17 September 2013

Juvenil A – Ajax: Fight back and victory in the UEFA Youth League (4-1)

Jordi Vinyals' men defeat Ajax in the first round of the UEFA Youth Leauge

Barça 4 -Ajax.1

First match and first victory for Barça in the UEFA Youth League. Barça’s Juvenil A team defeated Ajax in their first match of the new competition. The Blaugrana, who found themselves a goal down after only 19 minutes, drew level just before the break thanks to Quintillà and they fired for three more goals in the second half.

Ajax strike first

On 19 minutes, Ajax’s forward Acolatse fired the Dutch team ahead after he latched on to a rebound from Ondoa. The same player nearly doubled Ajax’s lead 16 minutes later when he beat Godswill, but his attempt wasn’t successful. Barça hit back through Quintillà right before the break.

Fight back and victory

The goal injected morale into Jordi Vinyals’ men, who went on to score three more. Munir bagged a brace (min 53 and 73) making it 3-1. In the dying minutes of the match Ebwelle made it 4-1. With this win Barça open their UEFA Youth League campaign in style.

BARÇA, 4 - AJAX, 1

Cruyff vio ganar al Barça juvenil

Johan Cruyff presenció la remontada blaugrana frente al Ajax en la Champions juvenil (4-1)

Johan Cruyff había avisado que no pisaría el Camp Nou mientras Sandro Rosell ejerciera de presidente. Sin embargo, el holandés no dijo nada sobre el Miniestadi. Y ayer, tras declinar su presencia en el almuerzo de Champions entre las directivas del Barça y Ajax, acudió por sorpresa al pequeño coliseum blaugrana y disfrutó del espectáculo junto a la delegación del club holandés encabezada por su director deportivo, Marc Overmars.

Cruyff no quiso perderse la primera jornada de la nueva 'Champions juvenil' y presenció una de esas remontadas en toda regla. Y es que el conjunto de Jordi Vinyals no arrancó con buen pie su andadura europea. Un par de sustos en defensa permitieron que el Ajax se adelantara en el marcador a las primeras de cambio.

Un contratiempo injusto para un equipo que no tenía problemas en dominar el centro del campo y alcanzar las inmediaciones de Groothuizen. La recompensa blaugrana se hizo esperar, aunque al final llegó en tiempo de descuento. En una de sus incorporaciones ofensivas, Quintillà restableció el equilibrio en el marcador.

El dominio del Barça ya fue avasallador tras el descanso. Sanabria fue el primero en dejar escapar su oportunidad pero Munir confirmó las excelentes cualidades que ha apuntado en este inicio de temporada y en veinte minutos sentenció el encuentro con un doblete goleador.

El baile de cambios no aportó nada nuevo. Con el partido roto, las ocasiones se sucedieron en ambas porterías, pero solo Ebwelle vio puerta.

Players gather at the team hotel

The players arrived at the team hotel, where they will spend the night ahead of tomorrow's Champions League match against Ajax

The 20 players named to the team by Tata Martino are currently at the team hotel, Hotel Princesa Sofía. The players, who left the stadium at around 20.30, will spend the night at the hotel and on Wednesday morning they will train at the Camp Nou ahead of the match against Ajax.

Barça have never faced off against the Dutch team in an official competition.

FC Barcelona vs Sevilla 3-2 All Goals

Tata Martino excited about the Champions League

On Wednesday, the manager will be in charge of his first ever Champions League match, and has high hopes for what Barça can achieve

Tata Martino is about to be inducted into the world of the Champions League, and is thoroughly looking forward to the experience. “For any manager, being in the Champions League means a lot for their careers” he said in his press conference on the eve of the game with Ajax Amsterdam. “We have high hopes for the competition” he added.

On the opposition, Martino commented that “they have an academy that hardly ever changes. It’s a team that is constantly developing and every year they sell off their best players.”

Self-criticism

Martino is not bothered by the criticism the team has faced in recent matches, saying that “it is our obligation to always be self-critical.” He admits that the team is lucky enough to be able to allow some margin for error, but they still need to work to smooth things out, adding that “we are used to criticism, especially because this is a team that has achieved such levels of excellence in recent years”.

