500 000
fee (in euros) that Barcelona will have to pay to Real Madrid
as compensation for the transfer of Samuel Eto'o to Inter Milan
as compensation for the transfer of Samuel Eto'o to Inter Milan
Saturday, 25 July 2009
Quote of the day: Redknapp
I took so much from that game in terms of seeing how difficult it is to play when teams put you under that sort of pressure.
Harry Redknapp, Tottenham manager,
after last night's friendly game against Barcelona
after last night's friendly game against Barcelona
Video of the day: Henry goals 2008/09
Pre-Season: 1
La Liga: 19
Champions League: 7 (1 @ qualification)
Copa del Rey: 1
(Unfortunately there's no audio. Feel free to listen to your own music. Or make your own sounds. Fair enough.)
Ibrahimovic will be presented on Monday
Barcelona has officially announced that Inter Milan forward and Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimovic (27) will be presented as Barcelona player next Monday at 6:30 pm.
Ibrahimovic will arrive in Barcelona on Sunday afternoon to finalize the last details of the transfers. The Swedish striker will on Monday undergo the medical tests. If he passes the tests and the deal is definitely closed, Ibrahimovic will then be presented at the Camp Nou to the press and the fans.
Read more:
Only paperwork left for Ibrahimovic transfer
Ibrahimovic will arrive in Barcelona on Sunday
picture: paco garcía salgado
Henrique's blog: part 4
Barcelona central defender Henrique Adriano Buss (22) reflects on his experiences during his debut.
"Yesterday I was finally able to debut with the Barça shirt. I admit that at first I was a little nervous, but then little by little I began to calm and focus on the game. There were quite a few of the youngsters from the youth teams playing in the second half. I’d seen how good they were in training and they have a lot of quality and are very skillful.
I suffered a couple of heavy tackles that left their mark on my legs but that’s the way it is in football. Before the game, the boss gave us a few words about tactics and how we should play that were very useful. The most important was controlling possession and bringing the ball out from the back.
In Brasil they also work hard at bringing through youngsters - At Coritiba (the club I started at) and also at Palmeiras. Adriano (Sevilla), Rafinha (Schalke) and Alex (Fenerbahce) all started in the Coritiba youth set up, as well as Keirrison (as I explained the other day). In fact, I grew up in a system which was very similar to the one that works with the Barca youth teams and I hope that will help me to adapt more quickly.
We’ve been given the afternoon off to relax after training this morning, which was more about warming down after yesterday’s game than anything else. I think I’ll stay at the hotel and relax ahead of tomorrow’s game. I hope I won’t be so nervous ahead of the game against Al-Ahly – I know that the nerves will disappear as I keep playing more games.
I’ll be back in touch tomorrow!"
-Henrique
I suffered a couple of heavy tackles that left their mark on my legs but that’s the way it is in football. Before the game, the boss gave us a few words about tactics and how we should play that were very useful. The most important was controlling possession and bringing the ball out from the back.
In Brasil they also work hard at bringing through youngsters - At Coritiba (the club I started at) and also at Palmeiras. Adriano (Sevilla), Rafinha (Schalke) and Alex (Fenerbahce) all started in the Coritiba youth set up, as well as Keirrison (as I explained the other day). In fact, I grew up in a system which was very similar to the one that works with the Barca youth teams and I hope that will help me to adapt more quickly.
We’ve been given the afternoon off to relax after training this morning, which was more about warming down after yesterday’s game than anything else. I think I’ll stay at the hotel and relax ahead of tomorrow’s game. I hope I won’t be so nervous ahead of the game against Al-Ahly – I know that the nerves will disappear as I keep playing more games.
I’ll be back in touch tomorrow!"
-Henrique
Read the full and original article here
Abidal: "I'm not worried about Maxwell's arrival"
Barcelona player Eric Abidal gave an interview to Spanish sports paper El Mundo Deportivo.
What have you done during your vacation?
I have travelled a lot with my family. I've been in Miami, New York, Italy, Tunisia, Mallorca, France and Barcelona.
Are you worried about having to compete with Maxwell?
I am not concerned about Maxwell's arrival. He will make the team better and that is fine by me. The more competition there is, the higher the level will become within the team.
Any thougths on Maxwell?
Vieira has told me about him. He is another type of player, he is technical and a quality player that often joins the attack.
This is your third season in the club. What do you like best about Barcelona?
Everything. The club is perfect, the food, and people who are very nice to me, not just at the club but everywhere I go.
What food do you like?
That must be 'pa with tomaquet' (literally: bread with tomato), with potatoes and pasta at Negro. I've never tasted anything like it. It's splendid.
Since we talk about food, have you thougth about expanding your restaurant business to Barcelona?
Not to Barcelona yet, but to Paris. At the moment me and my partner are looking for a place in Paris. We want another 'Cafe dels Negociants' as the one in Lyon, in Paris.
An old friend and colleague of yours in Lyon, Benzema, will now be your rival in Real Madrid. You know him well, will you ask Guardiola to mark him?
