السبت، 30 سبتمبر 2017

Georginio Wijnaldum: Liverpool Star Philippe Coutinho “Really Wanted” Barcelona Move

“We understood why he wanted to make the move.”

Georginio Wijnaldum has confirmed that his Liverpool teammate Philippe Coutinho “really wanted” to join FC Barcelona last summer. “It was difficult,” Wijnaldum told The Daily Mirror, “Phil is a really good person and we understood why he wanted to make the move.”

Coutinho had missed a few games at the start of the season apparently in rebellion. However, the Reds did not listen to any offers from Barcelona.

“On one side we would have been happy for him if he could have gone as he really wanted to make the move,” Wijnaldum said. “But on the other side as team-mates you want him to stay because you know with Phil because we’ll be better.

“There were two thoughts in your head. You can see it from both sides. Someone was going to be disappointed at the end of the transfer window and it was Phil.”

Liverpool are in a disappointing run at the moment, but Coutinho has been in good form lately nonetheless. The question now is if Coutinho will remain at Liverpool next season or get his wish to join the Catalans.

“You never know what will happen in the future,” Wijnaldum said. “But Phil is a good person and no matter how long he’s here, I know he will always give everything for Liverpool. We’re so happy that he stayed.”



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Barcelona announce squad for La Liga match against Las Palmas

Ernesto Valverde has called up 18 players for Sunday’s game at Camp Nou

The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana play their last La Liga game before the international break against Las Palmas at Camp Nou, and Ernesto Valverde has called 18 players to be in uniform on Sunday.

This is the full squad:


Goalkeepers: 1. Marc-André ter Stegen, 13. Jasper Cillessen

Defenders: 2. Nélson Semedo, 3. Gerard Piqué, 14. Javier Mascherano, 18. Jordi Alba, 23. Samuel Umtiti

Midfielders: 4. Ivan Rakitic, 5. Sergio Busquets, 6. Denis Suarez, 8. Andrés Iniesta, 15. Paulinho Bezerra, 20. Sergi Roberto, 21. André Gomes

Forwards: 9. Luis Suárez, 10. Lionel Messi, 16. Gerard Deulofeu, 22. Aleix Vidal


Valverde once again leaves Paco Alcácer and Arda Turan out of the squad, and Lucas Digne also misses out per the coach’s decision. Thomas Vermaelen, Rafinha Alcântara and Ousmane Dembélé cannot play due to injury.

Predicted starting lineup (4-3-3):

Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Deulofeu, Messi, Suárez


The match kicks off at 4:15pm CET / 3:15pm (UK & Nigeria) / 10:15am ET, 7:15am PT (USA) / 7:45pm IST (India), and you can join us to follow and comment all the action.

VISCA EL BARÇA!



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La Liga: FC Barcelona vs. Las Palmas; Team News, Match Preview

The league leaders will be looking to stay perfect against a struggling Las Palmas

After a very important Champions League win against Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday night, Barcelona return to action with a match against Las Palmas in Matchday 7 of the La Liga season.

This is a big one for the Blaugrana, who could reach seven consecutive wins to start the league season and establish their position as the alpha dog of the title race before the real challenges begin. Las Palmas is perhaps the last “easy” opponent Barça will face for a while; after the international break the Blaugrana travel to Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, and also face Sevilla at home during a truly difficult month of October.

Those games will really test Ernesto Valverde’s team, so getting all 21 points in the most comfortable part of the schedule could be a giant thing for Barça, who could even afford to drop a few points in those tough matches and still have a good lead over Real Madrid.

Beating Las Palmas is not just about the result, though. The last two wins against Girona and Sporting have been largely unconvincing, and it doesn’t help that players like Gerard Piqué and Luis Suárez have started the season in horrible form. If the two are able to play well on Sunday and the whole team has another strong performance like we saw against Espanyol and Eibar recently, then we can have more confidence going into the tough stretch after international break.

Three points against a struggling Las Palmas are more than necessary: they’re crucial.


