Alexis: "I have a lot of confidence"

The Chilean forward, who has started four times for Barça this season, says that Tata Martino has given him a lot of confidence

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• Alexis Alejandro Sánchez

Alexis Sanchéz is singularly focused on what he believes is the recipe for success: confidence. The Chilean, who has talked about this very subject on various occasions, said that his excellent start to the 2013/14 season is due to his increased confidence.

“The confidence of a player is everything ... If he’s given confidence on the pitch, a player can do a lot of things. I feel good this year, very comfortable and I have a lot of confidence,” said the FC Barcelona forward. When asked about Tata Martino’s arrival to the Barça bench, the Chilean said, “he gives me a lot of confidence, this allows me to be myself on the pitch.”

The start of this season has seen Alexis Sánchez in each and every one of Barça’s starting line-ups in official league and Super Cup matches, with the exception of the match against Valencia, when he didn’t make the squad along with Xavi. The Chilean scored in the first match of the league, which ended in a 7-0 thrashing of Levante.

Messi and I get along great on and off the pitch

Chile will face off against Spain in Geneva on Tuesday at 20.00 and Alexis is “pleased” with the match up because he’ll be able to test his mettle against some of his FC Barcelona team-mates. It will be a complicated match for the South American side, who are very close to qualifying for the Brazil World Cup, seeing that they’ve only tied once and lost eight of their last nine matches against the reigning World Cup champions. 

During the pre-match press conference in Geneva, Alexis also talked about his relationship with Leo Messi: “We get along great on and off the pitch.

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Alexis: "Martino me da una confianza impresionante"

Alexis Sánchez asegura sentirse muy a gusto y más seguro de sí mismo esta temporada en el Barça  

                               El delantero azulgrana se siente muy respaldado por su entrenador, Tata Martino, de quien dice que "me da una confianza impresionante", y asegura entenderse muy bien con Leo Messi, con quien "nos llevamos muy bien dentro y fuera del campo".

En opinión de Alexis, "la confianza de un jugador es todo. Me siento muy bien este año, muy cómodo y con mucha confianza", explicó este lunes desde la concentración de la selección chilena en Ginebra. 

Football Life

Floral offering at the Rafael Casanova monument

Coach Tata Martino will experience his first National Day of Catalonia on Wednesday, he'll be accompanied by members of the Board of Directors and managers and players from Barça's sports teams

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FC Barcelona will celebrate the National Day of Catalonia on Wednesday at 9.20 with a traditional floral offering at the Rafael Casanova monument. FC Barcelona  will be represented by members of the Board of Directors, manages and players from the Barça sports teams, members of the Club commission, and players from the youth system and Women’s team, in addition to representatives from the Barça Players Association. 

Coach Tata Martino will experience his first National Day of Catalonia – also known as the Diada – on September 11 when he visits the Rafael Casanova monument, he’ll be accompanied by Gerard Piqué.Xavi Pascual and Víctor Tomás (FCB handball); Ricardo Muñoz and Aitor Egurrola (FCB roller hockey);  Marc Carmona and Jordi Torras (FCB futsal); Xavi Llorens and Vicky Losada (FCB Women’s team) and members from the youth academy will also be in attendance. There will be no representatives from Barca’s basketball team this year seeing that Xavi Pascual and his men are currently training in Andorra. 

Vice-presidents Carles Vilarrubí and Jordi Cardoner

The Board of Directors will be led by the vice-presidents Carles Vilarrubí and Jordi Cardoner, they will be accompanied by directors Jordi Moix, Pilar Guinovart, Jordi Mestre, Dídac Lee and Josep Ramon Vidal-Abarca. President Sandro Rosell will not attend the event because of a prior engagement in Geneva with the ECA.

FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona sposorhip deal with United Arab Bank in the UAE

The landmark alliance confirms UAB as “FC Barcelona Official Sponsor” in the UAE and means the bank is the first bank in the UAE to partner a football club 

Javier Faus: “We have chosen the UAB for many reasons. These include its capacity for growth, the fastest in the UAE, and the enthusiasm it puts into its projects”

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FC Barcelona has announced a three-year sponsorship deal with the United Arab Bank (UAB) to run till July 2016. The landmark alliance confirms UAB as “FC Barcelona Official Sponsor” in the UAE and means the bank is the first bank in the UAE to partner a football club. Considered the fastest growing retail bank in the UAE, United Arab Bank looks to tap into the nation’s immense passion for football in general and FC Barcelona in particular. As official partner of the club, the bank will create a range of customized Barca -themed products to fulfill the demands of the many Barca fans across the UAE.

