FC Barcelona News: 29 January 2012; Barça Drop More Points, Pedro Injured, Tello Makes La Liga Debut

Barca suffer title blow at Villarreal - Yahoo! Eurosport
Barcelona allowed the gap between themselves and great rivals Real Madrid to widen to seven points after being held to a 0-0 draw by Villarreal at El Madrigal. The Catalans may have ended Madrid's defence of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday night but their chances of holding onto their league title appear slim after another frustrating evening on their travels.

Guardiola: "we will fight until the end" | FC Barcelona
After the goalless draw with Villareal, the distance between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid is now seven points. Josep Guardiola said that in the league "18 games remain" to be played, and he guarantees that his players "will try to fight for every point like they did tonight."

Messi: "There is a lot left and we'll keep on trying until the end" | FC Barcelona
Despite tonight’s draw at El Madrigal against Villareal, Leo Messi is hopeful about Barça’s chances of winning La Liga: "there is still a lot left and we have to keep on going. All of the tournaments are important to us and we will try to win them all; the second part of the season just started, there are many points still in play."

Barcelona's Pedro ruled out for trip to Villarreal while Alexis Sanchez named in squad - Goal.com
Barcelona have confirmed on their official website that they will be without Pedro for Saturday's Primera Division encounter against Villarreal. Pedro will miss the game at El Madrigal with a thigh strain after recently only returning to action following a niggling muscle problem.

[Sport update: Pedro won't play against Valencia and is doubtful against Real Sociedad]

Tello debuts in La Liga | FC Barcelona
The striker, who was one of the four youngsters from the reserve side called by Guardiola to travel with the first team to Villareal, came onto the pitch in the 75th minute. The player needed only 18 minutes on the field to change the dynamic of the match. After the game Tello said that he was "happy with his performance, but it was tarnished by the draw."

Barcelona's unlucky 13 - how the Catalans' dropped away points are handing the title to Real Madrid - Goal.com
That's 13 points dropped now for Barca in the league this term, already two more than in the whole of last season. And if Madrid - who beat Zaragoza 3-1 earlier on Sunday - can match their haul of 49 from the first 19 fixtures, the Catalans will need to win all of their remaining 18 games to claim a fourth successive title. Impossible, surely, even for this spectacular side.

Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho back in England next season - report - ESPN Soccernet
Jose Mourinho is ready to quit Real Madrid in the summer and return to England, according to reports on Sunday. "Jose is sick and tired of this situation at Madrid," a source close to the manager told The Sunday Times. "It doesn't matter if he wins this season or not. It's not about the money. "He's decided to come back to England and he will go in the summer."

Madrid survive shock to beat Zaragoza - Yahoo! Eurosport
Real Madrid recovered from going a goal down to La Liga's bottom club Real Zaragoza to emerge 3-1 winners at the Bernabeu and increase their lead at the top of La Liga. Having started Wednesday's Copa del Rey clasico with a quite frightening intensity, Madrid were decidedly less impressive against Zaragoza and Esteban Granero in particular was guilty of some sloppy passing in a poor opening to the game.frightening

Espanyol close in on Benfica's Joan Capdevila - report - Goal.com
The 33-year-old is desperate to find a new club before the end of the month after making just four competitive appearances since joining Benfica in the summer. Deportivo La Coruna have been credited with an interest in Capdevila, but reports suggest that only Espanyol have so far initiated talks with the Portuguese club with view to a loan signing.