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Tests have revealed that the FC Barcelona’s Argentinian player has bruised the femoral biceps tendon in his left thigh at the Spanish Super Cup’s first leg. Leo Messi was substituted at half-time in Wednesday evening’s match at Atlético Madrid as a precautionary measure after he complained of pain after taking a nasty knock. It is not clear yet whether he will be fit enough to feature in this weekend's Spanish League game away to Malaga. The FC Barcelona Medical Services have announced that they will be monitoring the player’s progress this week before deciding whether he will be fit to play on Sunday.

Tata Martino's men come away with a one-all draw from the Vicente Calderón stadium in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup. Just as Martino predicted in the pre-match press conference, the tie between FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid will be decided at the Barça’s Camp Nou. The home team, who took the lead after 12 minutes thanks to a superb strike from Villa, took control of the game early on but loosened their grip as minutes ticked off the clock. Without Messi, who was brought off at the break due to thigh issues, but with Neymar, who was subbed in on 58 minutes, and Cesc, who came on for the Argentinean, Barça regained a little of its incisiveness. Neymar scored, his first official goal in the FC Barcelona strip.

The champions of the Liga – FC Barcelona – and the Spanish Cup – Atlético Madrid – come into the Super Cup first leg after defeating Levante (7-0) and Sevilla (1-3), respectively. The match in Madrid is chock full of interesting titbits, like David Villa’s reunion with his former team-mates. In addition, it is the first official game away from the Camp Nou for Barça’s new manager Tata Martino and the new star Neymar Jr. The Brazilian player could feature in the starting XI for the first time on Wednesday evening (11pm CET).

FC Barcelona will contribute 30,000 euros to subsidise part of the cost of extending the metro’s operational hours in order to guarantee public transport to and from the Camp Nou for the Spanish Super Cup featuring Barça and Atlético Madrid. The football match will start at 11pm on Wednesday 28th August and will not finish until 1am. Barcelona’s underground transportation ends at midnight on weeknights and the Mayor had requested the Spanish Football federation (RFFE) to reschedule the match to an earlier time. However the RFFE refused and Barcelona’s Mayor, Xavier Trias, warned that they would not prolong the metro’s operational hours, with each extra hour costing around 30,000 euros.

Tata Martino’s Barça has exploded into the Spanish League campaign with a stunning recital of football and goals. A sublime performance.  The players followed the roadmap laid down by the new Argentinean coach during his first few days: possession, moving the ball swiftly, pressure up field and verticality in recovery. Levante was so overwhelmed in the Camp Nou that after just 25 minutes they were already losing 4-0.  And 6-0 at halftime. A record. Barça dominated the entire 90 minutes and swept to victory with goals from Alexis, Messi (2), Alves, Pedro (2) and Xavi.

Barcelona’s famous annual street festival, ‘Festa Major de Gràcia’ kicked-off on Wednesday evening with streets intricately decorated by neighbours and live music being played well in to the night. The event, in its 197^th year, draws an estimated 1.5 million visitors and has activities for all ages including: firework displays, ‘castellers’ - Catalan human towers, decorated streets and open air concerts taking place in 47 stages. It was traditionally a religious festival for locals of the neighbourhood, but for the last five decades it has become popular with Catalonians. Furthermore, in recent years, foreigners have also discovered it. Each year the festival begins on the 15^th of August and lasts for six days.

The airline group formed by British Airways and Iberia, IAG, announced it will buy up to 220 new Airbus 320 between 2015 and 2020, 120 of which will be for the recently-purchased Catalan company Vueling. IAG bought the Barcelona-based airline last spring and the operation was authorised in July by the competition authorities. Vueling is currently one of the few profitable airlines in Europe, with a business model evolving from a low-cost airline but offering business services and flying to the main airports in Europe. In fact, the company links Barcelona El Prat with 104 destinations (in Europe, the Middle-East, Russia and Africa) and it has operation bases in Madrid, Paris and Amsterdam, among others. Last July, Vueling increased its number of transported passengers by 18% and flights by 13% on July 2012 figures.

