FC Barcelona

[Piquénbauer]

Fedt! Så kan vi gå fallit...

[emo]

Hvis Laporta bliver præsident igen, vil han eftersigende få stoppet aftalen med Qatar og beholde UNICEF som eneste sponsor på trøjen, som i de gode gamle dage.

Jah, og alligevel måske ikke. Har også læst at han vil gøre Turkish Airways til hovedsponsor.

[Piquénbauer]

Man bliver nødt til at have en sponsor i moderne fodbold. Jeg har sgu ikke det store problem med det. Dem der betaler mest må få en plads. Med det sagt kunne det dog godt være man skulle se lidt bort fra qatar når man også har unicef på trøjen.

[FCBarcelonaChr]

Hvis Laporta bliver præsident igen, vil han eftersigende få stoppet aftalen med Qatar og beholde UNICEF som eneste sponsor på trøjen, som i de gode gamle dage.

Jah, og alligevel måske ikke. Har også læst at han vil gøre Turkish Airways til hovedsponsor.

Ak ja, så huskede jeg en smule rigtigt..

[Jesni]

Man bliver nødt til at have en sponsor i moderne fodbold. Jeg har sgu ikke det store problem med det. Dem der betaler mest må få en plads. Med det sagt kunne det dog godt være man skulle se lidt bort fra qatar når man også har unicef på trøjen.

Ja. Går man efter arabiske oliepenge, og hvad det medfører af konnotationer, så man indse, at det vil plette på den tidligere CSR-strategi. Men den højestbydende, må være den bedste i mit hoved. Men som du selv siger, så er det lidt modstridende med Quatar og Unicef på samme sted.

[Piquénbauer]

http://www.sport-english.com/en/noticia ... ly-3884532

Spændende læsning om hvordan familien costa hjælper messi og neymar.

[Blaugrana92]

"Therefore, the Argentine took it as an affront when the club wanted to dismiss Pepe Costa earlier this season. Without Cesc Fabregas and Jose Manuel Pinto, two previous allies, Messi would have been in isolation."

Den del fik mig til at tænke på, hvor mange gange vi har skilt os af med spillere der var ekstremt tæt på Messi. Thiago Motta var ekstremt vigtig for Messi i hans helt unge dage. Ronaldinho giver sig selv. Han var som en bror for Messi. Éric Abidal var en af de spillere Messi nærede allerstørst respekt og kærlighed for. Plus de to der bliver nævnt i artiklen. Det er næsten som om, at hver gang Messi finder en ny best buddy, så går der ikke længe før end han bliver skibet afsted fra klubben. Dani Alves er vel nærmest den eneste af Messi's soulmates der er tilbage?

Overvej lige hvilken mental styrke Messi må have. Alle de spillere han har haft de tætteste bånd med, er blevet solgt fra klubben. En af de trænere der har betydet allermest i hele hans karriere, Tito, afgik ved døden for mindre end et år siden. Han er stjernen for Barcelona og det forventes af ham at han scorer over 60 mål hvert år. Han er stjernen for Argentina og det forventes at han vinder VM inden karrieren indstilles. Hjemme i Argentina er han sågar tidligere blevet svinet til, for ikke at værdsætte landsholdet højt nok. Når Messi spiller 3 eller 4 kampe uden at score i Barcelona-trøjen, er der dømt krise for Messi.

I medierne bliver han portrætteret som en diktator i omklædningsrummet, der går imod Pep, der tvinger Zlatan og David Villa ud af klubben og mobber Cristian Tello til tårene flyder; som en fusker der snyder de arme spaniere for skattepenge; som en mand der tager til Las Vegas og går til fester med strippere når han har ferie; som en mand der forsøger at presse sin cheftræner ud af klubben, ved at følge et andet hold på Instagram.

Der er koldt på toppen, og jo mere jeg tænker over det, jo sværere har jeg ved at fatte, hvordan en 170 centimeter høj argentiner, der tidligere var plaget af GHD, kan holde til det ekstreme pres der hviler på skuldrene af ham. Jeg tror i hvert fald ikke at jeg ville kunne holde til det, om så jeg havde samme talent som Messi har.

