Barcelona News Thread

[Magical20]

+ they're putting news on the site right now..and its not there yet.. they've already put up the catalan/spanish version.. no ustari to be found..

nvm i'll have to see rijkaard say it for i belive it.. i woulnd trust el mundo for anything..its garbage..

'yet to be confirmed'.. maybe...

[Hawk]

Txiki already held talks with Independiente about Ustari earlier in the season, so it will come as no surprise if it is a done deal.

[Magical20]

hmm i dont remember that but i usually skip reading txiki stuff.. so ok..sure.. but i wan to see it on the official site..

[Magical20]

if he came.. would he replace jorquera you reckon?

[Magical20]

Members of all five of the club's professional sports teams went on their traditional tour of the local hospitals today, where children welcomed them with smiling faces.


Hospital de Sant Joan de Déu, Vall d'Hebrón, Hospital del Mar, Sant Pau, Hospital de Barcelona and Germans Trias y Pujol in Badalona were the venues today as Barça once again showed its caring side. As usual at this time of year, members of all the professional sports teams visited the main hospitals in the city of Barcelona, putting a smile on the faces of the young patients. Four of the teams were fully represented, but only two handball players (Cañellas and Ugalde) could join them as the rest of the squad is away on international duty.

The first gift of the year

The 'A dream as a gift' campaign closed today with all of the gifts that were collected at the Camp Nou being handed out to their new owners. Barça members and fans had brought their gifts along to the club, and now it was the players' job to take them to the deserving children. Vice-president Albert Vicens led the expedition, and chatted to the managers of each of the medical centres while the players went about their worthy duties.

But today was not about the players. It was about the children. Many of them were accompanied by their parents and all the doctors and nurses, who do such a fine job, and everybody was visibly nervous before meeting their heroes. The departments visited included those dealing with child surgery, burns and intensive care, where the children received their first presents of the year, with the hope of more to come on the night of January 5th, when the Three Kings will be making their long-awaited visit to the city.

[Magical20]

Thursday afternoon's training was the first session after the Christmas break for Deco and Ronaldinho. Under the control of both Paco Seirul·lo and Albert Roca, both players were put through physical exercises.


At a quarter to seven on Thursday evening, both Deco and Ronaldinho returned to training following the Christmas break. They wore the usual clothes but were not wearing football boots as the session was purely physical.

Circuits and courses

Following a warm up run, they undertook circuits using a ball. The session was brief; lasting in total, around 30 minutes.

First training

Both Ronaldinho and Deco missed out on the open training session with the rest of the team at the miniestadi, which attracted a crowd of over 12,000 people. Due to picking up 5 yellow cards, both players will not play in this weekend's clash against Getafe, therefore they did not have to return to training as early as the rest of the team. In any case, they will link up with the rest of the team as of Friday the 5th of January at the Masia training ground.

The most sought after players

This morning saw followers of the club arriving at the gates of the training ground hoping to catch a glimpse of the players. There was also a line of thirty journalists all awaiting the arrival of Barça's star players.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Marseille have contacted Lilian Thuram and offered him the chance to end his career in France rather than on the bench of Barcelona, report L'Equipe.

Marseille are looking to add experience to their central defence and chairman Pape Diouf would like to reunite Thuram with fellow France internationals Djibril Cisse and Franck Ribery.

Thuram has expressed dissatisfaction at his regular place on Barca's bench and may decide to quit for the Stade Velodrome this month.

However, Barca - who have suffered a number of injuries this term - still value Thuram and will try to convince him to stay in Catalunya.

Marseille consider Thuram move - Football - Eurosport

[Magical20]

oh god.... im afraid we'll lose him if that's true.. he says that was his problem with barça he wants to retire while playing..not w8ing on the bench... well i guess we'd have to respect that..even though he's such a solid defender..

[Magical20]

Barça will be without important players for the game against Getafe. However, Deco believes the team has enough quality to overcome these obstacles.


Deco, Ronaldinho, Messi and Eto'o are all out. Only once have Barcelona fielded a team with all four absent, that was against Seville last season after the title was assured and before travelling to Paris.

The squad is big and there is enough quality to make sure the absentees are not missed. "It's clear there are some important players are out, however, I think the team has what is necessary to win. 11 players will take to the field with abilities, character and a desire to win".

