve just won 6-1. And against who? Real Betis, who Barca were barely able to draw with just a week ago! Suddenly, Betis are sucking. Suddenly, magic Ricardo isn’t so magic anymore. Suddenly, they are a weak team getting thrashed by Madrid. Nothing like the Betis we had to face. And it’s just plain annoying.

This takes the gap between us and Madrid to seven points. From twelve to seven, just like that, in two damn weeks! Something must be done, and fast.

Random: An Apology

It's been a while since this blog has been updated, and we would personally like to apologize for the inconvience and all the gossip we've missed. It's been due to technical problems which, thankfully, have now been fixed; these things happen but we're glad it's all back to normal now. New updates will be in order soon, including reports on the two matches that have taken place in the space of our absence. And in the meantime, here's a lovely—and extremely droolworthy—photo of Victor Valdes for your enjoyment.

Random: The Daftness of Madrid

The sun shines once again in Madrid, lifting everyone's spirits and giving them new hope... certainly, nothing can possibly stop them now that Barca actually came off with a draw.

Sound absurd? Laugh if you will, but then, the Madridistas are often funny like that.

Apparently, the slight decrease in the margin between us and them from twelve points to a still wide ten has motivated their coach, Juande Ramos, to step up and claim that the Liga is still a possibility for Real Madrid. And while Madrid supporters lap that up, nodding their heads in blind agreement and pathetic belief that he may have an inkling of a point, we know better.

We fail to see exactly how Juande actually thinks this will work. With only fifteen matches remaining in the Liga, does he really imagine that Madrid will be able to overcome the whole ten point difference? With Barca's stupendous form this season, does he dare to think that we'll go on to lose three or four times from now till the conclusion of the Liga? And even if that were to happen, can he even hope that Madrid will go on to win every single remaining match?

It seems that the Madridistas are really getting a bit smug after recalling those measly two points. Though why they should, we can't begin to fathom—you'd think, hearing this, that they were the ones sitting in first place and not us. It's quite ridiculous, but then, that's Madrid for you. In any case, Juande's given us something to laugh at, a bit of entertainment for us Barca faithfuls at the expense of Real Madrid.

Match Report: Barcelona 2-2 Real Betis

The international break has got us again as Barca gave a generally crappy performance last night. This is our third draw in the Liga this season, and we’d like to stop and point out that in all three cases, said draws came directly after the players got back from international matches. So yeah, we’re putting that on our blame list.

And oh yes, there is a list. Let’s pick through this bit by bit, shall we? Starting with the defense.
Victor had a great match, there’s no denying that. Conceded twice, but they were hard-to-save shots and the second was kind of inevitable. Putting that aside, he really made some great saves—no blame lies on Vic’s shoulders here.

Moving on to the defense line itself. Yes, it was tacky. But what with Puyol injured and Marquez exhausted from an awful match and an oversees trip, what else could be done other than start Pique and Caceras and hope for the best. Sadly, both central defenders were terribly off form, Pique more so than usual. And what with Daniel Alves looking lost on the right, frankly, Abidal on the left wing was basically holding up the back string alone. He was just wonderful.

Midfield—er, let’s try not to think about that, shall we? Busquets did little to help out the sad defense and was just, well, clumsy. Then there’s Keita who did virtually nothing the entire match, and we’re eager to know his excuse. It’s not like he was off playing for his country instead of resting up for this one.

Attacking midfield? Well, there was Xavi. And there wasn’t. Xavi is wonderful player, and he certainly tried very hard, but he was just… tired. Pep honey, let the Xavster rest up a bit, will you? Because there’s no use in playing him when he’s having trouble just shooting straight.

Eto’o scored twice… again… but that doesn’t mean he played well. He was as off form as any of them. Th first goal was the rebound from a penalty he missed himself, and it’s a very good thing he got his own rebound. The second… we’ll give it to him that the second goal was great, and mostly his individual effort, but he missed so many chances besides, that we can’t give him more than average performance.

Iniesta was on the left wing and he was amazing. Pretty much, he was leading Barca all through the first half. When he got moved back to midfield we didn’t see as much of him, and yeah, he still tends to get slow and panicky around defenders, but still, he played a good match.

And then there was Hleb on the right—pretty much just useless. The way we see it, he shouldn’t have been on in that particular position. Barca’s attack is usually mostly generated from the right, and what with Dani and Xavi off form and Messi on the bench, you’re going to have to play someone worthwhile in Messi’s spot, and that someone is not Hleb. Playing Bojan there might or might not have worked, but rather than risk it, maybe it would have been better to just stick with two forwards, at least until Messi and Henry were subbed on.

And speaking of them two… Henry was great, came on, stirred up the attack and picked up the pace, did what was needed. Messi though was clearly not ready for this one after his full match with Argentina, and was pretty slow on the whole. Even after he and Titi came on, and the attack was livened up, chance after chance was thwarted and we are exceedingly annoyed at Ricardo, the keeper of Betis, for being so awesome last night. We even lost count of how many great saves he made against us.

That just leaves… Bojan who came on towards the end. He came on for Busquets, and yeah, Barca was actually playing four attackers, Henry, Eto’o, Bojan, and Messi, without forgetting Iniesta hanging back in midfield, and it was only after that that the equalizer came. Talk about pathetic.

Ok, this turned out longer than we'd intended. But this match has seriously upset us. All in all, we’re still rubbing our eyes and asking ourselves if that was really Barca out there. It was a very mediocre performance, and though we managed to scrape up a point, it’s still disappointing. The verdict? At least Bojan took his shirt off at the end.

That said, we’re going to cut the boys some slack and blame the international break, which left us with an exhausted squad, and hope for a better game next time. And they better deliver.