FC Barcelona News: 27 April 2012; Pep Announces His Future Plans, Tito Vilanova To Step in Very Big Shoes

Guardiola leaves Barcelona - Yahoo! Eurosport
Guardiola, who wants to recharge his batteries, added: "I'm sorry for the confusion in recent weeks. I've always wanted short contracts because the demands at Barcelona are so big. "Now we were out of the two main competitions, it was a good time to announce it. "The reason is simple. Four years, that gets everyone tired. The new coach will give things that I can't give anymore."

Adios to a genius: Pep Guardiola has earned his break from one of football's most demanding jobs - Goal.com
On Friday morning, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola gathered his players together and confirmed their worst fears: he will be leaving Camp Nou at the end of the season. There was devastation but little sense of shock. In the end, his decision had come as no surprise.

What we learned from Barcelona's and Real Madrid's Champions League losses - Graham Hunter - ESPN
What will happen now, of course, is that some critics will have no more memory, nothing better to do than to start questioning the two superstar footballers -- niggling away at previous descriptions of Ronaldo and Messi as geniuses at work.

20 different goal scorers | FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona’s cruel elimination at the hands of Chelsea in the Champions League left us with a couple curious facts. The first is that the team have scored 170 goals this season. The second, is that Sergio Busquets got on the team’s goal-scorers list. To date, 20 footballers, 17 from the first team and 3 from Barça B, have scored for FC Barcelona this year.

Xavi out for fortnight, Pique for week - Yahoo! Eurosport
The Spain international has been struggling with a calf problem all season and has only completed two of their last eight matches, while looking far from his best. One of Barca's leading players, he is set to miss the La Liga matches against Rayo Vallecano, Malaga and Espanyol but should be back in time for the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao on May 25.

Last training session before travelling to Vigo | FC Barcelona
Barça B trained this Thursday morning for the last time before the team departs for Galicia, where they will play against Celta de Vigo on Saturday. All of the Barça B players trained during today’s session with the exception of Tello, who continues with the first team. Bartra and Montoya, who were present in the last training session, trained with their team today as well.

Real, Barca seek solace from pain - Yahoo! Eurosport
Nine-time European champions Real return to the Bernabeu on Sunday to play Sevilla after falling to beat Bayern Munich in a nerve-jangling penalty shootout in Wednesday's semi-final. Pep Guardiola's team travel to play La Liga's dashing upstarts Rayo Vallecano at their cramped stadium in Madrid on Sunday.

Del Bosque asks RFEF to rearrange Copa del Rey final to aid Euro 2012 preparations - report - Goal.com
With several of his side's key players set to be involved in the Vicente Calderon showpiece, Del Bosque has asked the governing body to move the fixture to May 16 to aid his preparation for Ukraine-Poland. However, the RFEF is reportedly unwilling to change the date, as are the two clubs, who feel it would interfere with the travel arrangements.

Juventus warn Real Madrid against making Arturo Vidal bid - ESPN Soccernet
Vidal, 24, has been a key part of Juve's success this season having signed from Bayer Leverkusen for €10.5 million last summer, and Madrid are said to have approached the player's agent, Fernando Felicevich, to enquire about his availability. However, Juventus director general Beppe Marotta has insisted that they have no intention of allowing the Chile international to depart.

Llorente winner puts Athletic Bilbao in final - Yahoo! Eurosport
Markel Susaeta opened the scoring for Athletic Bilbao on the night after 17 minutes before Ricky van Wolfswinkel hit back one minute before half-time. But Ibai Gomez put the hosts back in front just 60 seconds later to leave the tie level on aggregate at half-time before, with extra-time beckoning, Llorente struck to set up a clash with Liga rivals Atletico Madrid in the final.

Athletic Bilbao’s movement v Sporting | Zonal Marking
As is typical of Marcelo Bielsa sides, Athletic dominated possession and spent much of the time in the opposition third of the pitch, but didn’t convert their goalscoring opportunities well enough. On the balance of play, it was crazy that they needed to wait until a couple of minutes before full-time for the crucial goal, scored by Fernando Llorente – they should have had the game wrapped up at an earlier stage.

Adrian stunner sees Atletico through - Yahoo! Eurosport
A brilliant goal from Adrian Lopez saw Atletico Madrid win 1-0 at Valencia, completing a 5-2 aggregate victory to put them in the Europa League final for the second time in three years, where they will face fellow Spaniards Athletic Bilbao.

Sergio Canales faces lengthy injury lay-off - Goal.com
The 21-year-old featured from the start in the second leg of the semi-final tie, but was stretchered off the pitch around the hour mark after twisting his knee. Canales underwent further examination on Friday, and Valencia have now confirmed that the attacking midfielder has damaged ligaments, and will consequently be unavailable for about six months.

Spurs target to quit Espanyol | Sky Sports
Tottenham have been put on alert after Espanyol's Javi Marquez announced that he will leave the Spanish league outfit this summer. The 25-year-old midfielder was strongly linked with a move to White Hart Lane in recent seasons as Harry Redknapop had him watch on several occasions.

Vela doesn't want Gunners return | Sky Sports
Carlos Vela has stated that he has no intention of returning to Arsenal and will tell the club that he wants to leave in the summer, preferably to make his loan move to Real Sociedad permanent. The Mexican playmaker has enjoyed a new lease of life during this term at the San Sebastian-based outfit and is hopeful a deal can be done with the Gunners in the summer.

A message to Uefa: No one wants to see Bayern II vs Chelsea reserves in the Champions League final - Goal.com
In total, seven players (four from Chelsea, three from Bayern) will miss out on the final. All but one, John Terry, picked up a one-match ban for accumulated bookings: an alarming statistic that serves as evidence that Uefa must reconsider their rules over suspensions for yellow card infractions.