But he did comment that “we are still at the learning stage and yet we’re already in a privileged position, having won every game so far”.

Dead ball situations seem to be one area where Barça are lacking of late, and Tata claims that “this isn’t because of zonal or man-to-man marking but because we’re simply not as big. We have to find solutions for that, to make sure we can defend more effectively”.

He also spoke about his rotation style, commenting that “it is harder to rotate Mascherano and Piqué as much as players in other areas of the pitch because they form a defensive triangle along with Valdés”.

El Barça no moverá ficha por el contrato de Messi

El presidente del Barça Sandro Rosell recordó que Leo Messi "está contento aquí" y reveló que el club no moverá ficha para renovar nuevamente al argentino

     Sandro Rosell no tiene pensado volver a renovar a Leo Messi en próximas fechas. El presidente del Barça, que participó este martes en el 'Tribuna Barcelona' celebrado en el Hotel Ritz de la ciudad condal, recordó que Messi, que
renovó el pasado febrero
  hasta 2018, "está contento aquí".

Sandro también destacó que "si no hay noticias" es buena señal y consideró que "de momento, quietos", dando a entender que la situación del argentino en la plantilla es más que estable, a pesar de las suspicacias levantadas a raíz de la
faraónica renovación de Cristiano Ronaldo
  por el Real Madrid, que le sitúa con una ficha muy superior a la del buque insignia del Barça.

Tickets for Celtic Park available

Tickets are available exclusively to Club members and applications can be made from 10.00 on Tuesday via the Club website.

Should demand be greater than the tickets available, a draw will be held on September 19th

From 10.00 on Tuesday September 17th through till 19.00 on Wednesday 18th, Club members can make their applications for tickets via the club website (www.fcbarcelona.cat) to see the Champions League group game between Glasgow Celtic and Barça in Glasgow at 20.45 on October 1st.

Sales are exclusively for club members and tickets must be purchased via a form that is available in the members section of the club website at www.fcbarcelona.cat. Each member may only apply forone ticket, but up to four members can apply on the same form, so that they can travel together.

Please note that since last season, applications for tickets for away games also need to be made via the Club website – previously this was only done for the knock put stage games.

Tickets between 56 and 66 Euros

The Club will have 2,800 tickets to distribute amongst members, on sale between €56 and €66. We have been informed by Celtic that some of these seats have restricted visibility. As usual, 85% of these tickets will be made available to club members (1,904) and supporters clubs (476), with the rest (420) going to sponsors and institutional and sporting commitments made by the Club.

Draw on 19^th September

All applications will be processed at the end of the established period. If there are more applications than tickets available, on September 19th a draw will be held in the presence of a notary between all applicant members and the club will announce the names of the lucky members, charge for the tickets and inform them of how to go about collecting their tickets on 19th and 20th September.

Cristiano Ronaldo deja atrás a Messi

El Barça, amenazado por la imparable escalada inflacionista que se ha generado en la Liga francesa y el derroche de Florentino Pérez

El fútbol no ha sido ajeno a la

crisis económica. Clubs, futbolistas y en general todos los estamentos sociales y empresariales que en mayor o menor medida se encuentran vinculados al mundo del esférico se han resentido en estos últimos años. Pero en medio de la depresión siempre debe contemplarse la excepción. Y en este caso la protagonizan los cracks. Si hace unos años la Premier revolucionó el mercado, en los últimos meses los millones salvadores proceden de la Liga francesa y de la capital española. PSG, Mónaco y Real Madrid han acudido al rescate de algunos de los mejores futbolistas del momento.

No es el caso del gran crack. El número uno del mundo se ha visto apartado de esta vorágine de fichajes y renovaciones que ha puesto patas arriba el ranking de futbolistas mejor pagados del momento. Aunque resulte incomprensible, Leo Messi no figura en el podio de los mejor remunerados.

