Features news coverage of Barcelona and its players, including match reports, transfer rumours and general football news.
Today’s transfer roundup won’t be too long, because I’m being generous. I’m sure you all have much better things to do than to sit and read for an extended period of time…right?
Written by Eddie Griffin. One comment
Real Madrid celebrated their 31st Liga in style by thumping rivals Barcelona 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu. This will have to go down as the most one-sided clasico since Ronaldinho destroyed Madrid’s defence in November 2005. How times have changed since then. Ronaldinho is only in the news now for his off the field antics, while Madrid have formed a solid compact unit that has won La Liga at a canter.
The Barcelona players suffered the shame of having to applaud their rivals onto the pitch, but by the end of the night this humiliation was nothing compared to what they experienced over 90 minutes. from the beginning Diarra, Sneijder and Gago ruled the midfield and even Leo Messi was kept completely out of the game as Barça’s midfield players struggled to connect with the forwards.
Written by Nic Aldam. 4 comments
So, what’s going on in the world of transfer rumors today? As always, chime in and chip in with opinions - and with rumors!
Written by Eddie Griffin. 2 comments
Today’s transfer roundup starts up as the last one did, so Arsenal fans, feel free to jump a couple of paragraphs.
Written by Eddie Griffin. 15 comments
Guess who’s back? That’s right, me and the transfer roundup.
The season’s winding down and the rumors are heating up, so you’ll be seeing me in this space regularly.
Anyway, on to the good stuff!
Written by Eddie Griffin. 13 comments
Congratulations to Real Madrid for winning their 31st Spanish league title. It’s been a funny old season in Spain so perhaps it was appropriate that Madrid should come from behind and score twice in the last five minutes when they were down to ten men to win 1-2 at Osasuna. Villarreal are looking good for second place after a 2-0 victory over Getafe, while Barcelona who seem to be in a serious crisis surprised everyone by walloping Valencia 6-0. Some might be more surprised by the fact that Thierry Henry played well and scored twice!
Written by Nic Aldam. 2 comments
Highlights from the midweek Champions League semifinals:
Written by goalcentre.com. 2 comments
Both Internazionale and Milan have balked at Barcelona’s asking price for the former World Player of the Year - supposedly valued at 30 million Euros by the Catalan club whereas the Italians are rumoured to offering 16-20 million euros (reasonable, if you factor in that he is ‘damaged goods’ and commands high wages).
However, Ronaldinho is more than just a player. According to Forbes.com he is the second richest footballer (Goldenballs has the #1 position locked in again) and his brand value, regardless of his injuries and form, is high enough for a club to throw a few extra million Barcelona’s way.
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 23 comments
According to Forbes.com Manchester United have been valued at $1.8 billion, ahead of the club traditionally known as the richest club in football (Real Madrid, $1.285 billion) and their chief domestic rivals Arsenal ($1.2 billion), Liverpool ($1.05 billion) and Chelsea ($764 million).
Have fun sorting the lists according to different criteria. Here are some highlights:
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 3 comments
Manchester United, take a bow. Out gunned and out classed, but not beaten. 3 games more to go and how things swing from one direction to the other.
There really should be a full match report here, but you’ll have to wait for it tomorrow on Red Rants. I will touch upon a few key points and leave you guys to discuss the rest.
First - Moscow baby! United are through to their first final in 9 years, and while everyone (even Nani) deserves credit for their performance today, a few deserve it more than most.
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 16 comments
When the referee pointed to the spot in the 2nd minute of the match, it looked like we are about to witness an entertaining match, with a lot of attacking football and scoring chances. Unfortunately, the spectators were the only ones thinking so, as both teams did their best not to score.
Written by Guest Authors. Leave a response
Real Madrid need just two points from their remaining four matches to seal their 31st La Liga title after comfortably beating Athletic Bilbao 3-0 at the Bernabeu on Sunday evening. Barcelona are in big danger of losing out on second place to Villarreal. The Catalans obviously had their minds on Tuesday’s return match with Manchester United and were easily beaten by Deportivo, while Villarreal won at Betis to move four points above Barça. At the bottom of the table Levante became the first team to be mathematically relegated after losing to Recreativo.
Written by Nic Aldam. 3 comments
Barcelona 0-0 Manchester United
Will Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty miss prove costly for Manchester United in their quest for European glory? 2nd leg will commence 6 days after this.
