Hey There...

Hey there, everyone who’s been reading my blog and/or wondering why it hasn’t really been updated in a while…

To tell you a bit about me, I’m Messa and I’m eighteen… and of course an ardent Barca fan. I started this blog on a whim, a spur of the moment decision, and I never imagined it would become such a big part of my life or that it would become this known on the web – among Barca fans at least. For me, running the blog has been a real pleasure… which is why I hate to put an end to it.

Or at least a long hiatus. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll start it up again, or start another blog, similar to this one but with a rather different approach… in any case, for now, I’m forced to put it all on hold. It’s my senior year at school and unfortunately I’m just too busy to continue updating the blog on a regular basis.

I’m already missing running this blog and being part of the network of footie blogs out there, and I hope sometime I’ll be able to come back to it all. All I can say right now is thank you to all my readers, and I’m so glad I’ve been able to offer an entertaining and informative source for FC Barcelona, if it has been that to you, as that was my aim. I’ve been really happy with it and proud to have covered Barca throughout this phenomenal season, over about a year and almost five hundred posts.

I’ll be back… someday. Once summer kicks off perhaps? In the meantime, I’ll still be twittering as often as I can, and will continue to try and offer my fellow Barca fans as much as possible… you can add me on Twitter and once I’m back to the blogging world, I’ll be sure to tweet that too. Again, infinite thanks for all your support… until we meet again: Viva Barca!

Injury Report: Leo Ruled Out For The Derby

Lionel Messi held out through all of Dynamo Kiev's hardcore fouling as long as he could, but at the end of the match unfortuantely he finally did go down with what has now been confirmed as a sprained ankle. He won't be able to participate in Barca's derby against Espanyol tomorrow, and there are Club World Cup doubts as well.

It really sucks not to have Leo available for these games, especially after he had to miss out on Barca's CWC participation back in 2006 also due to injury. And he was just saying how much he wants this, too... but all we can do is wait and hope that he'll be ready for the Cup by the time it rolls around.

Match Report: Barcelona 2-1 Dynamo Kiev

It's hard to think that just before our previous Champions League match, the odds were ugly against our qualifying. And it's incredible how the boys turned it all around in that one meet with Inter Milan... and now they've returned to finish the job at the expense of Dynamo Kiev.

The match opened up on something of a sour note for Barca, with the oppisiton putting one past Victor Valdes in just the second minute, a ball that Vic fumbled on and really should have saved.

Now at that point it may have seemed like it was time to panic, but our boys left no room for panicking. After that little mishap they just grabbed hold of the match and from there on out, it was all about Blaugrana.

There wasn't much Dynamo could do except for defend - and by defend we mean foul. They put forward their efforts and legs to do all they could to stop our boys... but the boys wouldn't be stopped.

Barca was dominating with fluid passing and solid, team football. The midfield was the focal point of play, with Xavi, in what was his hundredth CL match, geared up to the max and making magic. He did his thing in spreading the ball out in all directions and creating movement, and then went on to put in Barca's equilizer...

Around eighty straight passes were laced from player to player until the ball found Xavi perefectly positioned to tuck it in right past the keeper. You could tell that Barca weren't going to settle for going into halftime with Dynamo ahead, and when the eqilizer came, we were celebrating for as many reasons as there were passes leading up to that goal.

Xavi's finish was beautiful, and the fact that he's the one who scored it makes it all the more awesome. We just love when Xavi scores, he deserves to do it more often. The result was now even, with the draw being sufficient to ensure Barca's qualification to the next last sixteen round, and the match was still far from over... and just watching the plays, the passing that led up to it was incredible. The boys were making it all about control and all about team, and that's what matters most.

Chance after chance came and went somehow without the ball making it all the way to the net. It was frustrating a bit because we were playing so well, and it wasn't till just minutes before the final whistle that we finally saw the second and winning goal of the match for Barca.

Goal came courtesy of Leo Messi, from a freekick. Why do we always find it so cute when Messi scores from freekicks? We just do. It was fabulous the way he managed to sail the ball over the player wall and into the net, putting Barca ahead and further strengthening the team's qualification.

The lads need to work more on putting away chances, because with all the opportunities and domination they had, it's almost a shame they didn't score a couple more. Here, the two goals were more than enough for the team to get by, but in a later match they might not be... however we're thrilled by the wondrous teamwork and passing we had the pelasure of seeing in this match, and that counts for so much. So onward we storm, to the keep on going and going for it all in the Champions League and everywhere else.