MATCH INFO, TV/STREAMING

Date/Time: Sunday, October 1, 2017, 4:15pm CET, 3:15pm (UK & Nigeria), 10:15am ET, 7:15am PT (USA), 7:45pm IST (India)

Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia

Television: beIN SPORTS (USA & Canada), Sky Sports Football (UK), SuperSport 7 (Nigeria), SONY TEN 2 (India)

Online streaming: beIN SPORTS CONNECT (USA & Canada), Sky GO (UK), FuboTV (7-day free trial, click here to sign up)

(Listings via LiveSoccerTV)


TEAM NEWS

The performance against Sporting was very poor thanks in part to a weird tactical choice by Valverde: he went with a 4-2-2-2 formation that lacked width and depth, and Lionel Messi was moved from the False Nine role where he’s played so well to a second striker alongside Suárez, perhaps in an attempt by Valverde to get the Uruguayan more involved and firing again.

Valverde’s plan didn’t work, and the whole team suffered from it. Nélson Semedo and Jordi Alba weren’t allowed to run forward, which made sense in theory because Sporting had two very quick and dangerous wingers. But with no width in front of the full-backs thanks to four midfielders, the game was concentrated on the central areas and it became easy for Sporting to block the passing lanes to Messi and Iniesta, which left the entire creative responsibility to Sergi Roberto and Ivan Rakitic, and that is a problem.

Even though playing Suárez on the left wing isn’t in the best interests of Luis Suárez, Valverde should always prioritize maximizing Messi’s potential, and the False Nine position is clearly the best for Leo. Suárez will benefit from it too, having the sole responsibility of making runs in behind the defense. He’s very good at it, and it might be the best way of getting him back to his best.

With all that said, the only real necessary change to the team that played in Lisbon is Gerard Deulofeu in place of Sergi Roberto. Deulofeu is the more direct threat and will provide width on the right wing, and his best games have come against weaker opposition. There’ll be a time when Deulofeu is ready to play well in big matches, but for now he’s at his most effective self facing the Las Palmas of this world.


POSSIBLE LINEUPS

Barcelona (4-3-3)

Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Deulofeu, Messi, Suárez

Las Palmas (4-3-3)

Chichizola; Macedo, Lemos, Bigas, Navarro; Viera, Castellano, Aquilani; Tannane, Calleri, Tana


PREDICTION

With the tough games coming after the international break, a win on Sunday would be really big, and we’ll get it while playing well again: 3-0 Barça.



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Are Sevilla Contenders for La Liga?

Barcelona and Sevilla will be #1 and #2 regardless of the results tomorrow

Atletico Madrid drew again, this time against Leganes. That’s their third draw in seven games, and that puts them three points behind Barcelona. Now, the Catalans have a chance to extend that lead to six points with a win against Las Palmas. Meanwhile, Real Madrid are seven points behind Barcelona, subject to change tomorrow.

That means that seven matches into the season, what were considered Barcelona’s two main rivals for the title are doing uncharacteristically poorly.

On the other hand, Sevilla are going strong. They finished Malaga off 2-0 with goals from Ever Banega from the spot and Luis Muriel. That’s their fifth win in six games in La Liga, and enough to put them in second place for the rest of the weekend, no matter what happens.

Sevilla were a strong team under Jorge Sampaoli last year, but new coach Eduardo Berizzo hasn’t missed a beat. The team spent well in the summer, using money from the sales of Vicente Iborra to Leicester City and Vitolo to Real Madrid to give the squad depth. Banega (Internazionale) and Jesus Navas (Manchester City) returned for their second spells at the Sanchez Pizjuan. Other intriguing signings were Muriel from Sampdoria, Guido Pizarro from UANL, and Nolito from Manchester City.

Add to that mainstays such as Steven N'Zonzi, Joaquin Correa, Clement Lenglet, Sergio Escudero, and Gabriel Mercado to round out the squad and you have a talented and deep group. The question is: are they title contenders?

