Gesture of the day: Eto'o

Samuel, if you give me your shirt, I'll cut my hair like yours.

Iván Ramos, a nine-years old boy from Zaragoza, held this board at the Camp Nou on Thursday. Eto'o saw the board during the warming-up and gave a sign that he had understood the message. At the end of the game, he handed the boy his match shirt.

Iván yesterday went to the hairdresser but didn't have his hair cut in the end because he is to receive his first holy communion soon and his mother convinced him that Eto'o's new hair-cut "wouldn't look good on the pictures".

more quotes

Barça B: AC Milan sounds out Thiago

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that AC Milan is interested in Barcelona Atlètic attacking midfielder Thiago Alcántara (17).

The Italian club would have contacted the player's father and agent Mazinho to ask about the possibility of joining Milan next summer. Manchester United and Liverpool would also have already talked to Mazinho about a transfer at the end of the season.

Read more:
Barça B - Youth: Chelsea talks with father Thiago
An introduction to the coming stars
English and Italian clubs monitoring Barça youth

Medical: Green light for Marquez

Barcelona player Rafael Márquez (29) has received earlier today the green light from the Barcelona medical staff and will be available for the league match against Racing Santander tomorrow.

The Mexican defender's got injured in his left calf during a cup game against Espanyol on Wednesday 21 January and was then expected to be out for one to two weeks (read more here).

Read more:
Medical: Puyol out for around ten days
Medical: Milito returns to the pitch
Medical: Marquez returns to the pitch

[Henrique] Borussia Dortmund-Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen played this afternoon the 18th game of the German league. Bayer and Borussia Dortmund drew one all.

Brazilian central defender and Barcelona loan out Henrique (22) stayed on the bench for the whole game.

Barcelona bought Henrique this summer and decided to loan him out to Bayer Leverkusen for one season (read more here). This blog will follow Henrique's performances during this season.





Sunday 10 August - Cup round 1: Rot-Weiß Oberhausen-Bayer Leverkusen 2-3
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 120 minutes.

Saturday 16 August - Bundesliga game 1: Bayer Leverkusen-Borussia Dortmund 2-3
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes.

Saturday 23 August - Bundesliga game 2: Vfb Stuttgart-Bayer Leverkusen 0-2
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes.

Saturday 30 August - Bundesliga game 3: Bayer Leverkusen-Hoffenheim 5-2
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes. Right back.

Saturday 13 September - Bundesliga game 4: Hamburg-Bayer Leverkusen 3-2
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes. Right back.

Friday 19 September - Bundesliga game 5: Bayer Leverkusen-Hannover 4-0
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes.

Tuesday 23 September - Cup round 2: Augsburg(2)-Bayer Leverkusen 0-2
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes. Yellow card.

Saturday 27 September - Bundesliga game 6: Bochum-Bayer Leverkusen 2-3
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes.

Saturday 4 October - Bundesliga game 7: Bayer Leverkusen-Hertha Berlin 0-1
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes. Yellow card.

Saturday 18 October - Bundesliga game 8: Eintracht Frankfurt-Bayer Leverkusen 0-2
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes.

Friday 24 October - Bundesliga game 9: Bayer Leverkusen-FC Köln 2-0
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes.

Tuesday 29 October - Bundesliga game 10: Werder Bremen-Bayer Leverkusen 0-2
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes.

Friday 31 October - Bundesliga game 11: Bayer Leverkusen-Wolfsburg 2-0
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes.

Saturday 8 November - Bundesliga game 12: Karlsruhe-Bayer Leverkusen 3-3
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes. Yellow card.

Saturday 15 November - Bundesliga game 13: Bayer Leverkusen-Schalke 2-1
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes.

Saturday 22 November - Bundesliga game 14: Bielefeld-Bayer Leverkusen 2-1
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes.

Saturday 29 November - Bundesliga game 15: Bayer Leverkusen-Bayern Munich 0-2
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes. Yellow card.

Saturday 6 December - Bundesliga game 16: Borussia Mönchengladbach-Bayer Leverkusen 1-3
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes.

Saturday 13 December - Bundesliga game 17: Bayer Leverkusen-Cottbus 1-1
Starter. Henrique starts the game and plays for 90 minutes.

Wednesday 28 January - Cup 1/8 finals: Bayer Leverkusen-Cottbus 3-1
Bench.

Saturday 31 January - Bundesliga game 18: Borussia Dortmund-Bayer Leverkusen 1-1
Bench.