The announcement was made at a glittering event hosted by FC Barcelona and United Arab Bank, atMirdiff City Centre. The club was represented by Javier Faus, Vice President of the Economic and Strategic Area, and Manel Arroyo Pérez, Director at the Economic and Strategic Area. The United Arab Bank was represented by Paul Trowbridge, CEO, Tony Graham, Head of Retail Banking, and Sheikh Mohammed Abdulla Al Nuaimi, Executive Vice President.

Explaining the reasons the Club chose UAB as a partner, Javier Faus, Vice-President said: “we are extremely pleased with the agreement reached with the United Arab Bank, making UAB the FC Barcelona Official Bank in the UAE and our main partner outside Spain and Andorra. We have chosen the UAB for many reasons. These include its capacity for growth, the fastest in the UAE, and the enthusiasm it puts into its projects. Our Club and our members share the same philosophy and passion for football”.

C Barcelona is famous for its unique style of football and also for being so ambitious and for defending the values and ideals that we believe in.

The FC Barcelona economic vice-president also congratulated Mr Paul Trowbridge and his team “for having the initiative to place such an important advertisement in that commercial center and for the wonderful reception we have received from Barça fans. FC Barcelona is famous for its unique style of football and also for being so ambitious and for defending the values and ideals that we believe in. We are sure we will share many satisfactions with the United Arab Bank over the next few years.”

Commenting on the alliance, Paul Trowbridge, CEO, United Arab Bank said “We are excited to partner with FC Barcelona – a brand that shares the same values as ours and embodies the spirit of winning. United Arab Bank has had a very successful 2012 and 2013 and we have demonstrated our strength through our many achievements. The club’s selection reiterates our position as one of the major players in the banking sector in the region and also this partnership will help them fulfill their aspirations in the emirates.”

A great success

United Arab Bank kick started the launch with a weeklong promotion and attracted many Barça fans to register on a special website created for the launch. 14 winners get a unique once a life time opportunity to watch FC Barcelona live at Camp Nou on 24th September. The bank also intend to roll out various products and services, which will give additional an 1500 customers top end hospitality seats to watch FC Barcelona live in action over the next three years.

Barça-Valladolid set for 5 October at 22.00

Barça's next seven kick off times - in the league and the Champions League have now been confirmed.

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The game against Valladolid coincides with the meeting of the Club's General Assembly- A few days ago, the board secretary Toni Freixa, announced that the date for the Assembly would be set to coincide with the Valladolid game when it was announced.

The Spanish League has announced the kick off times for week eight of the season, with Barça scheduled to host Real Valladolid at the Camp Nou on Saturday October 5^th at 22.00

Kick off times for Barça’s next seven games have now been confirmed:

 Saturday, 14 September (20.00)
FC Barcelona – Seville, Spanish League (Week 4)

Wednesday, 18 September (20.45)
FC Barcelona – Ajax, Champions League (Week 1)

 Saturday, 21 September (20.00)
Rayo Vallecano – FC Barcelona, Spanish League (Week 5)

Tuesday, 24 September (20.00)
FC Barcelona - Real Sociedad, Spanish League (Week 6)

 Saturday, 28 September (18.00)
Almeria – FC Barcelona, Spanish League (Week 7)

Tuesday, 1 October (20.45 h)
Celtic – FC Barcelona, Champions League (Week 2)

 Saturday, 5 October(22.00 h)
FC Barcelona – Valladolid, Spanish League (Week 8)

Camp Nou turf successfully re-laid

The groundsmen will now work on ensuring the new pitch is in optimum conditions for Saturday's game against Seville.

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The re-laying of the Camp Nou pitch was completed this weekend, with 8,000 square metres of new turf successfully laid down. The next phase for the Club’s groundsmen is to ensure that the new surface is in optimum condition for Saturday’s game against Seville. Once it has been levelled using the latest laser technology, the grass will be cut down from 30 mm to 22 or 24mm for match day use. Five tons of sand will also be added over the next few days and the pitch will be forked over to allow air to enter and guarantee successful rooting to occur.

El secreto de Neymar roger figueras en el juvenil b del barca

El secreto de Neymar

Los nutricionistas le han recetado un batido de proteínas y vitaminas, que ingiere después de cada partido y entrenamiento, para superar la anemia   

             Neymar Junior está siguiendo una estricta hoja de ruta dietética y nutricional con el fin de recuperar peso y aumentar su masa muscular. El club blaugrana le ha puesto a su servicio a los mejores especialistas en la materia, con el fin de lograr los objetivos cuanto antes.