PSG y Mónaco han agitado el mercado de lo lindo. Los parisinos abrieron el camino con Zlatan Ibrahimovic y sus 14 millones netos por temporada. El sueco, con permiso del recientemente defenestrado Eto'o tras la descomposición del Anzhi, quedaba como jugador de referencia. Pero los monegascos no podían ser menos y este verano dejaban huella en el mercado igualando los ingresos de Falcao. Cifras mareantes que colocaban a los clubs franceses al frente de la tabla de los más espléndidos, aunque manteniendo un cierto orden y solo superando levemente los ingresos económicos de Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo e incluso la última renovación de Thiago Silva.

Pero Florentino Pérez no podía ser menos y su Real Madrid tenía que ser el más generoso en la retribución de su buque insignia. Así se acabaron los lamentos y las denuncias públicas sobre la infelicidad de Cristiano en su estancia en la Casa Blanca. CR7 confirmó su renovación el pasado domingo, y lo hizo a lo grande, rompiendo el mercado y acentuando la ola inflacionista desatada estos años. Por supuesto, solo afecta a las grandes estrellas. El Real Madrid no lidera ninguna clasificación deportiva, pero sí puede presumir de mandar en el ranking de retribución futbolístico. Un dudoso honor que por ahora le permitido desbancar a los millonarios proyectos en la competición gala.

En este convulso escenario el FC Barcelona se siente incómodo. Los procesos de renovación son continuos en las oficinas blaugrana y es imposible evitar las odiosas comparaciones. De entrada porque no es de extrañar que el mejor futbolista del planeta quiera cobrar como tal y que otros jugadores también destacados entre el top ten universal aspiren a equipararse a futbolistas con el caché de los Bale, Hazard y compañía. Bien podría ser el caso de Iniesta, en pleno proceso negociador.

Vayamos por partes. Messi escenificó su última renovación el 7 de febrero. Su contrato se rubricaba en 12 millones por temporada, más diferentes variables. Sin embargo, solo el bonus por conseguir la Champions League se sumará de forma automática a su ficha futura. Un elemento fundamental para premiar económicamente el rendimiento deportivo. Duras negociaciones que en poco más de medio año se han quedado desfasadas si atendemos a contratos de otros jugadores. Los compromisos están para cumplirse, pero tener al número uno sobre el campo y solo el cuarto en el ranking de ingresos es una distorsión flagrante.

El caso de Iniesta contempla más variantes. Su escala salarial se ha visto alterada con la llegada de Neymar y sus variables asequibles que incrementan de forma considerable los ingresos finales en el Barça. Son épocas convulsas que exigirán mano izquierda y generosidad para hacer frente a la irrupción de los presidentes caprichosos o bien al de los mandatarios sumados al derroche para mantener la gloria personal.

20 named for Champions League opener

Tata Martino has named all his available players for Wednesday's meeting with Ajax at the Camp Nou

Leo Messi

A. Song, Tello, Adriano, Dani Alves and Sergi Roberto.

FC Barcelona begin their Champions League 2013/14 campaign on Wednesday against Ajax at the Camp Nou. Manager Tata Martino has decided to name all 20 of his available players in the squad, with Pedro the main inclusion after being rested on Saturday against Sevilla, while Jordi Alba is now injured along with Puyol,Cuenca and Afellay. Goalkeeper Oier Olazábal is also left out of the list.

On Wednesday morning the team trained at the Ciutat Esportiva for the last time before the match, with Puyol able to do part of the work with his colleagues. The first team was also joined by Barça B’s Patric, S. Gomez, Ilie, Planas, Denis, Espinosa, Samper, Joan Román, Dani Nieto, Sandro and Lucas.

16 September 2013

Xavi, Alves and Busquets silky backheels

Neymar vs Sevilla – Individual highlights

FC Barcelona vs Ajax Amsterdam Wednesday 8.45 PM

The Champions League comes to FC Barcelona's website on Tuesday

The Club's website will steam Tata Martino and Gerard Piqué's pre-match press conferences, starting at 12.30

At 20.00, fans who cannot attend the Miniestadi for the UEFA Youth League match between Barça's Juvenil A team and their Ajax counterparts, can watch the match live on the Club's website

The secretary and Board of Directors spokesman will hold a press conference ahead of the General Assembly, which is scheduled for October 5. Freixa's press conference will be streamed live at 10.00.