Visit goalcentre.com for more football videos.
Written by goalcentre.com. Leave a response
Without suspended inspiration Eric Cantona and crippled by the three-foreigners rule, Manchester United lost 4-0 to FC Barcelona on a memorable night in 1994.
Hristo Stocihkov (2), Romario and Albert Ferrer were the executioners of Alex Ferguson’s depleted forces at the packed Nou Camp. But who were the 12 players in black chasing shadows that night and where are they now ?
Written by Betfair. Leave a response
Manchester United v Barcelona, Semifinal, 2007/2008 Champions League.
First Leg
Camp Nou, Barcelona - Wednesday 23 April 2008 - 19:45 GMT
Second Leg
Old Trafford, Manchester - Tuesday 29 April 2008 - 19:45 GMT
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 33 comments
If there was any doubt that Real Madrid are going to win their 31st La Liga title, it was dispelled after their 0-2 victory over Racing Santander. With a ten point advantage over closest rivals Villarreal, Madrid now need just five points from their remaining five games and they will now be hoping to clinch the title before the home game against arch enemies Barcelona on May 7 which will mean the Catalans will face the embarrassment of having to applaud their rivals onto the pitch.
Written by Nic Aldam. 2 comments
On Wednesday, 9 April, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson reached his fifth Champions League semifinal after his club progressed at the expense of AS Roma.
Only Carlo Ancelotti has reached so many semifinals as head coach in this competition. What’s interesting to note here is both Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benitez have made it to 3 semi-finals each, and at their (relatively) young age it’s quite likely that they will get to a few more semi-finals, assuming that they go in the upward trajectory that their career paths have suggested till now.
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 7 comments
Here’s a list of the top scorers in this year’s Champions League (so far), plus their career stats for the Champions League:
Written by Ahmed Bilal. One comment
Manchester United and Barcelona have enjoyed several unbeaten streaks in Europe in the last decade - United went 16 matches without defeat twice, while Barcelona have 2 14-game streaks and 1 15-game streak (the one that won them the Champions League) to their name.
In fact, despite their domestic league troubles, Barcelona go into this week’s Champions League semifinal on the back of another undefeated streak - this time stretching to 11 games. Manchester United themselves have been undefeated in Europe this season and will be looking to add to their 10-game undefeated streak at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night.
Written by Ahmed Bilal. Leave a response
Football Club Barcelona is not in the best state to go into the Champions League semi final with Manchester United. If you regularly read the Spanish sports press you will know that Barça is a club in crisis. It may also seem that the press always says the same, at least when Barça are not beating the pants off everyone.
However, over the last couple of weeks the situation has reached a point where it feels as though the club is going to explode with one more bad result. Before last week’s goalless draw with Getafe president Joan Laporta appealed to a group of supporters that Barça “are not as bad as all that.” He went on to tell the fans that they should not fall into the trap of listening to journalists who pretended to be on Barça’s side but in fact had other interests.
His arguments might have been valid but the anxious aggressive tone that he used to make them did little to convince the fans, and after Barça once again missed an opportunity to close the gap on Real Madrid by failing to beat Getafe, some of the crowd protested by calling for Laporta’s resignation.
Written by Nic Aldam. 5 comments
Real Madrid moved another step closer to their 31st La Liga title with an uninspiring 1-0 victory over relegation bound Murcia. Barcelona have more or less said adios to their title hopes after only drawing at Recreativo, but the big news this week is the almost certain sale of Ronaldinho to AC Milan. The Brazilian will reportedly be on a meagre €150,000 a week for his new club. Villarreal slipped back down to third place after losing 1-0 at Almeria.
Written by Nic Aldam. 3 comments
Once the world’s most feared attacker, injuries and a drastic loss of form have Ronaldinho a shadow of his former self.
For a long time, Ronaldinho has been widely rumoured to be on the way out of the Nou Camp and today, numerous reports [Goal, Soccernet, International Herald Tribune] have emerged claiming that the former FIFA World Player of the Year has already agreed to a deal with Italian Giants AC Milan.
Ronaldinho is said to have to have agreed to a 4 year contract worth €8 million a year and all that is left for the deal to be set in stone is to work out a fee with Barcelona.
More as this develops.
Written by Kenny. Leave a response
This can be a difficult time of the season for strong recommendations as title hopes evaporate; teams get lost in mid-table mediocrity with little to play for and those resigned to their fate fail to perform to expectation.