[Piquénbauer]

"Barca will be able to sign whoever the club wants, another thing is that [the new player] would not be able to play until January 2016," Bartomeu said. "Of course there will be talk about players during the presidential elections. There are ways of doing it."

http://www.espnfc.com/story/2267207/bar ... sfer-rules

Fra Bartos egen mund - der kan købes spillere til sommer.

[Piquénbauer]

Barcelona sources confirm that former AC Milan director Ariedo Braida (68) will join a new commission that will replace Zubizarreta. [rac1]

Jeg kender ikke noget til ham men det ser ud til at blive Braida som bliver den nye sportsdirektør. Så kan han begynde at kigge efter spillere nu hvor barto selv har sagt at vi kan hente spillere til sommer.

[emo]

"new commision" ? Skal en kommision fungere som en sportsdirektør, eller wtf menes der? Men fint nok, ikke en mand jeg tror som kan være med til at redde ham, ikke engang Pep ville kunne redde Barto nu.

[Piquénbauer]

Besides Braida, the 4-men commission will consist of vice president Mestre, board member Bordas and former player and coach Rexach. [md]

Jep det bliver et team på 4. Der er allerede snak om at braida har tætte bånd til raiola hvilket kunne betyde at pogba kom til.

[emo]

Mino er værre end Mendes. Men Pogba i Januar 16 eller sommer 16, tjah hvorfor ikke, hvis vi kan skrue prisen ned på ham.

Har bare lidt svært ved at se ham passe ind i Barcelonas midt. For show i det...

[Lopezzz]

68? Han får sikkert hjertestop under hans første kamp på Camp Nou.

[JonasV]

Something seems to be happening at Barça



Rarely in football do you sincerely think “that was bloody brilliant”. Obviously I’m not referring to the second half (except for Arda Turan’s wonderful moment of theatre), but that first half was one of wonderful ebb and flow. It started with a bang, then an elegant rebuttal, a unsurprising controversy, a swift reply and finally it ended with a bang. Instead of being called for a clear handball, Jordi Alba burst the length of the field to superbly assist Neymar’s winner on a night the Brazilian sparkled. Down 2-3 at the half (2-4 on aggregate), Neymar finally had enough of the relentless fouling and got into Gabi’s face and then stood his ground to Fernando Torres. Eventually that concluded with Gabi being sent off during the break and viewers needing a double take when Atlético took to the field curiously a man down.

I must say, there’s been few firmer admirers and supporters of Atletí but lately it feels things are getting nasty. The soldier “never say die” mentality is shifting into a bit of a sore loser routine. The Atlético guys seem to genuinely believe they’re being wronged despite cynical and excessive physical fouls that are blatantly obvious. Whether a direct consequence or not, it was poetic that referee Gil Manzano had to ask for a new disappearing spray can with still 10 minutes to spare. He blew over thirty fouls and distributed 13 yellow cards (10 to Atlétio Madrid) as well as 2 red cards. Things have changed for Barça as well – unable to beat Atletí in six attempts last year, they’ve now won three times in barely over two weeks, with an aggregate score-line of 7-3. Something seems to be happening at FC Barcelona.


The eleven that played tonight are clearly now Luis Enrique’s once de gala. Ivan Rakitić has joined the party and seemingly cemented his spot whereas despite the multiple year cacophony about center-backs, Gerard Piqué and Javier Mascherano remain Barça’s ideal pairing. And the truth of it is that Luis Enrique may have something going here. Though the midfield appears marginalized, the proof is in the pudding. Against a real nemesis whose defense simply could not be breached last season, Barça have now scored more than double the goals in half the games.

The new, less pensive approach is not as easy on the eye and invites pressure, but it appears to prohibit Atlético organizing themselves as they’d like. Then Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez use the much appreciated space to take players on and usually win. It helps, too, having Gerard Piqué bossing everything in the air. It wasn’t always recognizable but it worked again after a previous again. How this season will progress I’m unsure, but I . I am however looking forward to it and it’s fair to ask if Barça is perhaps adapting at last?