Champions League: FC Barcelona vs Dynamo Kiev, Valeri Lobanovsky, Wednesday, December 9 2009, 20:45 CET

The final step of Barca's qualification to the Champions League last sixteen has them up against Dynamo Kiev, with a simple draw being sufficient to ensure that the Blaugrana go on to the next round. And we're more than certain that the boys will come off with an even score at the very least!

Pep comes into this match with a nineteen man squad that includes Chygrynskiy even though he's not allowed to participate in Cl matches with Barca this season; it seems he's along to celebrate with the boys upon their qualification. The squad: : Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Puyol, Márquez, Piqué,Abidal, Maxwell, Touré, Busquets, Keita, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Bojan, Ibrahimovic, Henry and Messi.

This will also be Xavi's 100th CL match, congrats to him!

Random: Fashion, Foodfights & Fifpro

- First and foremost: congrats to Leo Messi for officially recieving his well-deserved Ballon D'or, and looking hot doing it! More pictures at the bottom.

- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is dreaming of signing Bojan come the winter transfer period. And he'll continue to do just that: dream. In more agreeable transfer reports, the club is said to be after David Silva... let's hope that will go down better than the Villa story.

- Barca have signed a sponsorship agreement with fashion label Dsquared to dress the first team until June 2011. Now that is a what we call a great move by the club.... maybe this will put a stop to the outrageous trends Pique comes out with from time.

- As reported by Sport, during the team's flight back from Coruna last Saturday the players actually had something of a food-fight (those poor flight attendants) which was, naturally, started by Gerard Pique tossing peanuts at Zlatan's head. We're not kidding. Zla tried to ignore him at first, but you know no one can resist fun with Geri - and they soon had the other boys joining in as well, namely Bojan, Sergio Busquets and Dani Alves.

- Twelve Barca boys are nominated to be part of the Fifpro XI of 2009: Valdes, Puyol, Piqué, Xavi, Iniesta, Alves, Abidal, Chygrynskiy, Ibrahimovic, Messi, Yaya and Pep. Why don't they just name Barcelona team of the year and call it a day?

- For those of our readers inquiring in relation to this post, the pictures are courtesy of our friend Koko, credit goes to her; and despite other reports, to our knowledge Leo and Antonella are currently together.

La Liga: FC Barcelona vs Deportivo La Coruña, Riazor, Saturday, December 5 2009, 22:00 CET

There's no rest for Barca as they continue the campaign to defend their Liga title, as they're set to face Deprtivo La Coruña tonight. The boys departed earlier today for Coruña, but just-in reports are that the team's plane had to return to El Pratt airport in Barcelona due to technical problems - hopefully whatever's going on will be cleared up in time for the boys to make their match.

Like Barca, Deportivo are unbeaten since October, so this match could be the turning point for either team. It won't be a piece of cake, but we expect the boys will be able to come off with a respectable win in the end. In any case it's sure to be an open and exciting match, we can't wait!

Pep's 18-man squad sees the return of Sergio Busquets after he'd missed out against Xerez due to a red card, while Rafael Marquez and Jeffren have been dropped in addition to Gaby Milito, who isn't up to regular call-ups just yet. The squad: Valdés, Pinto, Henry, Xavi, Piqué, Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Puyol, Pedro, Ibrahimovic, Bojan, Maxwell, Messi, Chygryskiy Alves, Abidal, Keita, Touré.

Random: Teddy Bear, Picture Book & A Clothing Store

- Thierry Henry wants y'all to say hello to Dobu, the official teddy bear of the AIDS foundation jointly organized by FC Barcelona and UNICEF. Titi got to meet him along with Leo Messi, Rafa Marquez, Andres Iniesta and Bojan Krkic yesterday (more pictures here) while other Barca players previously shot an ad for the campaign, which is aimed at children through having them play a series of games. They have to try and save Dobu from AIDS, thus learning more about the disease; and in the end winners will be entered in a draw to win a Dobu teddy signed by all the Barca players.

- Last Monday, the Barca boys all recieved the first copies of the picture book "Barça. The best year of our life" which brings together the decisive moments of what has been an unforgettable 2009 for the club. As the official site reports, the idea for the book came from the players themselves. Check out more pictures of them lookingat it here, and run out and get your copy now, especially as all proceeds are headed to the club's Foundation!