But there are some interesting clashes this weekend as in Serie A six of the top seven take each other on. In the Premier League, Arsenal’s season will finish early unless they can win at Old Trafford. There’s much to be decided at the bottom of the Bundesliga as any three from five could still be relegated and two of them meet this weekend. Ligue 1 is even less defined as only six points separates 12th from 19th and four of the bottom five have the same number of points. Only in Spain could nearly everything top and bottom of the table be resolved this weekend.
Written by Soccerlens. Leave a response
The scene is May 1991, Feyenoord stadium in Rotterdam. The European Cup Winners’ Cup final is about to kick off. Manchester United and Barcelona line up against each other, with United boasting the core of the side which would go on to challenge for the league title next season and then win the Premier League the season after that.
Manchester United would go on to win the match, thanks to a Mark Hughes special (and some calamitous defending by Barcelona, including the keeper’s gaffe that gifted Sparky a goal).
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 2 comments
Highlights from last night’s Champions League quarter-final ties:
Even with Ronaldo and Rooney on the bench, United were just too strong for Roma. Turning point of the game, Del Rossi’s penalty miss for Roma.
Barcelona 1-0 Schalke
Early aggression by Schalke could not turn into goals. In the end, the Catalans strolled past the Germans with a Yaya Toure winner.
Brought to you by goalcentre.com.
Written by goalcentre.com. Leave a response
Two below-par performances, two 1-0 wins and Barcelona are through to the Champions League semi-finals in the most unconvincing fashion.
Not to begrudge them their victories - they took their chances (few as they were) and Schalke made a hash of the many that fell their way. And there’s still time for Barcelona to improve before they take on English champions Manchester United in the semi-finals in 2 weeks.
You can get the full match report here (whenever Nic Aldam puts it up), and the semi-final previews should be up next week.
Written by Ahmed Bilal. One comment
Heard a rumour the other day that Thierry Henry might be moving away from Barcelona after just one season. Henry’s name may not be synonymous with loyalty for most fans but why would he pack up and leave so quickly when he’s taken so much time to get settled in?
And then I heard that he would be coming back to England. Not to Arsenal, because that story has ended, but perhaps to Chelsea or some other big club. But the rumours didn’t stop there. Now we’re hearing that Henry could move to another London club, namely Tottenham, to be close to his daughter. Not far behind are the rumours linking Henry to Newcastle United and Manchester City, the former getting over-excited whenever their club strings a couple of wins in a row and the later already dreaming about next season and that big big big signing that Shinawatra has promised them.
Speculation can be fun, but this one is absurd.
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 35 comments
In the buildup to the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, both Barcelona and Chelsea have talked about the quality of their players and the fact that pound for pound, their teams are good enough to on and progress to the semi-finals (at the very least).
But that’s only half the story.
Neither Barcelona nor Chelsea are the same sides that squared off in the last 3 Champions League campaigns. Barcelona’s swagger, epitomized in part by Ronaldinho’s fiery performances, has faded and become fragile. Chelsea have, through a combination of a change of managers, mental fatigue and the opposition’s familiarity, become less of the invincible force they were 3 years ago.
Written by Ahmed Bilal. Leave a response
The basis for this very short piece lies in a phone call received from my brother after work today, which comprised predominantly one-way traffic on his part, proclaiming all that was great about Ronaldinho and how he would be joining Manchester City in the summer. He never seems to be aware of the hyperbole created during these conversations.
Indeed, the fact that the story was on the BBC website, quite a reliable source – WMD’s aside - when this blue trundled through the front door and flicked on the laptop, only served to whet the appetite in some ways.
That said, one can’t help but be pessimistic in some ways. While writing this, the atmosphere of the partisan locals as Glentoran take on Linfield in the Setanta Irish Cup match is clearly audible, and it is hard to believe it is ten years since City were plummeting into the second tier of English football for the first time playing at grounds not too dissimilar to the Oval.
Written by Anthony. 2 comments
The top three all failed to win this week but Real Madrid who played badly will be the happiest with their 1-1 draw at Mallorca which leaves them seven points clear with seven games to go. Barcelona played better than in recent weeks but will be most disappointed with their 0-0 draw at home to Getafe, especially after hitting the post three times. Villarreal stay in second place on head-to-head goal difference despite losing 2-0 at Sevilla.
Written by Nic Aldam. 6 comments
