Following the sanction imposed by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on FC
Barcelona (FCB) for offenses involving the transfer and registration of players under 18, FCB would like to make the following points.
After the first leg draw against Atletico Madrid , we take a look at Barça’s results of second leg games played after a 1-1 result at Camp Nou . The first time Barça found themselves in this situation was 25 seasons ago ( 1988/89 ) in the second round of the European Cup Winners Cup when they ended up beating Lech Poznan on penalties in the second leg
The squad were back in training this lunchtime following last night’s game at the Camp Nou, with the players involved against Atletico doing some light recovery work. Carles Puyol continued to work apart from the rest of the group, whilst B team youngsters Sergi Gómez, Babunski, Dongou, Ié and Masip were also involved.
It's now more than a year since Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, publicly backed the imposition of sanctions relating to six Barça players which prevented them from playing competitive games despite being registered and allowed to train with the club. The Koreans Lee Seung-woo, Paik Seung-ho and Jang Gyeol-hee, the French youngster Theo Chendri, the Nigerian Bobby Adekanye and the Cameroonian Patrice Sousia – all aged between 14 and 16 – are registered to different teams within the youth setup, with the last of these believed to have turned down lucrative moves to Chelsea and Liverpool last week to sign his first professional contract.
It didn't used to be like this. Barca's 'More Than A Club' motto suggested a club morally superior to their rivals, who turned down big corporate deals to emblazon Unicef's logo across their shirts while entertaining the world with an attacking style of play led by whiter-than-white superstar Lionel Messi and his fellow academy graduates.
Gerard Piqué has been added to the injury list this week, where he joins long-term absentees Víctor Valdés and Jonathan Dos Santos. With centre back Carles Puyol still not back into the regular training routine and Piqué out for four weeks, this is the moment for Marc Bartra to step forward and take on additional responsibilities.
Champions! FC Barcelona did what it had to do and, in a match that was brought forward due to UEFA Youth League commitments, the Juvenil A team claimed the title of the División de Honor. This trophy is borne out of the hard work the men managed by Jordi Vinyals have put in all season. The team can now focus on their next challenge: taking on the final stage of the Uefa Youth League in Nyon.
Barcelona's formation is holding Neymar back, says Scolari - Goal.com
Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari believes Neymar is being played out of position for Barcelona but remains confident he can be the star attraction at the World Cup. "Neymar hasn't shone at Barca because they play different to what he is used to," Scolari told reporters. "He's better when he has space, but Barcelona have him playing on the right."
Real Madrid 3-0 Borussia Dortmund | Champions League quarter-final, first leg match report | Football | The Guardian
At the end of this game the Borussia Dortmund coach, Jürgen Klopp, was asked if he thought there was a chance of his side turning the tie around after Real Madrid had completed their first-leg victory. The reply was eloquent: "Do you think I am an idiot?" he said. "We lost 3-0 and now we have to shut up. This is not a situation for hope or big speeches."
Pastore scores solo goal as PSG beats Chelsea 3-1 - Times Union
Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho called his team's defending "a joke" after Paris Saint-Germain scored deep into injury time Wednesday to take a commanding 3-1 lead into their Champions League quarterfinal return leg next week. A second straight defeat has turned the pressure back on Mourinho's Chelsea side, with big-spending PSG now favored to reach the last four in the European Cup for the first time since 1995 and Liverpool grabbing the impetus in the Premier League.