His absence on Sunday

In Deco's case, he will not be able to play in the game on Sunday due to picking up his fifth yellow card of the season; thereby automatically triggering a one match ban: "I was going to get my fifth card one day, the game against Athletico was complicated and the referee had a difficult job to do. I didn't force anything because not playing against Getafe, with all the injuries we have, only causes more problems. I did think about it in the game against Athletico though".

The reason for the delay

Much has been said about the reasons behind Deco's delayed return to training; Deco has wanted to quell the speculation surrounding him: "the delay was down to personal reasons, which were very complicated, however, I don't have to explain myself. Im a professional and I have to give reasons to my superiors and to whom I have to show a lot of respect. I couldn't get back for the first day due to a personal problem, which I don't believe I have to explain to the press".

Deco did, however, reveal that there are many problems with flights entering and leaving Brazil; "I read in the press that the Brazilians had arrived late and many hadn't left Brazil. There are many problems with connections and it's all very complicated. Everybody has to apologise to the rest of the team if they do not arrive on the same day, and the players all understand".

Hospital visits

Deco could not loin in with the rest of the team in the visits to the hospitals. The midfielder explained why: In my opinion, to go one day to the hospital is not a lot and I think it is done for the press, however, we can all go on our own at other times. If we didn't go to hospital it's because we trained in evening and the coach thought it would be better if we rested".

The importance of the top players

The press conference focussed mainly on the delayed return of Deco, Marquez and Ronaldinho, and also the number 20' was asked about the attention given to the top players. Deco knows that this is part of the game and he is not bitter: "I think it's normal that more attention is given to the top players, however, when things don't go according to plan, they are criticized more. It doesn't bother me though, I'm my worst critic; so what is said about me, doesn't affect me".


The orders of the club

Deco has been very clear about what will happen should he receive a fine from the club: "The club decides what is best at all times. I'm an employee of the club and I am treated like any other and I will do what they decide". Asked if he will have to do a special training session, Deco replied: "We do what the club and the coach say".

[Magical20]

Frank Rijkaard can add two more first team players to his team list for the game against Getafe this Sunday. Gio and Motta have rejoined the team following a bitt of the flu.


Barça '10' and '20', Ronnie and Deco, have also taken part in their first training session with the rest of the team following their physical session on Thursday evening. However, it was the inclusion of Gio and Motta which was the highlight of Friday's training session; both players appearing fully recovered from their illnesses, which caused them to miss Wednesday's and Thursday's sessions.

Therefore, the Dutch coach was able to count on 17 players this Friday. They are: Goalkeepers Valdés and Jorquera, defenders Puyol, Márquez, Sylvinho, Gio and Belletti, midfielders Edmilson, Motta, Xavi, Iniesta and Deco and forwards Ronaldinho, Giuly, Saviola, Ezquerro and Gudjohnsen.

Oleguer still out

The only absentee from the session at la Masia, apart from Messi, Eto'o, Thuram and Zambrotta, was defender Oleguer Presas. Oleguer was present, however, he did not take part in the session. Still yet to get a training session under his belt, Oleguer worked on his knee injury with the medical sevices of the club.

Doubt for Getafe

Following the recovery of Gio and Motta, it seems the only doubt, apart from the long term injury list, will be that of the defender from Sabadell. It will not be known until the completion of Saturday's training session whether or not Oleguer is fit to play.

Rijkaard asks for concentration

In Friday's session, Frank Rijkaard has been seen very active. He spoke various times to his players; he stopped the session various times, especially during the practice game in order to correct mistakes and give out instructions. The coach has asked for maximum concentration from his players when going into Sunday's game against Getafe (17h, Barça TV).

Thuram trains alone in Camp Nou

One of the four players on the long term injuries list, Lilian Thuram, has begun his physical training on the field of play. The French defender has carried out some recuperation exercises in Camp Nou under the watchful eyes of the club's physiotherapists. Thuram suffered a muscle tear in his left thigh in the last game against Athletico Madrid.

[Magical20]

FC Barcelona's Mexican defender has assured everyone that the team wants to start the new year with a victory: "It's the first time we've got so many attacking players out injured, however, we'll still go with a winning mentality".