Table
1. Hoffenheim 38
2. Hertha Berlin 36
3. Hamburg 36
4. Bayern Munich 35
5. Bayer Leverkusen 33
6. Borussia Dortmund 30
7. Stuttgart 28
8. Wolfsburg 27
9. Schalke 04 27
10. Werder Bremen (17) 26
[...]

1st and 2nd place: group phase of Champions League
3rd place: third qualifying round of Champions League, winner enters the group phase, losers enter the Uefa Cup
4th place: qualifies for 4th qualifying round of Uefa Cup
5th place: qualifies for 3rd qualifying round of Uefa Cup

Marquez returns to Santander list

Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola has earlier today announced a list of 18 players for the 21st league game of the season against Racing Santander tomorrow at 5 pm.


The list:
Valdés, Pinto,
Alves, Piqué, Márquez, Cáceres, Abidal, Sylvinho,
Xavi, Touré, Busquets, Gudjohsen,
Messi, Eto'o, Bojan, Henry, Iniesta, Hleb


Márquez returns to a match list after he was not available for the last two games due to an injury. Jorquera is not included, like Pedro and Víctor Sánchez, who will again play with Barcelona Atlètic this weekend. Keita has still troubles with a bruised right knee. Milito and Puyol are also not available because of injuries.

Barcelona had a last training session this morning. The squad will travel later today to Santander, where the game against Racing will tomorrow start at 5 pm in the afternoon.

Poll result - Man of the match: Espanyol

This is the final result of this blog's Barcelona-Espanyol: who was our man of the match? poll:


1. Bojan 56%
2. Busquets 18%
3. Alves 9%



see full results here
see other poll results here

Hleb could already leave this summer

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Barcelona is already busy planning for next season (read more here).

The priority of the club would be strenghtening the left wing. The interest in Bayern Munich players Philipp Lahm (25) and Franck Ribéry, who can both also play on the right, should be seen in that perspective (read more here).

Because the future of Barcelona forwards Samuel Eto'o (27) and Thierry Henry (31) is uncertain, Barcelona is also monitoring several other attacking players who could join the club in the summer.

Lyon player Karim Benzema (21) and Le Mans player Gervinho (21) are on the list, although Arsenal player Robin van Persie (24) and Valencia players David Villa (27) and David Silva (23) would be among the favourite options of both Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain and Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola if a key player would leave next summer.

Gabriel Milito (28), returning from injury, and Henrique (22), returing from loan, will be fully part of the squad next summer. Sylvinho's contract expires and won't be renewed, while Martín Cáceres (21) and Alexander Hleb (27) could both leave, on loan or permanently, at the end of the season.

Read more:
Bid for Cesc and Van Persie being planned
Ivorian Le Mans striker Gervinho being scouted
Barcelona plans few changes in the summer

Barça B - Official: Walter to Antequera on loan

Spanish third division club Antequera has officially announced earlier this month the transfer on loan of Sporting Mahonés attacker and Barcelona Atlétic loan out Walter Fernández (19).

Walter, who last season played for Barcelona Juvenil A, joined Spanish fourth division club Sporting Mahonés on loan last summer (read more here). The Catalan player, who has a contract with Barcelona until the summer of 2010, now moves to Antequera until the end of the season.

At his official presentation, Walter showed his satisfaction about the transfer: "I can play on both wings and add something in attack, although my natural position is that of attacking midfielder. I'm aware that Antequera plays in the most difficult group of the third division but that's positive because it will allow me to learn faster."

Read more:
Barça B - Official: Walter to Mahonés on loan
Barça B - Official: Benja returns from loan
Barça B - Official: Plancheria to Hospitalet

The Video: Espanyol

The Points: Espanyol

Pinto 4__5__3__5__5,5

Alves 6__5,5__6,5__6__6,5
Piqué 8__7__6__8__6
Puyol 6__6,5__5__5__6,5
Sylvinho 6__5,5__5,5__5__6

Xavi 6__7__5,5__6__7,5
Busquets 8__7__6__8__8
Gudjohnsen *__6,5__4__5__6,5

Messi 6__7__4,5__6__7
Bojan 8__8__6,5__8__7
Hleb 6__5,5__4,5__1__5,5


Cáceres 5__6__*__5__6
Iniesta 6__6,5__*__6__7
Eto'o 5__6__*__4__6


(sport-goal-clan-offside-oleole)

If you have seen the match, you can give your own points. If you know other papers or sites that give points, you can let me know. See previous points here.

The Pictures: Espanyol

(click on a picture to enlarge)

(click on a picture to enlarge)

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