On paper, people wouldn’t expect it. But we’re seven matches in and for the time being they’re the clear #2 in Spain. There’s plenty of time, but until further notice, don’t count out Sevilla.



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Valverde talks Las Palmas, Lionel Messi & Barcelona’s squad and winning streak

All the latest from the boss’s weekly press conference

Ernesto Valverde has faced the press ahead of Barcelona’s clash with Las Palmas, the last fixture before the international break.

The Barca coach stressed the importance of maintaining the club’s winning streak going into the break, and also spoke about a number of players.

Here are the best bits...

Valverde on Las Palmas

"Las Palmas are doing things right despite the change of coach. Its always difficult to play against a team with a new technician.

“There will be a certain element of surprise involved although not much can change in two days.

“But we do have the reference of when Pako coached Valencia to a win here. I’m sure he’ll structure the team around his tastes.

“Las Palmas have plenty of skill and like to play the ball and cause damage through football, and I can see Ayestarán continuing with that.”

Valverde on his squad

“There are 24 players in the squad, I’m really happy with the players I have. When we get to the winter transfer market, perhaps we will talk about restructuring the squad I admit I don't like squads to be too big.”

Valverde on Deulofeu, Vidal and Sergi Roberto playing on the right

“We’ve made changes because we have lots of options for that position and depending on how different games go I pick different players.

“That’s not to say I will rotate that position all season and it doesn’t imply all the other players are definite starters, it will change as the season progresses.”

Valverde on Semedo

“I've often said he's a very quick player, he can take on strong opponents with guarantees.

“I've also got Sergi who can play in that position Aleix Vidal too. I'm, lucky I have lots of players I can pick.

Valverde on keeping up the winning streak

"It's very important to win going into the international break. The first came very quickly and this one comes after the ninth competitive match. We'll try to go into it with a full house of wins, which would be a great end to this first stage.

“Winning is always good. What we can not do is lower the guard. It is important not to lose the point of tension."

Valverde on Messi

"For Messi to surpass Puyol in appearances goes to show what a capacity he has for pulverizing records like this. He’s reached this number at the age of 30 while Puyol was 36, and that’s quite spectacular.”



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Braida discusses Barcelona’s interest in Goretzka

Does this mean he’s not coming?

Barcelona's international scout Ariedo Braida has been discussing the club’s reported interest in Schalke star Leon Goretzka.

Braida has reportedly been scouting the Germany international and watched him on Friday during Schalke’s draw with Bayer Leverkusen.

He was also asked about Barca’s interest in the midfielder, but it does not sound like a move is going to happy anytime soon.

"Without doubt he is a great player. But it's too soon for Barcelona,” he said.

“I travel all over the world in search of the best talent. But our demands are so high..."

Source | Sport

Goretzka is out of contract next summer, which has led to huge speculation over his future.

At the moment it seems the smart money is on him moving to Bayern Munich, although it seems he may have his pick of clubs.



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FC Barcelona News: 30 September 2017; Carles Puyol Talks Lionel Messi, 16 to Feature During International Break

Barça v Las Palmas: Did you know? | FC Barcelona
Check out all of the fascinating facts between Barça and the Canary Islanders before their match this Sunday, October 1.

When and where to watch FC Barcelona - Las Palmas | FC Barcelona
The match can be watched around the world and to help you figure out how, check out our handy TV guide below listing local broadcast information and kickoff times around the world. If you can’t make it to a TV then don't worry, because you can also listen to live play-by-play in English on Radio Barça, as well as follow our minute-by-minute updates on Twitter as the action unfolds.

16 Barça players called up for internationals | FC Barcelona
The games could see Spain cement their place in next summer’s tournament in Russia with the first taking place in Alicante on Friday 6 October at 8.45pm CET against Albania. The second comes on Monday 9 October away to Israel, also at 8.45pm CET. Lopetegui’s team need just three points to book their place in the 2018 World Cup.

