Crosas goes French / 15

Olympique Lyon won last night against Paris Saint-Germain with 4-2 and has now a nine point lead on second placed Bordeaux on top of the French league. Barcelona loan out Marc Crosas (20) started on the bench and stayed there for 90 minutes.

(read more about Crosas in Lyon here)

Ronaldinho is becoming a major problem (1)

Last week wasn't the best week for Barcelona playmaker Ronaldinho (28). It began in the beginning of the week when the medical staff put out a report stating that the player was not injured, while Ronaldinho didn't play against Almería on Sunday cause he said he didn't feel fit.

Ronaldinho's brother and agent Roberto de Assís reacted to the news on the Catalan radio station station Ona FM saying that he nor his brother had given permission for the publication of the report. On Catalan radio station RAC 1, Roberto went further: "The medical report that was published in the press, was not the one we have seen."

When the rumour spread that the report had been made public under his supervision in an attempt to damage the player, Barcelona president Joan Laporta had to come out and declare that the report was perfectly clear in stating that Ronaldinho didn't have an injury, which does not mean the player couldn't have troubles or be in pain, and that all the fuss around the report was due to the misinterpratation by "twisted minds".

Although Ronaldinho has said on Catalan radio station Ona FM that he wanted to play against Valencia "with or without pain", Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard decided not to include the Brazilian in the squad considering that one training session was not enough to be ready for the return of the Spanish cup's semi-final.

On Saturday, Ronaldinho was again left out for the yesterday league game against Valladolid because he continued to have troubles with his right foot. At a tense press conference, Rijkaard seemed to drop the player, amongst other things by saying that "this time" Ronaldinho was in good physical shape when he arrived at the training ground.

Barcelona legend Johan Cruijff declared on the offical club television channel Barça TV that players should be able to put themselves over some physical troubles when there are important games to come and trophies at stake.

(this is the first part of this contribution, the second part will be published later today, the third part will be published tomorrow)

Deco thinks about England or Atletico

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona midfielder Deco (30) has told people in his environment that he probably won't be playing for Barcelona anymore next season.

The Portuguese international thinks next season he could be playing for Atlético Madrid or a club from the English Premier League. The latter not being one of the big four, but "a mythical team that has offered him an amount of money he could very difficult say no to". A return to Brazil would also be an option for Deco, although staying in Europe is his first wish.

(read more on the Deco transfer story here)

Transfer history: Cesc

In an interview with Catalan television channel TV3, Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas (20) talked about his transfer from Barcelona to Arsenal in 2003, when the player was 16 years old.

The Spanish international told it was a very difficult decision to make. One of the reasons that made him choose to leave was that players from the same age group, like current Manchester United central defender Gerard Piqué (21) and current Barcelona right winger Lionel Messi (20), were allowed to play for a higher youth team while he had to stay in his age category.

Cesc explicitly denied that he left cause of president Joan Laporta (previously it had been said that Laporta, after getting elected as president in the summer of 2003, wouldn't have tried to keep the player), calling those rumours "a big lie". The player said about his transfer: "It all happened in the election period", suggesting there was a power vacancy in the club at the time.

(read more transfer history stories here)

Crosas goes French / 14

After he already declared in the French media he would like to stay with Olympique Lyon after the loan deal ends in June of this year (read more here and here), Barcelona loan out Marc Crosas (20) has now also spoken about his future in an interview with Catalan sports paper Sport.

Crosas says he has regained the trust in himself in Lyon, after a complicated first half of the season, having to switch the whole time between Barcelona's first and second team. Because he also realizes it will be very difficult to play in Barcelona, the player prefers to stay in Lyon next season: "I would like to play here for one more year, so I can keep on growing." Crosas says he doesn't yet know how both club think about this idea.

(read more about Crosas in Lyon here)