Barça hope to start the new year on the right foot with the first challenge being that of Getafe; a stadium which has seen points given out sparingly to the visiting teams. A potentially difficult encounter given that both Deco and Ronaldinho are suspended and Eto'o, Messi, Zambrotta and Thuram, injured.

Despite this, the ambition of the team is to always leave with three points. And this has been Rafa Marquez's message, convinced that despite the injuries, Barça go to Getafe only thinking of victory: "We'll go with a winning mentality, whoever's on pitch. It's true that this is the first time we've had so many injuries, however, we're still only thinking of coming away with three points".

Specific plan

The players have been training over the holidays in order to maintain there levels of fitness and return in good condition. "Everyone had their own specific training plan over the holiday period" explained Marquez. In any case, he doesn't believe the time will affect the encounter on Sunday: "We hope to be in good condition for the game".

Rafa's return

Rafa Marquez arrived back on the 3rd of January, however, he was a few hours later than he had originally intended. The Mexican explained: "There were some delays in Mexico. I don't like arriving late and I try to be responsible, however, there are occasions when I cannot control anything".


Secret Santa

Alter the training session, the players celebrated, as is traditional during the Christmas holidays, the secret Santa game. Marquez said: "I was lucky" with his present and said he was in favour of these initiatives: "it's a way of spending time with rest of the team".

[Magical20]

Barça return to competition following the Christmas break with a game which has historically brought good fortune to the blaugrana. Barça have won seven out of the last ten encounters; last year winning in Montjuïc.


The first game of the year is complicated for all teams in the league. After the holidays, the state of the players in unknown until the ball is in play. In the last 10 years, Barça have notched up good statistics; in ten games, the blaugrana have won seven and lost three. Interestingly, it has been over ten years since the last draw.

Frank Rijkaard's era

Since Frank Rijkaard arrived on the scene, FC Barcelona have always played the first game of the year away from home. The first game saw Racing Santander beat the blaugrana (3-0). This game, however, was the turning point in the season and saw Barça mount a title challenge which saw them climb ten places in the table to finish in 2nd position.

A year later, this time as leaders, Barça lost again (3-0) against Villareal in the Madrigal stadium. Despite the loss, Barça won the league title. Last year, Barça started 2006 in the Olympic stadium in Monjuïc against Espanyol. Goals from Deco and Eto'o gave the blaugrana victory in the local derby.

Other victories

In the last ten years, there have been some memorable victories to kick start the new year. In the season of 98-99, Louis Van Gaal's team beat Alaves (7-0), a year later, a memorable goal from Xavi Hernandez saved Van Gaal his job. Despite the problems early on, Barcelona were able to win the league for the second consecutive year.

Another valuable victory was that over Real Oviedo in the season of 2000-01. The team, led by Llorenç Serra Ferrer, won by three goals to two. It was Barça's first and only visit to the new Asturian club's stadium.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Independiente star Oscar Ustari has denied that he has already agreed to join Barcelona in June.

Reports in the Spanish press have suggested that the Primera Liga champions have tied up a €10million (£6.7million) deal for the 20-year-old goalkeeping prodigy who has also been courted by Real Madrid, Arsenal and Real Zaragoza.

However Ustari, who was a surprise inclusion in Jose Pekerman's World Cup squad, has now rubbished speculation that a move to Catalunya is imminent.

"I am very comfortable at Independiente," said Ustari.

"Of course I would like to have the chance to play for Barcelona in the future because it would be a very important step in my career.

"It is a fantastic team but for the moment I haven't signed anything and I am working very hard at Independiente ahead of the Torneo Clausura that starts next month."

Independiente president Julio Comparada has also emphasised that the club are yet to receive an offer for their keeper from any interested parties.

"Nobody has spoken with us or brought any official proposal for Ustari," insisted Comparada.

"If they have signed some kind of contract with the player that is something personal but if a team wants Ustari they will have to negotiate with Independiente.

"I have spoken to the player and he told me that he hasn't arranged anything with any team."

Sky Sports - The Best Sport Coverage From Around The World

[Magical20]

finally .. thank god for honest players !

[Magical20]

"Nobody has spoken with us or brought any official proposal for Ustari," insisted Comparada.

soo.. you shouldnt believe eurosport too soon.. or el mundo for that matter.. just believe what the barça squad and board say..