FC Barcelona begin the 2013/14 preseason with a friendly against the reigning champions of Europe, Bayern Munich. Pep Guardiola and Thiago Alcántara, now on the bench and in the midfield of the German team, will face off against their ex-team. Barça is made up of 12 first team players and 11 Barça B players. After the match against Bayern, the Catalan team will travel to Oslo.
The Barça Manager still insists that it is the Spanish League that matters most and that Levante won’t be an easy opponent. “Levante are on a bad run, but that sometimes works against you because they have nothing to lose” said Barça’s Assistant Manager Jordi Roura. In addition, he explained that Messi “has started training with the squad and he has dealt with his recovery period well and done everything he can to get fit again”.
Barça’s Assistant Manager, Jordi Roura says that Barça will be ambitious against PSG on Wednesday’s second leg game. Roura, who take care of Barça during Tito Vilanova’s absence, notes that only victory would guarantee a spot in the semi-finals of the Champions League. On Messi, Adriano and Pedro's fitness, Barça's assistant manager says that “we have to wait and see how they feel and we especially have to see the results from their latest medical tests”. Nevertheless, Messi trained on Tuesday with the rest of his team-mates, although he has not received the medical all-clear yet.
FC Barcelona’s Coach has landed on Tuesday morning, at about 8:05 at Barcelona El Prat Airport, after two months in New York when dealing with his illness. Jordi Roura and Aureli Altimira, who joined him on the flight home, will be taking this afternoon’s training session at the Ciutat Esportiva. Last December Vilanova underwent surgery for his parotid ailment relapse and in January he flew to the States to continue with his cancer treatment. In late 2011, Tito Vilanova had a first tumour removed from his parotid gland.
Barça beat Rayo Vallecano in a great game at the Camp Nou on Sunday evening, in which the Messi-Villa combination was the highlight for the hosts. FC Barcelona made a number of changes form the game against AC Milan and Rayo showed they were prepared to go toe to toe with Jordi Roura’s side. The Catalans finished 13 points in front again at the top of the Spanish League’s table.
Two first half goals from Leo Messi (2) and two more from David Villa and Jordi Alba cancelled out AC Milan’s two-goal head start. Things looked bleak after the 2-0 reverse at the San Siro, but AC Milan were simply no match for the Catalans on Tuesday. Barça thus gain spectacular revenge for the 4-0 defeat in the Athens final of 1994 and go into Friday’s Champions League quarter finals draw.
Barça aim for a historic fight back against AC Milan to stay in the Champions League. The Catalans attempt to turn around the 2-0 defeat in Milan and earn a place in the last eight of the competition. This generation of FC Barcelona players have won everything in the game, with few records left to beat and just one big challenge ahead of them – to come back from a losing position in a European tie. Xavi Hernàndez is Barça’s main doubt for the game.
At the press conference before the FC Barcelona vs Deportivo de la Coruña game, Barça boss insisted that the team had trained well this week and are keen to beat the Galician side: “to keep our lead at the top of the table”. After the two consecutive defeats against Real Madrid, FC Barcelona needs a morale boost against Deportivo in order to face AC Milan next Tuesday, a crucial and difficult match in order to continue their Champions League campaign. In the first leg tie, the Catalans lost 2-0 in San Siro and now they need an heroic victory at the Camp Nou.
A goal from Ramos with eight minutes left saw Real Madrid take a rather grey Clasico after Messi had equalised Benzema’s opener in the first half. Valdés was sent off after the final whistle after remonstrating with the referee who denied Barça an apparently clear late penalty when Adriano was brought down in the box.
Tuesday’s painful Spanish Cup KO, Barça face Real Madrid again, this time in a League competition they are dominating - leading their great rivals by 16 points – a situation that leads Roura to insist on an optimistic message. The FC Barcelona coach is fully confident in his players’ “admirable attitude” ahead of Saturday’s match, which he reckons is: “a very important game”. “The League is the top prize and a good result on Saturday will be a great step forward”, he added. Furthermore, Roura admitted: “against Milan and Madrid we were not as inspired as usual, but that is no cause for pessimism”.
Barça’s Copa del Rey title defence is over after losing at home to a Real Madrid side that knew how to take its chances. Despite FC Barcelona getting a good result in the first leg at the Bernabéu (1-1), the all-whites, spurred on by an early penalty, were highly effective at the back and lethal up front. Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals and Varane, Real Madrid’s third target. Jordi Alba pulled one back for Barça, but it was too little too late.
The Spanish Cup champions from the last two seasons meet this evening (21.00 CET) at the Camp Nou in the second leg of the Cup semi-finals, after the two teams drew 1-1 in Madrid. Barça Manager, Jordi Roura has a full squad available, whilst Iker Casillas is missing for the visitors. The clasico’s result at the Camp Nou could have a big effect on both side’s morale ahead of their upcoming Champions League games.
Speaking to the media after Monday’s training session, FC Barcelona Manager, Jordi Roura, insisted: “the team is really focussed and determined to get into another final”. On Tuesday FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will play the second leg of the Spanish Cup semi-final. Roura also reminded everyone that Barça’s style is non-negotiable: “we will be going out to win from the off”.