Barcelona meets Benidorm in first round Copa

In the draw for the first round of the Spanish cup, Barcelona has been paired today with Spanish third division club Benidorm.

The first leg will be played on Wednesday 29 October in Benidorm. Two weeks later, the return game takes place in the Camp Nou.


This is the full schedule:

Polideportivo Ejido (3) - Villarreal
Real Unión (3) - Real Madrid
Benidorm (3) - Barcelona
Orihuela (3) - Atlético de Madrid
Portugalete (4) - Valencia
Ponferradina (3) - Sevilla
Elche (2) - Deportivo
Murcia (2) - Racing Santander
Celta (2) - Espanyol
Rayo Vallecano (2) - Almería
Hércules (2) - Valladolid
Castellón (2) - Real Betis
Athletic Club - Recreativo Huelva
Getafe - Osasuna
Numancia - Sporting Gijón
Málaga - Mallorca

Xavi could be offered contract for life

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona officials will soon meet with Iván Corretja, the agent of Barcelona midfielder and Spanish international Xavi (28), to talk about a contract renewal of the player (read more here).

Barcelona would consider to offer Xavi a contract extension until the year 2013 or 2014, that would include a pay rise that, as a reward for his performance and his loyalty to the club, would place the Catalan midfielder amongst the best paid players of the squad.

The plan would be that Xavi, whose current contract expires in the summer of 2010, retires playing for Barcelona and will then become a member of the technical staff. Xavi could sign his new contract in the next two weeks.

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Xavi will at least be offered an extension until 2012. The renewal negotiations are already underway for a while and an agreement could be announced in the coming weeks.

Inter Milan would meanwhile again be interested in Xavi, with manager José Mourinho wanting to bring the player to Italy (read more here).

Read more:
Puyol, Xavi and Valdes offered to renew until 2014
Xavi: "There's no bigger Barcelona fan than me"
First renewal talks with Xavi

A new Masia for Barcelona youth players

Barcelona's legendary youth centre la Masía (Catalan for "the farm"), in the shadow of the Camp Nou, that has been used by Barcelona for almost thirty years, will soon no longer house Barcelona youth players. The club plans to open a new centre in a few years time.

The building that over the last three decades has been synonymous with Barça’s rising stars will no longer accommodate youth players, who will eventually be moving on to Sant Joan Despí. Before the end of the year work will start on a new building, which should be ready in 2010.

The old country house at Can Planes will soon stop housing youth players. Before 2008 is over, work will have begun on a new building to accommodate these youngsters. It will be located at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, where the structure of the building that will replace La Masia is already in place.

For 2010
If the work goes to schedule, the new residence could be ready some time during the 2010/11 season. The club already has planning permission and all the Board of Directors now has to do is commission the work so that it can get under way before the end of 2008. The actual building will be 6,000 metres square and will cost 8 million euros, not including costs associated to equipping the facility and water treatment.

Capacity
Functionality and comfort are two of the main factors being considered for a building that will be able to house up to 82 youngsters, in quad and double rooms. The youngest players will sleep in the quadruple bedrooms, while the doubles will be for older ones.

Each room will include bathrooms and individual beds, in addition to one desk and wardrobe per player. The ground floor will contain the kitchen, visiting room, administrative offices, classrooms and a recreation hall, where there will be a giant screen for watching matches and the typical La Masia bar football tables.

A building for temporary residents
One of the big changes regarding this project is that it will be made compatible with other uses. Not only will young residents stay there, but also adults. This will mean that professional or international teams will be able to organise camps at the Ciutat Esportiva de Sant Joan Despí.

A sustainable Masia
Aside from aesthetics, the building will also involve certain sustainable elements, such as, for example, being designed not to directly absorb heat from the sun. Also to combine sustainability with technology, the generation of electricity by photovoltaic panels on the roof is being looked into.

Read the full article and see more images of the new building on Barcelona's official website

Ronaldinho (2): "I miss Puyol a lot"

In an interview with Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo, AC Milan player Ronaldinho talked about his new club and his time in Barcelona.





Messi is playing more impressive every day...
For us, it's not a surprise, it's not something new. Since he started training with the group we already knew he would become a great player. One day I will be able to tell people that I witnessed the football birth of one of the greatest players in history: Leo Messi. Every time I see Leo play he reminds me more and more of Maradona, two left-footed players, two little ones... With all the travelling I'm not talking that much with him anymore. Besides, you always have to call him and send him messages. But I always ask for him when talking to other players, sometimes I'm even talking with him while I'm calling another one...

Messi is the greatest?
Together with Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo.

I guess you'll have to vote for the Golden Ball. Who would you choose?
No, no, don't make me vote... I would want to have two votes, one for each friend: one for Kaká and one for leo. You have to keep your friends happy, so I would prefer two Golden Balls this year.

Which former team-mate you would like to bring to Milan?
I cannot choose. But I have to say that I really miss Puyol a lot. Although I'm now two weeks without talking with him, some of my friends are talking with him so I know everything, how he is, what he does... He's one of the team-mates I miss the most because we were friends, real friends.

Puyol admires Maldini...
Well, tell him that I'm feeling very well sharing the dressing-room with Maldini. He's a great person, an example. You learn a lot when you're around Paolo every day.

How about Rijkaard?
Frank is a friend. After all we've lived together, it's always fantastic to see someone like him again.

Some of your former team-mates are now saying that the team didn't work enough last season...
I don't see it that way... I've always considered Frank to be a great coach who always had clear ideas about what to do and who won everything he has won because he knew how he had to manage a team.

Talent is enough?
No, talent is never enough, but that's the same when you win or lose... When we were winning leagues and the Champions League I didn't hear anyone complain... Rijkaard did a lot, he's a great coach.


This is the second part of this interview. The third parts will follow tomorrow with Ronaldinho talking -amongst other things about Berlusconi and parties.

Read the first part of the interview here:
Ronaldinho (1): "I want Barcelona to win everything"

Touré considers transfer if he doesn't play more

Asked about the rumours linking Barcelona defensive midfielder and Ivory Coast international Yaya Touré (25) with a January exit (read more here), the player's agent Dimitri Sellyuk has said in interview with Catalan radio station Ona FM that the player will probably leave if his situation at the club doesn't change:

"If he doesn't play, we'll most probably start negotiating with other clubs. Barcelona has the final word, but if he won't get more minutes we're forced to think about a transfer.

Touré is a true professional, he works for Barcelona, he loves the club and he has a contract. Who's interested in him, should talk with Barcelona. Like for example Juventus. I'm aware of their interest, they would like to sign him if Barcelona agrees, and of the interest of another top club in Italy and one in England.

Touré has a contract with Barcelona and he'll stay here for the time being. But he's not playing a lot and he's not here just for the salary. He has even played when he was injured. He's not a player who's only there to sit on the bench, get paid and not play.

Yaya prefers, like we all do, to stay. He likes Barcelona but we should consider his situation at the club. He's 25 years old and you cannot expect him to sit on the bench and watch the others play."

Read more:
Arsenal could launch Toure bid in January
Juventus offers Touré five-year contract
Wenger called Touré this summer