fc barcelona

59 days after the celebrations for the historic treble achieved by the blaugranes last season, Camp Nou comes back to life after a summer hiatus with the visit of Italian side AS Roma for the traditional pre-season opening game at the stadium, the Joan Gamper Trophy. The clash with the Serie A club will mark the end of a pre-season which has taken Barça to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC and Florence. The first team will be presented to the fans before the game and a party atmosphere is guaranteed in the final test for Luis Enrique’s squad ahead of their attempt to claim the European and Spanish Super Cups. With the return of Claudio Bravo to training on Monday, Luis Enrique now has his entire first team squad back after the summer break, although Arda Turan and Douglas continue their respective recoveries from injury.

Sluggish start condemns Catalans in last match in 2015 International Champions Cup. Suárez gets one back after early Bernardeschi double but Barça can´t complete comeback.FC Barcelona had full control of the last 79 minutes in their fourth and final game of the preseason International Champions Cup on Sunday night but it wasn’t enough to overcome two early goals from Federico Bernardeschi, as hosts Fiorentina claimed a 2–1 victory. Despite the early goals FC Barcelona clearly dominated the rest of the match, and would have drawn even, or taken the lead, if they had been able to finish with a bit more precision. Fiorentina goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu was key as well, making a bevy of nice saves throughout the evening.

Goals from Suárez and Sandro give Barça a 2-2 draw over 90 minutes against Chelsea, but the shoot out does not go the Catalans’ way (4-2). FC Barcelona and Chelsea FC put on a spectacular show of football on Tuesday night at FedExField just outside Washington DC in a friendly clash between European giants that had to be decided on penalty kicks. With the score tied at two after 90 minutes of play, Chelsea aced all four of their spot kicks to emerge with a victory in both teams’ final game on United States soil in the 2015 International Champions Cup. Both sides will play one final game in the summer tournament back in Europe. For Barça, the defeat wraps up a US tour that included a first-game win over the Los Angeles Galaxy followed by consecutive losses to Manchester United and Chelsea. Despite the less-than-optimum results, Barça head coach Luis Enrique has made it clear that the purpose of the preseason is to get his team in shape for the games that count.

UEFA's Disciplinary Committee has decided to issue FC Barcelona, the current champions of Europe, with a €30,000 fine due to the Catalan independence flags displayed and the songs sung by its supporters during May's Champions League final in Berlin. Despite UEFA representatives present at the final having praised the "excellent behaviour" of the Catalan supporters during the game in their official report, the Disciplinary Committee acted after a complaint was filed at a later stage by a Ukrainian lawyer based on the TV broadcast. UEFA condemns "the use of gestures, words […] to transmit any message that is not fit for a sports event, particularly messages that are of a political, ideological, religious, offensive or provocative nature" in its Disciplinary Regulations.

Confident FC Barcelona defeat the MLS champions with goals from Luis Suárez and Sergi Roberto. FC Barcelona got their preseason off to a fine start with a 2-1 victory against MLS champions Los Angeles Galaxy at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena in front of an astonishing crowd of 93,226. Goals from Luis Suárez and Sergi Roberto put the Catalans well in command, and Tommy Meyer’s 92nd minute header merely served as late consolation for the Californian outfit. There was a carnival atmosphere in the stands, but the football in the first 45 minutes did not always rise to the occasions. Barça were still trying to get into their rhythm in their first game after the summer break against a side that is already deep into its own season. But the Galaxy limited most of their efforts to frustrating the Catalan game-plan. 

The Catalans are in California for the first friendly of the 2015/16 preseason in their debut appearance in the International Champions Cup. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California is the venue for FC Barcelona’s first match of the 2015/16 preseason, which kicks off at 8.00pm on Tuesday local time and early Wednesday morning back in Barcelona at 5.00am CET. A crowd of over 90,000 is expected to watch as the Catalans face current Major League Soccer (MLS) champions Los Angeles Galaxy in the first of their four games in the International Champions Cup. Three of those games are being played in the USA. After Galaxy, Barça will take on Manchester United on Saturday and Chelsea on Tuesday.

Ramon Adell, president of FC Barcelona's Management Committee, and Josep Maria Bartomeu, newly elected president of the Catalan club, have signed the transfer of powers on Monay in the President Suñol Box at Camp Nou and subsequently held an extraordinary meeting of the Management Committee and the new Board of Directors of FC Barcelona, which officially took office. FC Barcelona elections took place on Saturday and incumbent President Josep Maria Bartomey won with 54% of the votes, while former President Joan Laporta obtained 33% of support.

