mourinho

FC Barcelona Manager notes that their only objective against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou is to “win to prolong the competition.” He adds: “if they win or draw, the Liga is theirs”. Guardiola considers that, whatever the result is, that “Barça have already won,” in regards to how well the team have played in recent years. The manager warns of the dangers that Real Madrid bring to the match: “they dominate all aspects of the game ... they’ll come out to win”.

Barça and Real Madrid are way ahead of the rest of the Spanish League in almost all individual and team stats. In many ways, their records are very similar, but there are also some striking differences.

Real Madrid dropped two more points with their second successive 1-1 draw against Villarreal in their last Spanish League game. After Barça’s win against Granada, the Catalans have reduce the gap from 10 to 6 points in only four days. The chase for the Spanish League’s leadership is livelier than ever.

Gerard Piqué offered his views on the FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid Spanish Cup game. The Barça centre back has never lost to Madrid, and was delighted with yet another victory at the Bernabéu. When asked about Pepe treading on Messi’s hand, he said that others are to judge, not FC Barcelona players.

FC Barcelona presented their manager, who on Wednesday celebrated his 41st birthday, with an epic comeback win at Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Spanish Cup. Puyol and Abidal scored the goals.

The balance of Pep Guardiola, FC Barcelona’s Manager, against Real Madrid is eight victories, three draws, and one defeat. Guardiola confirmed that Pinto will be the starting goalkeeper in the clásico and that his assistant, Tito Vilanova, will travel to Madrid.

The Argentinean star is named by FIFA as the best player of 2011. This is Messi’s third straight Ballon d’Or Award. Messi equals Platini, Cruyff and Van Basten, the only players to ever win three Ballon d’Or titles. The Barça boss, who won 5 titles with FC Barcelona in 12 months, beat last year's winner, José Mourinho, and Sir Alex Ferguson. Guardiola dedicated the title to his assistant coach, Tito Vilanova. Besides, 5 Barça players are in the FIFA's Best Eleven of the Year: Alves, Piqué, Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi. Two of them are Catalan and four are home grown players.

The FC Barcelona President Sandro Rosell addressed the audience at the 32nd Supporters Clubs Congress. He looked back on the 2010/11 season and spoke positively about all of the sporting activities at the club. He explained why FC Barcelona did not file a formal complaint against Mourinho and he asked for a cooling down for everybody’s sake.

FC Barcelona were proclaimed Champion of the Spanish Super Cup after beating Real Madrid 3-2 at the Camp Nou, and 5-4 overall over the 2 legs. Iniesta and Messi (2), with a goal right at the death, were the home team scorers.

This season, in addition to continuing to fill the cabinet with more trophies, has served to break down some barriers that until now had been insurmountable for this Barça team. Winning at grounds like Espanyol or Valencia are two examples.

Barça have qualified for the Champions League final at the expense of Real Madrid following tonight’s draw at the Camp Nou. Pedro scored the winner for a side that dominated the possession and produced most of the chances.

FC Barcelona look to build on their 0-2 lead from last week when they take on Real Madrid this evening (20.45h CET) in the fourth and final ‘clásico’ between the two sides over the last few weeks. Guardiola welcomes back Iniesta and Abidal to the squad.

Catalan and FC Barcelona flags, as well as a message of thanks formed by 95,000 cards handed out to the fans will greet the team at the Nou Camp on Tuesday. It will cheer the team before the Champions League game against Real Madrid. Fans can take part in this homage to the team via Twitter, with the hashtag #graciesequip.

Barça's coach Josep Guardiola hasn’t been distracted by Mourinho's controversy and the complaints before UEFA. On Saturday, FC Barcelona can go a big step further to the league title at Anoeta, and the coach guarantees that his players’ only concern is that game.

FC Barcelona will present an official complaint about the Real Madrid manager to UEFA’s Control and Disciplinary Body for what it considers “a violation of basic standards of behaviour”. The UEFA already decided to look on Wednesday's events. In the evening, it was known that Real Madrid also decided to file a complaint against Barça players for going against fair-play. The latter accusation seems quite surprising after having watched the game and Real Madrid's behaviour on and outside the pitch.