Lionel Messi and Carles Puyol, a reunion of legends | FC Barcelona
Leo Messi and Carles Puyol, two legends in the history of FC Barcelona, ​​met on Friday at the Ciutat Esportiva, on the eve of what is likely to be a special occasion. Last Wednesday, in the game played in Lisbon against Sporting, the Argentinian equalled the number of official matches that the ex-captain played for Barça; 593.

Messi will continue to improve - Puyol | FFT
Carles Puyol believes Lionel Messi can continue to improve, as the Argentina superstar gets set to surpass the former Barcelona captain for appearances at the club. Messi is level with Puyol on 593 and is poised to move on to 594 when Barca welcome Las Palmas to Camp Nou on Sunday.

Barça first team and women's team pose for official photo | FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona’s first team and women’s team posed together Friday for the 2017/18 season’s official picture, which included all the members of both teams, their coaching staffs, and Club President Josep Maria Bartomeu. The photo was taken on Tito Vilanova Field at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, Barça’s training center, located in Sant Joan Despí. The joint photo is a symbol of the Club’s commitment to both men’s and women’s sports.



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Barcelona rumors: Deulofeu & Alcacer to quit, Chelsea want Roberto & Messi talks Suarez with Valverde

It’s gossip time!

Deulofeu & Alcacer want out?

Today’s rumors start off with Gerard Deulofeu and Paco Alcacer who are both reportedly considering their futures.

According to Marca, the duo are fed up already at the lack of playing time under Ernesto Valverde and are thinking about moves away.

Deulofeu is concerned for his World Cup hopes and needs to be playing while Alcacer will see how the next month goes before making a final decision.

However, the report also states the club are not contemplating selling any of the squad in January and believe both players do have a future at the club.

Chelsea wanted Sergi Roberto

Sergi Roberto’s future is the talk of Mundo Deportivo who report the club are keen to extend his contract.

The versatile youngster has a release clause of just €40 million which was enough to attract interest from Chelsea last summer.

Apparently Roberto did consider a move to Stamford Bridge, and even went so far as to discuss his future with Ernesto Valverde, after interest from the Blues.

Messi tells Valverde to be patient with Suarez

Over at Diario Gol the talk is of discussions between Lionel Messi and Ernesto Valverde over Luis Suarez.

The report claims there are suggestions Suarez is overweight, which has contributed to his loss of form, and Valverde is frustrated with his performances.

Messi, meanwhile, has urged patience and says that Suarez will get back to his best as he adjusts to life under Valverde and without Neymar.



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What’s going wrong for Luis Suarez at Barcelona?

الجمعة، 29 سبتمبر 2017

Catalan Minister: Barcelona Could Play in the Premier League After Independence

Or in France, or Germany, or Italy... or stay in La Liga

Catalonia could become independent, against the Spanish government’s wishes, and that would obviously affect FC Barcelona, among a lot of things. Spanish league officials have maintained that Catalan clubs will not be able to play in La Liga, but some see that as an empty threat.

Now, the Catalan minister of sport, Gerard Figueras, gives us his take: "In the event of independence, the Catalan clubs in La Liga would have to decide where they want to play: in the Spanish league or in a nearby country, like Italy, France or the Premier League.”

There are several examples of teams playing in leagues that belong to other countries. AS Monaco plays in the French league, Welsh clubs like Cardiff and Swansea City play in the Premier League, and Andorran clubs can play in Spanish leagues. But as of right now there are no assurances - of anything.

It remains to be seen how the political situation affects the team.



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Paulinho: Lionel Messi Asked Me If I Was Coming to Barcelona

"If you want to bring me, you can."

Paulinho has revealed in an interview with El Periodico that, prior to the Brazilian’s arrival to Camp Nou, Lionel Messi asked him if he was going to sign for FC Barcelona.