Evidentemente, la pérdida de peso con la que aterrizó en Barcelona el pasado 29 de julio por culpa de una anemia sufrida por una hemorragia excesiva cuando le extirparon las amígdalas este verano tras la Copa Confederaciones, fue un serio contratiempo que los servicios médicos han tenido que contrarrestar con un trabajo exhaustivo a contrarreloj.

El reto prioritario en el club es que recupere su peso perdido y que aumente la masa muscular. De ahí que nada más llegar a Barcelona, la nutricionista del club le marcó una serie de pautas y hábitos alimenticios a seguir de forma metódica y sistemática. 
Debido a la anemia, el jugador tenía una falta de hierro destacable en la sangre, por lo que en su dieta se incluyeron grandes cantidades de carne roja, de pollo y de pescado. También se le han incluido dentro de su dieta el consumo de lentejas, cereales integrales, espinacas y acelgas. Sorprende que entre las recomendaciones dietéticas se hayan incluido productos como almejas, que también conta del jugador brasileño, así como los carbohidratos en forma de pastas, como es habitual en cualquier plan de alimentación de deportista profesional.

Sin embargo, la palabra clave en la planificación nutricional no ha sido tanto la valoración de su déficit de hierro como la necesidad de proteínas para evitar la fatiga muscular y mejorar la recuperación tras un esfuerzo.

El ‘brebaje mágico’

Y aquí es donde toma un protagonismo absoluto un batido de proteínas específico que le han elaborado y que funciona como si se tratara de la pócima mágica que ‘Panoramix’ entrega a los galos cada vez que han de luchar contra los romanos en el célebre cómic de ‘Asterix’, aunque en el caso del ‘crack’ brasileño, la pócima se toma después de la batalla y no antes. Las proteínas son el medio más natural de recuperación muscular que tiene el metabolismo y el mejor alimento que tiene el músculo para no perder fuerza ni masa.

A Neymar le dieron por probar varios sabores –chocolate, fresa- y optó finalmente por el de vainilla; visualmente es de un color amarillo muy parecido al de la horchata. Suele tomar 300 mililitros tras los partidos, por solo 150 mililitros tras los entrenamientos. El desgaste en un partido es mucho mayor por lo que dobla las cantidades respecto a las de un entrenamiento.

En principio, tiene que seguir este complemento proteico durante toda la temporada, aunque tendrá paréntesis evidentes cuando se incorpore con su selección y en época de vacaciones.

Este batido contiene también un buen paquete de vitaminas para complementar el aporte de proteínas. Algunas de las más destacadas son B1, B2, B6, B9, B12, C y E.  A destacar sobre todo la presencia de la vitamina B2, también conocida como riboflavina, que facilita la transformación de los alimentos en energía y favorece la absorción de las proteínas, los carbohidratos y las grasas. Su ausencia en el metabolismo puede producir curiosamente anemia.

Para no dejar de ‘enchufar’ hierro al metabolismo, también tiene una presencia testimonial de 0’20 miligramos de hierro, así como 200 miligramos de calcio, 8 gramos de glúcidos, 95 miligramos de sodio y 3 gramos de lípidos, a los que hay que sumar aminoácidos y triglicéridos.

Este batido se presenta en forma granulada, que combinado con agua -en algunos casos se pone leche- se ingiere como un aporte nutricional más de la dieta. En el caso del batido que se toma diariamente Neymar, se calcula que unos 100 gramos de polvo son más que suficientes para la dieta diaria ya que suponen un aporte calórico de casi 300 kilocalorías.

Los resultados hasta ahora no han podido ser más satisfactorios porque el jugador ha recuperado en poco más de un mes dos kilos y se le nota mucho más asentado físicamente para soportar los embates que le esperan de las duras defensas europeas. 
En cualquier caso, Neymar aún no ha iniciado ningún plan específico de trabajo de musculación.

No se descarta que tras recuperar su peso ideal, se le plantee la posibilidad de combinar la dieta con alguna rutina de pesas, pero por ahora aún no se ha contemplado ni por parte de los técnicos ni tampoco de los preparadores físicos. Lo que parece que se seguirá manteniendo de aquí hasta final de temporada es la ingesta del complemento proteico-vitamínico, así como una dieta individualizada.