FC Barcelona’s 2013/14 Liga campaign begins on Sunday, playing at home in the Camp Nou (19pm CET) in a match against Levante. Barça have won 14 of their last 20 Liga openers and there are plenty of reasons to feel confident that Barça will get off to another positive start. Last season, in Tito Vilanova’s first game in charge, Barça stormed to 5-1 victory against Real Sociedad. Puyol, Messi (2), Pedro and Villa got the goals that night.

This summer, electronic music fans have the chance to enjoy a weekly music festival in Barcelona with renowned DJs such as Richie Hawtin, Joy Orbison, Claude Vonstroke and M.A.N.D.Y playing in a hillside park to thousands of attendees. The event, in its second year, takes place on Sunday afternoons 15 times during the summer in Barcelona’s Joan Brossa gardens with spectacular views over the city. The average attendance of each session is 2,500, “creating an intimate atmosphere”, according event organiser Jordi Ventura. “We have a loyal fan base, with the majority of attendees returning again and again because they enjoy it so much” he told the CNA.

Maspons was one of the greatest Catalan photographers of all time. He is famous for his pictures of the former Somorrostro slum in the Barceloneta beach, party life in Ibiza during the 1970s and Barcelona’s left-wing group of bourgeois intellectuals from the 1970s, known as ‘Gauche Divine’. Maspons worked mostly in Catalonia, but also in Paris and the States. In fact, New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) exhibits pictures taken by Oriol Maspons. He received top honours in Catalonia, such as the Catalan Government’s Sant Jordi Cross and Barcelona City’s Gold Medal. In 2010, he donated his private collection of some 5,500 pictures to Catalonia’s National Museum of Art (MNAC), which will organise a “large exhibition” on his work.

Barça have brought the curtain down on the tour of Asia with a win against a plucky Malaysia XI. Cesc, Neymar and Piqué got the goals for Barça and Cesc limped off the pitch with an ankle injury. Messi was ruled out at the last moment with a thigh strain. Barça was always the better side in Kuala Lumpur’s Shah Alam Stadium but had to work hard to break through an efficient defensive performance.

The Catalan capital is the world’s 4^th main port for the cruise ship industry, with the first 3 one being all in Florida. This means that Barcelona is the most important port in Europe and the Mediterranean Sea in terms of the amount of cruise ship passengers it receives. After a small decline in 2012, this year the Catalan capital is expecting to repeat its all time record from 2011, with more than 2.6 million cruise passengers. Furthermore, the cruise ship industry is increasingly using other Catalan harbours, such as Roses and Palamós. This week, for the first time ever, two large cruise ships docked at Palamós at the same time. In addition, this weekend is one of the busiest for Barcelona’s port, with 15 cruise ships docking in its harbour, transporting a total of 55,000 passengers.

The Catalan Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), based in Greater Barcelona, is the highest ranked centre in the world in the fields of physics and astronomy, according to a survey carried out by Excellence Mapping. This ranking sorts the world’s leading research centres according to 17 different areas of academia. The ICFO was ranked first in physics and astronomy, while the Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) was placed third in this category. Other Catalonia-based institutions that were included in the list were: the Institute for High Energy Physics, IFAE (18^th place), the Universitat Autònoma of Barcelona (UAB) and the Polytechnic University of Barcelona (UPC). The Director of the ICFO, Lluís Torner, told the CNA that the Catalan model of research is “highly competitive”.

On Thursday, Europe’s biggest gay and lesbian event started and will receive an incredible 70,000 attendees from 50 countries around the world. The internationally renowned ‘Circuit Festival’, which is in its 6^th year, lasts between the 8^th and 18^th of August, and presents a wide reaching program of cultural, artistic, sporting and party activities. According to the event organisers, 70% of visitors come from abroad and during the 10 -day event they will spend a total of €100 million in Barcelona. Those attending the festival will stay in the Catalan capital for an average of seven days, and it is estimated that each visitor will spend €250 per day.

More than 10,000 fans watched the Catalan team prepare for tomorrow's friendly match with an all-star selection of Malaysian players. Leo Messi was once again the most acclaimed player of the squad. Barça players and the manager congratulated Cristian Tello for his call-up to the Spain national team. Jordi Alba, who didn’t train on Thursday, trained alongside his team-mates this evening. Pedro Rodríguez, who is recovering from a knock to his right calf muscle, was the only player to miss the session.