"I was getting ready to take a free kick in a game between Brazil and Argentina. Suddenly, I saw Messi behind me getting closer bit by bit, and he says 'Are we going to Barcelona or not?' I said, ‘if you want to bring me there, you can. I'll go."

During the interview, Paulinho recalled his life, growing up in Brazil, going to play in Lithunia and Poland before going back to Brazil, and then playing for a lower-league club before getting his first big break: joining up with current Brazil coach Tite in Corinthians.

He transferred to Tottenham Hotspur, where he admits things didn’t go as planned, which precipitated his move to China. "I knew that going to China was like disappearing off the face of the Earth,” he said, ”but it was clear in my mind. I needed to play, wherever, it didn't matter."

He had a successful period playing for Guangzhou Evergrande, and when Barcelona came calling, he said it was a "unique opportunity" and he asked his coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, to let him go.

Paulinho says that chat with Messi clued him in that the Catalan giants wanted to sign him up. After speaking with Messi, he admitted he was affected: “I was so nervous I told Willian, 'you take the free kick. After that match, I exchanged shirts with Messi. He didn't let me take the free kick, but I'm here."



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How should Barcelona line up against Las Palmas?

Barcelona keeping an eye on Timo Werner - report

The race for the German’s signature has begun

Barcelona have reportedly begun to take an interest in one of Europe’s youngest and brightest stars, according to a report in Mundo Deportivo.

RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner has been fancied to be one of the best up and coming strikers in Europe, and we can add Barcelona to the growing list of teams that are interested in his services.

Werner has previously spoken about the possibilities of leaving Leipzig, and name-checked Barcelona, along with just about every other top team in Spain and England.

"Until now, everything has gone well with Leipzig, I don't think about what could happen in one, two or three years, but of course I want to play for a big club at some point. In Spain there are a maximum of three clubs with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. In England there is a bit more, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City. Bayern is also a big club, but for me it is not a topic that I am concerned with."

Timo Werner | Sport Bild

Unsurprisingly, therefore, most teams in Europe have been linked to Werner thus far, and it won’t slow down until he ends up moving from Leipzig onto a larger club.

Barcelona could be a good place for Werner to continue his development into a star player. We’ll just have to wait and see if anything solid materializes in the coming months.



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FC Barcelona News: 29 September 2017; Vote of No Confidence Fails, Barça Intersted in Timo Werner

Back to work to prepare for UD Las Palmas | FC Barcelona
The new focus of work at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper is on Sunday’s home fixture (4.45pm CET) against UD Las Palmas (TICKETS HERE) where Barça will be looking to keep their 100 per cent start to the Liga campaign intact going into the October break for internationals.

Vote of no confidence against Barcelona board has failed - Benedito | ESPN
Benedito needed to get the signatures of 16,570 club members in order to take the vote against president Josep Maria Bartomeu and his directors to a referendum, but as of Wednesday, when the club said the deadline for signatures was, he only had 12,504.

Ter Stegen, safe pair of hands | FC Barcelona
One of the keys to FC Barcelona’s great start in both La Liga and Champions League is Ter Stegen. The German goalkeeper has made some great saves in the eight matches played across both competitions. In this video, you can watch some of his most spectacular stops so far.

Barça step up Werner interest | Goal
Barcelona have stepped up their interest in signing RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner, according to Mundo Deportivo. Bayern Munich have also shown an interest in the Germany international, with the 21-year-old having scored five goals in six Bundesliga performance so far this season.

Nelson Semedo: The man Barcelona had been looking for | Sportskeeda
Dani Alves was a key player in the Barcelona squad for many seasons. He was one of the top assist providers to Lionel Messi and was always an extra man in attacks created by Barcelona. His work down the right flank could not be matched by any other fullback. Arguably one the best right backs in the world, the Brazilian left Barcelona in 2016 after an 8-year long spell winning 21 trophies.