The current manager of FC Bayern Munich, Catalonia-born Pep Guardiola, will occupy the symbolic last position on the unitary pro-independence list running in the next Catalan Parliament elections, which groups together Liberals, Social-Democrats, Christian-Democrats, Socialists, Greens and civil society organisations, according to news released on Monday morning by the ‘El País’ and ‘El Periódico’ newspapers. The elections are scheduled for 27 September and many parties are planning to transform them into a ‘de facto’ plebiscite on independence after the Spanish Government’s unilateral blocking attitude for the last 3 years. For many people, this is the only way left to hold a legal vote on independence, after the Spanish Government has totally rejected even talking about the self-determination claims democratically expressed by a majority of Catalan citizens through the last Catalan elections in 2012 and many peaceful mass demonstrations.

At around 2.00pm local time on Sunday afternoon (11.00pm CET) Barça landed at Los Angeles airport following a twelve hour direct flight from Barcelona. The blaugranes had left at 11.00am CET for the United States after a week of training prior to their pre-season tour across the Atlantic. California welcomed FC Barcelona with cloudy skies but warm temperatures with Los Angeles being the first of three US cities that Barça will visit during their stay. In the City of Angels, the team checked into the plush Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey. Luis Enrique and Andrés Iniesta gave the team's first press conference of the tour at the hotel, followed by Barça's first training session at the StubHub Center in Carson.

In order to stand, candidates must collect a minimum of 2,534 support slips from club members. Ramon Adell, president of the Managing Commission that met on Wednesday, has announced that the FC Barcelona presidential elections will take place on Saturday 18 July, pursuant to the dispositions of articles 35 and 43 of the Club Statutes. “We thought that if we did it this way, with a holiday the day after, that would encourage participation”, he said at a specially called conference in the company of the secretary of the Commission, Jordi Calsamiglia.

FC Barcelona has announced that the first team manager, Luis Enrique Martínez, and the rest of his coaching staff will be staying at the Catalan club for an extra season, as they were initially finishing their contracts in June 2016. Now, the new contract will expire on 30 June 2017. The new deal was signed on Tuesday afternoon, where the first team manager was joined by assistant coaches Juan Carlos Unzué and Robert Moreno, technical auxiliary Joan Barbarà, physio Rafel Pol, goalkeepers’ coach José Ramon de la Fuente and psychologist Joaquín Valdés. "We are naturally very happy. After the wonderful year we’ve had, with difficulties but a very happy ending, we are more than thrilled about the hope of winning more titles", stated Luis Enrique.

FC Barcelona has announced that Dani Alves has accepted its proposal for the renewal of his contract, which expires on June 30 of this year. The new settlement means the defender will remain at the Catalan club for a further two seasons, through to 30 June 2017, with the option of a third additional season. It all means that the Brazilian will be staying around for what will be his eighth season at the club. He joined from Sevilla in 2008 to form part of the new project under manager Pep Guardiola. The full-back has gone on to appear in 343 matches for Barça, more than any other foreigner in the history of the club. His 19 titles break down as follows 5 Ligas, 3 Champions Leagues, 3 Spanish Cups, 2 European Super Cups, 4 Spanish Super Cups and 2 Club World Cups.

FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC have struck a deal to bring Aleix Vidal to the Camp Nou, with the 25-year-old signing a five-year contract that will keep him at the Catalan club until June 2020. Vidal – a pacey right wing back – was officially presented on Monday, after a morning of medical tests at the Hospital de Barcelona and the Centre Mèdic at the Ciutat Esportiva. Aleix Vidal is delighted to have signed for FC Barcelona, and that was more than obvious from what he had to say in Monday’s press conference at the Camp Nou. “Apart from the day my daughter was born, this is the most special day of my life” he said, describing it as a homecoming after he spent one year at the club playing for the U14 B team. He was joined in the pressroom by Vice-President Jordi Mestre, who explained that the player’s transfer fee from Sevilla was 18 million euros, plus a further €4 million in variables.

Barça complete historic second treble with convincing victory in Berlin.FC Barcelona rode goals from Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suárez, and an injury-time clincher by Neymar Jr to claim the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League title on Saturday night at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany. The victory gives FC Barcelona their fourth Champions League title in the last 10 years — their fifth in team history — and an unprecedented second treble, adding a layer of reinforced concrete to the Catalans' already rock-solid status as a dynasty for the ages.

FC Barcelona has announced on Thursday that they have reached an agreement with Pedro Rodríguez to renew his contract until 30 June 2019. The Canary Islander striker’s current contract was due to expire on 30 June 2016. His buyout clause will remain at 150 million euros. The Canary Islander will be signing the new deal over the next few days.