No, I won't ask anything. He tells me where to play, either as a full-back or central defender, but we're having many good players in the centre, so it might be better they mark him.
Another friend of yours is Ribery. Do you think it's more likely to see him at Real Madrid than at Barca?
I think that he likes both teams because the football style suits him and he would have friends in either club. It's not so much that he prefers to go to Madrid, but his wife prefers Madrid over Barcelona. I have sent pictures to him via my mobile phone of all the pretty houses here, but it is difficult to convince him. Besides, he has the same agent who used to represent Zinedine Zidane. 'Zizou' is now at Madrid and as he's a reference for all the French players that can also play a role. But it seems like Bayern won't sell.
Have you tried to convince him to join Barcelona?
I told him that it would be better if he signed for Barca, a club that is perfect for him because we will come back and win another treble, and he can play alongside Leo Messi, the next Ballon d'Or winner. That's my dream, and I'm convinced we will win at least two or three titles. Besides, Anelka also already warned him that Real is not an easy club to play for.
translated by: Sandvik
Read more:
Poll Result: Next season's left back
Liverpool and Juventus interested in Abidal
Official players' pictures (part 1)
WAG: Puyol holidays with lady friend
Barcelona captain Carles Puyol was recently seen on the Balearic Islands relaxing and taking a much needed break after playing in the Confederations Cup. He visited Ibiza and was seen a few days later in Formentera enjoying a boat trip with an unidentified lady friend. Puyol returns to Camp Nou on July 27, along with the other Barcelona players who were on similar international duties.
Barça Chat Record!
Hey culés!
We had our first Live Match Chat session yesterday against Tottenham Hotspurs in the Wembley Cup. It was great seeing the old chatters back again and meeting all the new ones.
It was understandable that everyone missed watching Barça play and the turnout for the first preseason friendly game was astonishing. The all-time record for most chatters in the chatroom was broken in the first chat session of the season. Last season, the record was 75 chatters which was set during the Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona clásico (which ended 2-6!). The new record of 90 chatters chatting in the chatroom smashed the previous record.
The top 10 chatters from the first friendly game were: barca4life (610 lines), knivesout (561 lines), omarx (383 lines), ekar (305 lines), Engineer (244 lines), Shekhu (238 lines), harshawardhan (232 lines), FC_BARCA (150 lines), rafouka (139 lines), and Emilfu (117 lines).
I would also like to introduce the official chat moderating team for the new season. The team consists of: barca4life, harshawardhan, Stigsby, Engineer, KnivesOut, and NouBarca.
A few tips for the chat:
- Anonymous chatters, to change your nickname type: /nick "new nickname"
- For a live stream link type: !link
- For the team lineups type: !lineup
- For the score type: !score
- For further questions or concerns please contact a moderator or omarx
Special thanks to pep for everything he has done, the moderators for carrying those heavy hammers (lol!), Koach (from koach.com) for providing the chat servers for us to use, and YOU for your continuous support.
Thanks,
Omar
P.S. Our next chat session will start tomorrow, sunday, at 12:30 pm barcelona time, two hours before the second pre-season friendly against Al-Ahly. See you at: http://fcbarcelona.hopto.org/. Don't miss the action!
Guardiola convinced Bojan to stay
Asked about his decision to stay at the club this summer (read more here), Barcelona forward and Spanish youth international Bojan Krkic (18) has said at a press conference that he decided not to leave after having talked with Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola:
"I will fight to keep on learning and growing, with hope and excitement. Last season I didn't have many playing minutes but this year the coach told me that he counts on me and that he wants me to stay here. After having won so much with own youth players last year, you again start a new season surrounded by many youth players and then you realize that you will get chances here."
Read more:
Bojan has received almost twenty loan offers
Treble celebrations lead to resits for Bojan
Loan of Bojan definitely excluded
Barcelona's other Leo
Barcelona's official website reports that chef Leonardo Ortega has travelled to England with the FC Barcelona squad to ensure that the players' diets remain exactly the same: "The players should not notice the difference between what they eat here and what they eat in Barcelona. Taking the guidelines from the medical team, I control the amounts and the quality of the food. I create sample dishes so the local chefs can see exactly what is required."
Team doctor Ricard Pruna also commented on the presence of the chef: "Since last season we place a great deal of importance on diet. The players stay and have lunch in the sports complex and dine after games, and we think that food is a vital part of the recuperation and recovery of the players to prevent fatigue.
At times we found ourselves in hotels and they did not have things on the menu that we wanted and other things that were cooked differently. We also personalise the menu for each player. For example, any muslim players will not eat meat but will eat fish and we have to select the fish."
Team doctor Ricard Pruna also commented on the presence of the chef: "Since last season we place a great deal of importance on diet. The players stay and have lunch in the sports complex and dine after games, and we think that food is a vital part of the recuperation and recovery of the players to prevent fatigue.
At times we found ourselves in hotels and they did not have things on the menu that we wanted and other things that were cooked differently. We also personalise the menu for each player. For example, any muslim players will not eat meat but will eat fish and we have to select the fish."
read more here
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