Tata Martino’s men will make their debut in the 2013/14 edition of the Champions League on Wednesday, against Ajax, at 20.45. The Barça manager and Gerard Piqué will talk to the press on Tuesday after the team’s training session. The press conferences will start at 12.30, and they will be streamed live on the Club’s webpage.

Juvenil A to make Europe debut

Barça’s Juvenil team will face off against their Ajax counterparts on Tuesday for the first match of the UEFA Youth League at the Miniestadi. Fans who cannot attend the match can watch it live on www.fcbarcelona.com or on Barça TV, kick off is at 20.00.

Amsterdam-Barcelona: A journey that started in the 70s

Johan Cruyff was the first Ajax player to sign for FC Barcelona, and the latest player to make the trip (inverse) is Bojan Krkic (loan)

De Boer, who played for FC Barcelona for five season, is the current manager of the Dutch team

The relationship between FC Barcelona and Ajax started in the 70s, when Johan Cruyff signed with for the Catalan Club (1973). Forty years later, and keeping in mind that the two teams have never faced off in an official match before, we’re taking a look at the players that have signed for Barça from Ajax, vice versa or players who have simply played for both teams.

From Cruyff and Neeskens, to Maxwell

After Cruyff’s arrival (1973-1978), a total of 13 players made the switch from Ajax to Barça, albeit not all of them directly. Some of the players are well known, others stayed at Barça for many years and others played a discreet role during their time at the club.

Johan Neeskens (1974-1979), Richard Witschge (1991-1993), Jordi Cruyff (1994-1996), Frank de Boer (1998-2003), Ronald de Boer (1998-2000), Winston Bogarde (1998-2000), Patrick Kluivert(1998-2004), Michael Reiziger (1997-2004), Jari Litmanen (1999-2001), Marc Overmars (2000-2004),Edgar Davids (2004), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2009-2010), Maxwell Scherrer (2009-2012). Of these, Witschge and Maxwell won the Champions League with Barça.

FCB Social: Track FC Barcelona's online presence

The Club unveils a new 2.0 space that highlights Barça's official social media accounts

FC Barcelona, one of the global leaders online, have surpassed the 76-million fan mark on its social media accounts

Starting today, FC Barcelona fans have a new tool at their disposal that will help them keep track of Barça’s social media accounts. Barça, whose players have a combined following of 178 million fans on social media sites, unveils its new social tool: FCB Social.

With FCB Social, Barça fans will be able to follow any of 27 official Club accounts, find out about the latests developments concerning Barça’s online presence, visualise the latest photos posted on Instagram and the chronological growth of Barça’s online accounts.

El Barça gana con menos fútbol

La posesión del balón fue una de las claves del Barça del último lustro. En el inicio de la 'era Tata', lo sigue siendo, pero menos. Continua siendo eficaz, pero brilla a destellos

El Barça lidera el campeonato de Liga con los mismos puntos, los mismos goles marcados y los mismos goles encajados que el Atlético de Madrid: 12-14-4. Incluso sus estadísticas generales son mejores que las del Villarreal (10 puntos, 10 goles a favor y 5 en contra) o las del Real Madrid (10-8-4) en el arranque de la Liga. ¿Dónde está el problema, entonces?

El equipo de Gerardo Martino ha tenido serios problemas para cerrar sus dos últimos compromisos, en Mestalla frente al Valencia (2-3) y en el Camp Nou contra el Sevilla (3-2). Y le ha sucedido pese a que ha mandado en el marcador.

'MATAR' LOS PARTIDOS

No ha sabido 'matar' los partidos y Víctor Valdés habló abiertamente de algunos de los desajustes, como el hecho de que en la recta final del Barça-Sevilla la defensa no cerrara correctamente los contrataques rivales. Víctor se lamentó de que los dos laterales se incorporararan y perdieran la posición cuando lo que interesaba era asegurar la ventaja en el marcador.