It’s impossible to recount the first half with justice to its special combination of finesse and ferocity. The teams traded blows both literally and metaphorically during 45 minutes during which the lead changed hands three times. It began with an aggressive interception by Guillherme Siqueira ending up with Fernando Torres, who punished Barça 39 seconds into the game with his first three touches, the last being a killer shot across goal from distance. I’m sure a fair few people had barely taken their seat before last week’s advantage vanished.

But Barça were unruffled, striking back 7 minutes later courtesy of the MSN magicians. Messi delicately evades Mario Suárez on the flank before speedily advancing it vertically to Luis Suárez. What’s important to note here is that Suárez quickly shifted right and in doing so simultaneously supports Messi and drags the deepest defenders away from the center. Equally importantly Neymar is bursting from deep down the middle into that space, eventually finishing clinically off an excellently executed assist from Luis Suárez, his 10th of the season. Not long later Neymar has a second incorrectly chalked off. The Brazilian was level when Marc-André ter Stegen played a perfect ball up field, though if Neymar was half a meter back offside was entirely off the table.

For much of the opening there was not a whole lot of football to speak of as the ball pinged back and forth rapidly. Atlético attacked with purpose and could have taken the lead if Antoine Griezmann connected better on a cross from out left. They took the lead soon afterwards thanks to avery well struck Raúl García shot from a totally incorrectly called penalty. Juanfran running into Javier Mascherano after a nutmeg was a debatable, but often given, foul. but the contact was undoubtedly made outside the box and the call should have been a free-kick. That’s just how it goes sometimes (often times in Spain).

Not even 10 minutes later those in florescent nearly leveled it up. A trademark Dani Alves pass was cleverly skipped over allowing Rakitić to ghost into the area. He got his shot off quickly but not quicker than two Atletí guys dived in the way to make the block. From the resulting corner, João Miranda goofed a clearance and sliced the ball into his own net. With the score at 2-2 Atlético Madrid required two goals to advance.

Then agony to ecstasy. When Griezmann struck his 40th minute shot it felt certain Atlético had retaken the lead and halved what they needed to turn the tie. Instead Jordi Alba unmistakably stopped a goal with his arm and 15 seconds later Jordi Alba had sprinted the length of the field to smartly assist Neymar’s winner. That was counter attack nirvana. Messi pushed the ball with great tempo as Atlético burst their lungs to recover – and the they would have had it covered if Alba hadn’t put in his effort to get in behind the defense. The diagonal ball over the top from Messi was its usual class, Alba kept his cool to smartly knock it back across, and Neymar cutely rounded a sprawling Jan Oblak.

To celebrate Neymar defiantly cupped his ear to the crowd, inciting what would come. He gave both Gabi and Torres back all the lip he was getting, infuriating Gabi to the point he received a red card in the tunnel. Good for Neymar. He is fouled mercilessly game after game and stood his ground after understandably deciding enough was enough. With only ten men and needing three goals to progress Atlético seemed to decide that while the game may have been lost the fight certainly wasn’t. Arda Turan lost it barely 2 minutes into the second period when he threw his boot at the linesman. It was equally comedic as petulant and how he didn’t see a red for that is beyond me. From then on the result was never in doubt though I will note Ter Stegen’s top-class stop from Cani’s rocket hit. A forgettable second half for viewers, less so for Barça player limbs, however it doesn’t take the shine of a truly memorable first.

That was just one of those games (halves really) to relish. Flying footwear, an attack by the linesman, cards a plenty and moments of brilliance. Barça were pumped up tonight and every bit as intense as Diego Simeone credited. He added Barcelona has raised their level from last year. Like I said, I’m not sure what’s going to come. But about three weeks ago, defeating Atlético once, let alone three times, seemed impossible. I’m more than willing to imagine things could get a little more impossible from here.

[A$AP]

Barça in the last 19 games, since consecutive losses against Real Madrid & Celta: P19, W17, D1, L1. Goals scored 65. Goals conceded 8!