FC Barcelona News: 25 May 2012; Sanchez and Pinto Given Medical Green Light, Pep Ready to Manage His Last Barça Game

Alexis and Pinto are given medical clearance to play ahead of tomorrow's Copa del Rey Final | FC Barcelona
Just as expected, Alexis Sánchez and José Manuel Pinto, both of whom have been working with the first team this week, were given medical clearance to play and were named to the team. There are also four Barça B players in the squad: Montoya, Bartra, Dos Santos and Tello. Alves, Puyol, Abidal, Fontàs and Villa will not feature in tomorrow’s match.

Pep Guardiola comes full circle for a reunion with Marcelo Bielsa | guardian.co.uk
This has been a difficult season. It has also been Barcelona's least successful under their manager. They have won only the Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and World Club Cup. On Friday, in Guardiola's last game as coach, they could also win the Copa del Rey. The man against him – Marcelo Bielsa, is in his first season at Athletic Bilbao.

Over and out for Pep | Andy Mitten - Yahoo! Sport UK
Guardiola is loved in Barcelona and by Cules around the world, but he's told friends that he wants a year's sabbatical in New York before he studies the various offers which will come his way. And already have come his way.

Athletic Club-FCB: Ending as it started | FC Barcelona
The Copa del Rey Final between Athletic Bilbao and Barça in May 2009 at Mestalla marked the beginning of the most triumphant period of Barça history. It will always be remembered as the Guardiola era. Three years and 13 titles later, the two teams are set to meet in Atlético Madrid’s stadium in another cup final. It is the last official game of the season for the club, and the last ever for Guardiola as first team manager.

Guardiola urges his players to give it their all | FC Barcelona
"We have to attack as much as possible, interpret what they’re doing and, on top of it all and regardless of what happens, be ourselves, we have to finish the match with the feeling that we did what we had to do. This is the final push of the year, and it’s necessary to give it everything we’ve got," said the manager.

Guardiola: "I told Tito that he was going to be the manager" | FC Barcelona
Just before diving into the topic he explained that "I’ve given 546 press conferences, which is about 272 hours in front of you guys, in these the 4 years that we’ve been together. That’s 11 straight days of talking. During this whole time I’ve tried to achieve one objective: credibility. I may have made mistakes along the way and I may have been spot on, but my goal was to always be honest."

Bielsa: "FC Barcelona are the best team in the world" | FC Barcelona
The Athletic Club manager praised FC Barcelona by saying that the Catalans are "the best team in the world" even though he doesn’t consider Guardiola’s side to be favourites for tomorrow’s match. The manager believes that the matches played between the two sides this year "established the setting and the differences between the two teams."

Barça-Athletic Club, history that spans more than 100 years | FC Barcelona
In 1898 a group of young Basques opened up the Zamacois Athletic Club gym and a year later a group of young foreigners led by Joan Gamper started Solé gym, where FC Barcelona started. Here are a series of curious anecdotes from two of the oldest clubs in Spanish football:

Pep Guardiola open to job offers this summer - ESPN Soccernet
However, the Spanish boss, a reported target for the Anfield and Stamford Bridge clubs, has revealed he would be willing to return to football sooner than had been anticipated. "For the next months I have to charge my batteries," he said. "I will rest and I will wait. I will be ready, if one club wants me, if they seduce me, I will train again."

Barcelona vice-president rules out move for Neymar this summer - Goal.com
"Could Neymar join us this summer? He has a contract with Santos until 2014. He will stay at his club," Bartomeu stated to RAC1. "We've been working on transfers for months, but the final decisions will only be made from Monday on. "We already have a great team and injured players will come back. We think we don't need many transfers, but coaches decide whether we need any reinforcements."

Valencia sign Joao Pereira - Yahoo! Eurosport
"Sporting reached an agreement with Valencia for the transfer of Joao Pereira for a set fee of 3.7 million euros and a variable fee of 526,000 euros, depending on whether Valencia participates in the Champions League group phase or not," Sporting wrote in a statement published by Portuguese regulator CMVM.