La realidad es que tras el 7-0 al Levante y el ajustado 0-1 al Málaga, han llegado otras dos victorias por la mínima y encajando muchos goles, cuatro. En Mestalla, el 'hat trick' de Messi en 41 minutos fue contestado con un 'doblete' de Postiga en dos (44' y 45') abocando al equipo a una trabajada segunda parte.

Y el pasado sábado, el Sevilla pasó del 2-0 al 2-2 amenzando el triunfo blaugrana hasta el tiempo de descuento cuando Alexis Sánchez obró el milagro.

DE HORIZONTAL A VERTICAL

Las sensaciones que transmite el equipo de Gerardo Martino es que, por ahora, tiene más problemas para juntar las líneas que en la época de Guardiola y Vilanova. Tampoco resulta extraño si se tiene en cuenta la incorporación de Neymar, futbolista profundo y que busca el espacio, al ataque del equipo. Y que Xavi e Iniesta están alternando su presencia y en algunas fases tienen menos protagonismo.

La conclusión es que en las tardes espesas del tándem Pep-Tito el fútbol del Barça se volvía muy horizontal; pero en estos primeros compases del Tata está siendo, por momentos, peligrosamente vertical.

Un repaso a las estadísticas de los Barça-Sevilla y Valencia-Barça de las últimas campañas confirma en números lo que transmiten las sensaciones del terreno de juego. El Barça sigue siendo dueño del balón, pero en menor medida; y no lo utiliza tanto como antes para descolocar al rival, sino que intenta llegar de forma más directa.

MENOS BALÓN, MENOS PASES

En el Barça-Sevilla de esta temporada (2-3), el Barça generó 118 jugadas de ataque, y 16 de ellas acabaron en remate. Tuvo un 63,11% de posesión de balón y sus jugadores intercambiaron 706 pases.

En el duelo de la campaña 2012-13 con Tito Vilanova (jornada 25, 2-1), los blaugrana crearon 123 jugadas de ataque y 15 acabaron en remate. Tuvo un 66,26% de posesión de balón y generó 816 pases.

¿Y un año antes, con Josep Guardiola (jornada 8ª, 0-0)? 126 jugadas de ataque con 21 remates. Un 76,25% de posesión y 830 pases. Messi falló un penalti en el descuento.

TAMBIÉN COMO VISITANTE

Eso es lo que ha sucedido en el Camp Nou frente a un rival de entidad. Pero ¿y en los desplazamientos? También.

En el Valencia-Barça de la 3ª jornada (2-3), el Barça generó 136 jugadas de ataque, y 22 acabaron en remate. Tuvo un 61,60% de posesión de balón y generó 689 pases.

En el mismo partido de la campaña 2012-13 (jornada 22, 1-1), creó 134 jugadas de ataque y remató en 12 ocasiones. Logró una posesión del 65,23 % y llevó a cabo 761 pases.

Y en el ejercicio 2011-12, (jornada 4ª, 2-2), el Barça de Pep creó 117 jugadas de ataque y 9 remates en Mestalla, con un 62,17% de posesión y 643 pases.

EL BALANCE

Difícil valorar con tan pocos partidos el nuevo Barça de Martino. En dos partidos similares ha sumado más puntos que en el pasado ejercicio; ha marcado el doble de goles (6) pero también ha encajado el doble (4).

Los números se extreman todavía más si la comparación se lleva a cabo con la temporada 2011-12: 6 puntos a 2, solo 2 goles a favor, pero solo 2 goles en contra.

La conclusión es que el nuevo Barça tiene tantas ocasiones o más de gol que antes, y resulta más eficaz, pero mantiene la sensación de vulnerabilidad de los últimos tiempos de Pep y Tito. En definitiva, parece todavía en construccción, pero sigue ganando como siempre.

15 September 2013

NBA stars who are fans of FC Barcelona

Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron James, Magic Johnson and Steve Nash have all expressed their admiration for the Club

It’s no secret that FC Barcelona are one of the most followed football teams on the planet, but it may surprise some to know that some of the team’s fans come from the best basketball league in the world, the NBA. Just this week Kevin Durant stopped by the Nike store in Barcelona and received a Barça kit and other Barça merchandise, but Durant is the latest in a long line of NBA players who have associated themselves with the Club. Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron James, Magic Johnson and Steve Nash have all expressed their admiration for FC Barcelona.

