FC Barcelona News: 12 November 2011; Guardiola Praises Mourinho, Spain U-21 Demolish Estonia

Pep Guardiola: Jose Mourinho is the best in the world - ESPN Soccernet
Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola says that rival Jose Mourinho is 'the best coach in the world' after claiming that you do not need to have played the game to be a great manager. Real Madrid's Mourinho never played at a high-level, while Guardiola enjoyed a distinguished playing career in midfield for Barcelona and also represented Spain.

Power shift between Barcelona and Real Madrid is underway -- Graham Hunter -- ESPN
La Liga has reached a crucial turning point with the last international break until March -- a gap that allows Spain's leading clubs to turn total focus on a series of games that will go a long way toward determining whether the season is a failure or a thing of joy and beauty to behold.

Patrick Vieira highlights Barça as the model to follow | FC Barcelona
The former French player and current manager of the Manchester City Academy is impressed with the way Barça has relied on local talent and feels his club has to do likewise. Vieira says that Messi is one of the best players he has ever seen and loves the way FCB play as a team.

Spain's Under-21 squad, with six Barça players, thrash Estonia (6-0) | FC Barcelona
They didn’t score any of the six goals the Under-21 Spain side put past Estonia, but the six Barça players were the driving force behind Luis Milla’s squad in Melilla. Montoya, Muniesa, Bartra, Planas, Thiago, and Cuenca all featured in the starting lineup in Spain’s Euro Cup qualifier match against Estonia. Cuenca, earned his first international cap in what's proved to be a fairytale month for the Barça player.

Lionel Messi: We have to win next against Colombia - ESPN Soccernet
Argentina star Lionel Messi says that his side have to win their next World Cup 2014 qualifier against Colombia after being held 1-1 by Bolivia on Friday night.Messi's side have just four points from three games, despite lying second in the table, and had to come from behind to claim a draw at the Estadio Monumental as Ezequiel Lavezzi equalised Marcelo Moreno's strike.

Ajax's Eriksen open to Barcelona move - Yahoo! Eurosport
The 19-year-old midfielder has been earning rave reviews for his performances in the Eredivisie and the Champions League with Ajax, while his presence in the Denmark squad last summer made him the youngest player at the 2010 World Cup.

Roma's Bojan Krkic: I have never criticised Barcelona's Pep Guardiola - Goal.com
Roma striker Bojan Krkic has guaranteed that he never intended to hit out at Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.The 21-year-old striker lamented in the summer his lack of playing opportunities at Camp Nou, which made him choose to further his career at the Serie A side.

AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic insists Pep Guardiola comments are not personal: 'I would dedicate my book to him' - Goal.com
AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic insists his comments in his autobiography criticising Pep Guardiola were nothing personal, adding that he would dedicate the book to the Barcelona boss if he wanted.

Chelsea Youngster Denies Barcelona Rumours | Football Talk
Barca have a £12m buy-back option for Romeu, who sold the youngster to Chelsea in the summer for £5m, and reports suggest they may look to enforce the clause in the summer. The La Liga champions have implemented this type of clause with many of the youngsters that don’t make the grade at the Nou Camp. But the youngster says:

From boys to men, Spain benefit from brotherhood of believers | The Guardian
In the empire where the sun looks like never setting they turned convention upside down. For years England managers have talked about making the Under-21s play like the senior team. Spain went one step further. What if they made the first XI play like the boys?

Euroscout: Jordi Alba - Yahoo! Eurosport UK
Yet another player reared by Barcelona's old La Masia academy, Alba was released by Barca in 2005 at the age of 16. As a born-and-bred Catalan - hailing from the neighbourhood of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, which borders the Camp Nou and whose third-division team were beaten by the Blaugrana on Wednesday night - Alba stayed in the region by spending two seasons at lower-league outfit Cornella.

Injury blow for Ricardo Costa | LFP
Valencia defender Ricardo Costa is suffering from a sinew tear of 0.5 centimetres in length in the biceps femoris muscle in his left thigh, tests showed.