Spain confirm final qualifying squad | Football Espana
Valencia forward Rodrigo Moreno, Napoli’s Jose Callejon and Real Sociedad midfielder Asier Illarramendi have been restored to Spain’s national squad. La Roja finalise their World Cup qualification campaign against Albania and Israel in October with Julen Lopetegui once again rejigging his squad following September’s victories over Italy and Liechtenstein.



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Valverde’s Barcelona may not be pretty but they are effective

WATCH: All of Lionel Messi’s La Liga goals so far this season

Want to see some Barcelona goals? Step right this way

Lionel Messi has started the season in seriously brilliant style. As Barcelona have beaten every team put in front of them, it’s largely been Messi with the goals.

The little genius has already scored nine times in the league for Barcelona in just six games.

That’s more goals than most of the teams in La Liga have managed, only Atletico, Valencia, Real Betis, Madrid and Sociedad have outscored Messi.

And in case you’ve missed any, here they all are:



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الخميس، 28 سبتمبر 2017

The Goleadores: Barcelona debuts its new line of sleep aids.

Side effects include moroseness at work, short fuse, and a growing infatuation for tall, dark, and handsome Frenchmen.  

A tremendously gritty affair that could have gone either way, lending strength to the voice of many of us fans who see a team not playing excessively poorly, but not by any means equipped for long term success. I’ve not made secret my prevalence for the defensive aspect of football, as a middling defender myself, but this does not mean I want Barcelona to now adopt tactics akin to Catenaccio. Maybe our midfield inadequacy, and that is putting it mildly, obliges the team to rely on a solid defense and a devastating counterattack, yet here we will run into problems sooner rather than later if we continue playing the same three core midfielders.

If we take yesterday’s game as an example, we see some of the faults in this system. Busquets despite having an excellent touch on the ball, does not have the pace for a counter; Rakitić, as was evidenced in this game repeatedly, passes the ball like I pass a kidney stone: there’s a lot of swearing and yelling, and in the end, you’re left there sweating profusely with your d*ck in your hands (i.e. doing nothing) staring blankly ahead. Don Andrés, despite his age, is the most capable of these three on a counter, but even then, he does not have the pace he used to have for such an endeavor. So now we have Messi trying to counter all by himself and passing the ball to a Suárez who is looking very slow, hasn’t beaten an offside trap in ages, and is exhibiting some of the poorest passing and control of his Barcelona career, which invariably resulted in either offsides, or loss of possession.

Now, let’s imagine for a second that Ernie decides he likes what he sees offensively from this team so much (because who wouldn’t if you are so good the other team is even scoring for you), that he goes and says “Hey, let’s not do these overlapping runs with our full-backs because why the heck for.” We can see the genius of this line of thinking in a game where we consistently lost the ball due to extremely poor passing and almost non-existent off-the-ball movement, and its breathtaking results in an insipid offensive performance salvaged by a pinball-esque set-piece sequence resulting in a very sharp Suárez clearance of such blinding brilliance that the flash blinded defender lost all positional awareness and scored against himself.

Irish Goat’s Gamboling Goleadores!

1st Goleador: Samuel Umtiti

Since this was more of a defensive game than anything else, it would make sense if our best defender put in a decent showing, but decent showing doesn’t even come close! Umtiti was dominant. He spent the entire night savagely mauling every poor misguided fool that dared attack his goal while he was manning things. Countless blocks, innumerable interceptions, and cool, collected passing and dribbling. Ice. Cold. Samuel “Mr. Freeze” Umtiti. No?

2nd Goleador: Andrés Iniesta

I truly believe that, if given more support yesterday, we could have seen a more complete performance from Don Andrés. I start to like the way he has been playing in a game, but then after about say sixty or seventy minutes, he seems to hit a wall and disappears for stretches of the game. Again, that is understandable, but more so when you have to work twice as hard to dribble around players since your teammates make stale efforts to open passing lanes for the ball. Therefore, many times in this game, Iniesta found himself surrounded by opposing players while Busquets and Rakitić where on the other side of the pitch. Or at least that is the impression I got.