Barça bewitches Nash

In 2009, Steve Nash said that “it’s a pleasure to watch Barça play” when he visited this side of the Atlantic at the behest of Thierry Henry, who at the time played for the Catalan team. He added: “I’m a great fan of the whole team. I love the way they play. For me it’s a great honour to be able to enjoy a match in the Camp Nou. We’re talking about one of the best teams on the planet.”

Busy week for FC Barcelona and Champions League debut

Barça face a demanding week in which they'll host Ajax and play away to Rayo Vallecano

Tata Martino’s men have a completely packed week. The team will train on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning to prepare for the first Champions League match of the season, against Ajax at 20:45 on Wednesday evening. Additional training sessions have been scheduled for Thursday and Friday ahead of the Saturday match away to Rayo Vallecano (20.00). The team will close out the week with another training session on Sunday.

Monday, September 16

11.00 - Training session at the Ciutat Esportiva

Tuesday, September 17

10.30 - Training session at the Ciutat Esportiva

Wednesday, September 18

11.45 - Training session at the Camp Nou

20.45 - Champions League match, Barça - Ajax

Thursday, September 19

11.00 - Training session at the Ciutat Esportiva

Friday, September 20

18.00 - Training session at the Ciutat Esportiva

Saturday, September 21

20.00 - League match, Rayo Vallecano - Barça

Sunday, September 22

11.00 - Training session at the Ciutat Esportiva

Recovery session for the full squad

The players that started against Sevilla did recovery work with Wednesday's Champions League debut in mind

There is no time for prolonged celebrations of the dramatic win against Sevilla, for attention has to immediately switch to the team’s Champions League debut on Wednesday at the Camp Nou against Ajax (20.45). The players met at the Ciutat Esportiva at 11.00 this morning for a training session at which Tata Martino had all his fit players available. As usual on the day after a match, most of the work was about recovering from the previous night’s exertions. The first team were joined by youth players Juan Antonio Ros, Rodrigo Tarín i Pedro Godoy.

The most noted absentee was Jordi Alba, who tore fibres in his femoral biceps against Sevilla and will be out of action for about three weeks.

Messi no afloja y sigue pichichi

El gol de Messi ante el Sevilla sigue dejándole como pichichi de la

Leo Messi, delantero del Barcelona, sumó su sexto tanto de la temporada ante el Sevilla, con lo que sigue al frente de la clasificación de goleadores de la Liga BBVA, mientras que el holandés de origen marroquí Mounir El Hamdaoui, atacante del Málaga, presentó sus credenciales con un triplete ante el Rayo.

Messi mantiene su ventaja de dos tantos sobre Rodri Ríos y el brasileño Diego Costa, que marcaron en el duelo entre el Atlético de Madrid y el Almería en el Vicente Calderón.

El mexicano Giovani dos Santos, jugador del Villarreal, anotó ante el Real Madrid su tercer tanto de la temporada, con lo que está igualado con el madridista Isco Alarcón y el portugués Helder Postiga (Valencia).

Este domingo hubo dos bigoleadores, el venezolano Nicolás Fedor 'Miku', delantero del Getafe, y Salva Sevilla, mediapunta del Betis.

Clasificación de goleadores

- Con 6 goles: Leo Messi (Barcelona)

- Con 4 goles: Rodri (Almería); Diego Costa (1p) (Atlético de Madrid).

- Con 3 goles: El Hamdaoui (Málaga); Francisco Alarcón 'Isco' (Real Madrid); Helder Postiga (Valencia); Giovani dos Santos (1p) (Villarreal)

Messi, six goals in three games

The Argentinian is top scorer in La Liga, and has now scored 16 goals in 16 games against sides managed by Unai Emery

Messi, Neymar and http://footballlife2013.blogspot.gr/

We take a look back at some of the trivia produced by the Barça v Sevilla game on Saturday night, starting with yet more achievements for Leo Messi:

- Messi is top scorer in the league with six goals in three games. He got two against Levante, three against Valencia and one more last night against Sevilla.