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- Some of you might know that the parents of Cristina Serra, Pep's wife, own a men's and women's clothing store in Manresa called Serra Claret. What you probably don't know is that Leo Messi likes to shop there, often making the 53 mile drive from his home just to get there. None of the other current Barca boys are known to get their clothes from there, though the likes of Johan Cruyff and Luis Figo have frequented the store, which traditionally carries athlete's wear.

Gossip on the Guys: Zlatan Finds A Home

As reported by Sport, sometime last week Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his fantastic thighs showed up to training completely exhausted and got everyone worked up that he might be having a relapse, especially as he was, at the time, in the final stages of his recovery. But Zlatan soon explained that he was only tired because he'd spent the previous day moving into his new home.

That's right, Zla has finally found a place suitable for him and his family, having purchased it around a month ago. The house is situated in Sant Just, Esplugues, where Barca boys such as Zambrotta and Marquez have taken up residence. Set in a natural environment, the area has the advantages of being close to the Camp Nou as well as the Ciutat Esportiva. Congratulations!

Match Report: Barcelona 2-0 Xerez

We did expect the lads to rock this match, which kind of makes it all the more dejecting that on the contrary, they didn't really show up. Especially in the beginning. Props to Xerez for giving one hell of a performance and exceeding the Barca boys in that they actually played like they meant it.

The first half was pretty mucky for us, with slow passing and movement and a generally sleepy atmosphere. The scrappy pitch didn't help much either for a Barca side that depends on short sharp passes; but still, the boys really could have done at least a bit better.

The defense looked shaky, the attack was foiling potential chances with the inability to put them away, and in the midst of it all was a ray of light in Xavi, working hard to make up for the nonperformance of the likes of Henry and Yaya. And that comes as a surprise because Yaya is almost synonomous with solidity. What's happened?

Barca was suffering in the offence. Henry was out of it, Pedro was not up to the standard that he's made us used to from him and Bojan was saddeningly below par as well. And when not one but all three forwards have decided not to show up, there's just nothing there. The attack had no substance, and we just can't have that on Barca.

Yet Henry found a way to score just as the second half unfolded, and that seemed to be somewhat of a turning point for the game. Xerez loosened up, creating more space for our players to move and they regained some of their usual flow, especially as Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic came on. The difference they made in the attack was palpable, and eventually led to a beautiful goal created by Leo and finished by Zla.

The teamwork between those two players is just fabulous with every match. Where do the media come up with talk that there's tension between them? More like insanely incredible chemistry! And since he returned from his injury, Zlatan seems set on making up for his down time by scoring every time he steps onto the pitch, even if he's coming off the bench for a forty minute spell.

Iniesta came on towards the end and looked good, nice work in midfield but rather slow on the attack. We do prefer a midfield role for him, but he has to stop trying to get fancy in attack. With that... the match ended at 2-0 for Barca, a result that's rather excellent for us considering the match we gave and the match given by our opponents. Let's hope the team can keep steady in the coming weeks, especially as the Club World Cup approaches with the adamant intention to throw everything off course.

Gossip on the Guys: Puppy Love

Seems to us that getting puppies is the new fad amongst Barca boys lately. Lionel Messi and his girlfriend Antonella with their own new little dog:

Leo naturally exudes unnatural levels of cuteness in everything he does. Enter the cute girlfriend, and they are instantly the cutest couple ever seen on the planet. Now there's a pup in the mix? Heaven help us.

Gossip on the Guys: Pep Gone Too Far?

What in the world does Pep think he's wearing now? We've admired this man's fashion sense in the past, but lately he's been crossing lines just a little bit. We let it pass when he showed up to a press conference in this, but now, with this weird sportive-mixed-with-plaid sweater of sorts, just what is he trying to pull off?

If this goes on, Pique isn't going to be the only one in need of a serious fashion intervention. Come to think of it, that boy does have a pretty heavy influence on the rest of the team; maybe, probably, we should be blaming him for Pep's... straying...

On the side: Who would've guessed Joan Laports to be the partying type? Not exactly the most proper way to celebrate victory even if it is for the Classico, but hell, it's his last term as president so we say, let him enjoy it.