Busquets sr: "Sergio always had that easy touch"

In an interview with Catalan sports paper Sport, former Barcelona goalkeeper and current Barcelona Atlètic goalkeeping coach Carles Busquets talked about the start of the season of his son, Barcelona midfielder and Spanish youth international Sergio Busquets (20).





You expected this extremely rapid progress of your son?
I think that nobody expected this. We all saw he had some qualities, that he sacrificed a lot, that he lived for football, but you never can predict how these things go. He equally could have stayed two more years with the B team and then having to leave the club. Luckily, he's now playing with the first team and he's doing well.

You agree that, besides his talent, his main quality is his mental strength?
Sergio has always been a very mature guy for his age. He didn't change at all and hopefully he never will.

Which advice did you give him, as a father and as a former Barcelona player?
He's not a boy you have to follow very closely. He has always had a great attitude. At a sporting level, I've only said that he should play like he can play. Calm and with confidence.

People say that he has his coolness from his father...
Those kind of comparisons are inevitable, but Sergio has his personality and I have mine. We of course have some things in common, but that's only normal.

His life has changed a lot, with relation to his studies, his social life... ?
He stopped his studies last year to concentrate on Barcelona's second team and now he's fully focusing on football. For now, he's dealing very well with this new situation. It's a very calm guy, who likes to stay at home and who rarely goes out.

Has he developed as a player over the last year?
He always has played like this, moving the ball quickly and having a good vision of the game. Since he was a little boy, he has always had this easy touch. At the same time, he has always worked very hard. In midfield he always was the one who stole the ball and passed it quickly to a team-mate.

He has always played as midfielder?
When he started at seven or eight years old, he played as centre forward, but he soon dropped to midfield and he kept playing at that position.


Read more:
Busquets not listening to offers by other clubs
The Arabic tattoo of Busquets
Difficult renewal negotiations with Busquets

Abraham happy with official first team debut

Asked about his debut with Barcelona's first team last night in the Copa game againt Benidorm, Barcelona Atlètic midfielder Abraham (23) said to the offical club media that he was happy about the chance he got:

"I am very happy with my debut, it is the best thing. It's a reward for all the hard work and I will continue to work to have more opportunities. This type of game is always difficult and even more so if you play with the first team. I am satisfied with how the coach treated me. For me, he seems the same as he was last year with the B team."

Read more:
Barça B: What with the non-promoted guys?
Gai could soon make first team debut
Seven B players will start season with first team

Chelsea or Milan for Rijkaard

Spanish news site El Confidencial claims that former Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard (46) has reached a verbal agreement with English Premier League club Chelsea.

Rijkaard would have agreed to take over next summer if current Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari cannot win a trophy with his team this year.

Catalan sports paper Sport meanwhile claims that Rijkaard could join Italian club AC Milan next season, together with former Barcelona player Johan Neeskens (57), who has been Rijkaard's first assistant at Barcelona from 2006 to 2008.

Neeskens recently signed a contract with the Dutch football association (read more here) but would have said he could only sign until the end of June because he already has a deal with a club for next season.

Read more:
Rijkaard candidate to replace Ancelotti at Milan
What's next for Rijkaard?
Rijkaard rejects Newcastle approach

Statistics 2008-2009: Goals, assists, cards

goals
12 Eto'o (9 + 3 + 0)
8 Messi (5 + 3 + 0)
4 Henry (3 + 1 + 0)
4 Xavi (1 + 3 + 0)
3 Bojan (0 + 2 + 1)
2 Gudjohnsen (2 + 0 + 0)
2 Márquez (1 + 1 + 0)
1 Alves (1 + 0 + 0)
1 Busquets (0 + 1 + 0)
1 Iniesta (1 + 0 + 0)
1 own-goal opponent (1 + 0 + 0)


assists
10 Xavi (7 + 3 + 0)
8 Messi (6 + 2 + 0)
5 Iniesta (3 + 2 + 0)
4 Eto'o (2 + 2 + 0)
2 Alves (1 + 1 + 0)
2 Henry (1 + 1 + 0)
2 Bojan (1 + 1 + 0)
1 Víctor Sánchez (0 + 0 + 1)
1 Touré (1 + 0 + 0)
1 Busquets (0 + 1 + 0)
1 Puyol (1 + 0 + 0)
1 Márquez (0 + 1 + 0)


yellow cards
3 Busquets (3 + 0 + 0)
3 Márquez (2 + 1 + 0)
2 Eto'o (2 + 0 + 0)
2 Henry (1 + 1 + 0)
2 Iniesta (1 + 1 + 0)
1 Abidal (0 + 0 + 1)
1 Cáceres (0 + 0 + 1)
1 Keita (0 + 1 + 0)
1 Xavi (0 + 1 + 0)
1 Valdés (1 + 0 + 0)
1 Touré (1 + 0 + 0)
1 Puyol (1 + 0 + 0)
1 Piqué (0 + 1 + 0)





total (Liga + Champions League + Copa)

Barcelona has played 14 official games (8 in the Liga, 5 in the Champions League and 1 in the Copa)

[Henrique] Werder Bremen-Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen played yesterday their tenth Bundesliga game of the season. Bayer defeated Werder Bremen 2-0.

Brazilian central defender and Barcelona loan out Henrique (21) started the match and played the whole game in the centre of the Bayer defense.


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.



Table
1. Bayer Leverkusen 21
2. Hoffenheim (9) 19
3. Schalke 04 17
4. Hamburg (9) 17
5. Wolfsburg 16
6. Stuttgart (9) 16
7. Bayern München (9) 15
8. Hertha Berlin (9) 15
9. Borussia Dortmund (9) 14
10. Werder Bremen 13
11. Köln (9) 13
[...]

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