- The Argentinian has now scored 16 goals in 16 games against sides managed by Unai Emery.

- The teams Messi has scored most goals against are Atletico Madrid (20), Real Madrid (18), Osasuna (16), Sevilla (16), Zaragoza (14), Valencia (14) and Athletic Bilbao (13).

- Neymar has supplied two assists in the league, both for Messi.

- Alves scored the first header for Barça this season. It is four years since the Brazilian last scored with his head – against Malaga on March 22, 2009.

- Alves scored Barça’s 3,500th goals as the home side in La Liga. FCB are followed by Real Madrid, with 3,471, goals at home and Athletic Bilbao with 2,909.

- It is two years since Barça last scored a league goal involving two defenders. Dani Alves was also involved in the last example, when he and Bartra produced the goods.

- Barça have won 17 consecutive league games at the Camp Nou. But they have a long way to go before beating their all-time record of 39, set in 1960 (39), although the 21-match streak of 1974 is not far off.

- Martino is only the fifth FC Barcelona manager to ever win all four of his first league games in charge. The other coaches to do this were Brocic (1960), Venables (1984), Van Gaal (1997) and Vilanova (2012).

- Barça is only the second team to ever win the first four games in two consecutive leagues. Real Madrid also did this in 1961 and 1962.

- Barça once again had most of the possession (63%) and shot 19 times, 10 times on target.

Jordi Alba out for three weeks

Tests on Sunday morning have confirmed that he has torn fibres in his right hamstring

http://footballlife2013.blogspot.gr/

Jordi Alba underwent a medical examination on Sunday morning to determine the extent of the injury sustained against Sevilla. The Medical Services have been able to confirm that he has torn fibres in his right hamstring and is likely to be sidelined for at least three weeks.

Six games before the break

Barça have six games in that time, four in La Liga and two in the Champions League, so Alba will probably miss the matches against Rayo (September 21), Real Sociedad (September 24), Almeria (September 28) and Valladolid (October 5) in the league, and Ajax (September 18) and Celtic (October 1) in the UCL. After the Valladolid game, there will be another international break.

Sergio Busquets makes 150th Liga appearance with Barça

In his sixth season with the first team, the midfielder reached 150 games for Barça against Sevilla at the Camp Nou

Speaking to ‘El Marcador’ on Barça TV, Sergio admitted that “we sometimes attack too much and forget that we are in control of the game”

25 year old Sergio Busquets is the kind of player whose contributions to the team are often left in the shadows of others that play more glamorous roles, but he has now amassed 150 league appearances for FCB after last night’s win over Sevilla at the Camp Nou.

First team regular

It was in the 2008/09 season that Pep Guardiola promoted the Catalan to the first team, and Sergio has been a regular starter ever since. That season he also won a place in the Spanish national side, where he is also a first choice in the midfield. In his debut season, he played 24 league matches and scored one goal.

The season after, Sergio featured even more prominently, with 33 league appearances. In 2010/11, he turned out 28 times and scored another goal, against Bilbao at San Mamés. He played 31 matches in both the following seasons. Then in 2011/12, the last under Guardiola, he scored on the final day against Betis. He also scored in the only season under Tito Vilanova, 2012/13, against Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou.

Tata Martino’s confidence

Nothing seems to have changed for Sergio Busquets under the new manager. He has played three of the first four Liga matches, having been rested against Malaga with the Spanish Supercup in mind.

Speaking to ‘El Marcador’ on Barça TV last night, the player commented that things have been the same for him under all three of the FB managers he has served. “The philosophy is the same and all that’s different are some of the exercises we do in training” he said. “Some of the things are improvements on what we used to do but it does make it a bit more difficult”.

Learning from mistakes

Busquets also spoke about the last gasp win over Sevilla. “I’m happy with the win but we have to improve things to avoid going into the final minutes in such situations” he said. “We sometimes attack too much and forget that we are in control of the game”. Therefore, what happened at the Camp Nou on Saturday night “was a warning call for us to make sure that doesn’t happen again”