3rd Goleador: Luck

As many of you have stated in the comment sections of other articles on the site, Barcelona is doing a piss poor job of creating attacking chances, and thus far have benefitted from Messi’s incredible ability or from huge amounts of luck when the ball almost magically finds its way into the net. They have been outshone offensively in the amount of chances created the last few matches, and logic dictates we will have a very rude awakening sooner rather than later.

That is all for today! Visca Barça!



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Barcelona Draw Real Murcia in the Copa del Rey

Who are Real Murcia?

Barcelona’s first opponent in the Copa del Rey will be Real Murcia, a team from Segunda Division B, Spain’s third tier.

Los Pimentoneros are currently 13th in Segunda B’s Group 4. They’re a team with some history, having played 18 seasons in the top flight, the last coming in 2008.

Barcelona won both their meetings that season, with a 4-0 at Camp Nou and a 5-3 win away. Barcelona's historical record against Murcia is: 42 played, 30 won, 7 drawn, and 5 lost.

Murcia in their time have been coached by two Barcelona legends: Antoni Ramallets and Laszlo Kubala. They were also once managed by a Real Madrid legend, Ferenc Puskas.

The team has three former Barcelona B players. David Sanchez and Victor Curto both left Barça in 2003, while Salva Chamorro left last year.

The first leg will be played at Estadio Nueva Condomina in Murcia, in the southeast of Spain, on October 24th, 25th, or 26th. That's between the home game against Malaga and the away trip to Athletic Bilbao. The second leg, at Camp Nou, will be on November 28th, 29th, or 30th, after the away trip to Valencia and before the home game against Celta Vigo.



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Sporting Lisbon 0-1 Barcelona, 2017 Champions League: Player Ratings

Bang-average

Marc Andre ter Stegen (5/10)

A decent performance from MAtS who kept danger at bay whenever the moment arose. The German made three saves on the night and kept a clean sheet.


Nelson Semedo (6/10)

Semedo had a poor game by his standards. Sporting specifically targeted his flank in the latter half of the game and all the subs introduced seemed to fit this tactical approach.


Gerard Pique (7/10)

Fernandes was a handful for Pique but Geri did his job and kept the goal safe. Having made six clearances on the night, it would be harsh to judge the Catalan for his lack of offensive distribution.


Samuel Umtiti (7/10)

Solid from Umtiti defensively but the adventurous runs from last season are sparse.


Jordi Alba (7/10)

A good outing from Alba. The full-back was alert defensively but wasn’t up to keeping up with pressure from Martins, Fernandes and Doumbia who often worked around him in the defensive third.


Ivan Rakitic (6/10)

Pushed into a wide role, Rakitic was ineffective as an attacking outlet. However, he did well to link things up on his flank and kept the ball rolling.


Sergio Busquets (7/10)

Busquets completed a ridiculous number of passes and ran the show in midfield. Unfortunately for him, Barcelona were toothless in attack and little came from his distribution.


Sergi Roberto (6/10)

A central midfielder on the flank. That’s exactly what it looked like.


Andres Iniesta (6/10)

A lack of involvement from the captain. Nearly 90 minutes of play meant he looked fatigued by the end of the match. He looked good in the first half, however, and linked well with Alba, Busquets and Luisito.


Luis Suarez (6/10)

Three shots on target and none were effective.


Lionel Messi (7/10)

Good performance but the killer instinct in front of goal was missing. Weak shots and lack of effective penetration from the Argentine; had some neat moments from a deep position.


Paulinho (NA)

Played ten minutes at the end to close things down.


Andre Gomes (NA)

Too late to have an impact.


Aleix Vidal (NA)

Too late to have an impact.


The Team (7/10)

All possession with no attacking instinct. This was Sporting, we had a strong line-up and we struggled. I’m being generous because we won.


Ernesto Valverde (5/10)

The formation made a bit of sense before the game, but I was disappointed with the execution. Rakitic and Suarez barely linked (if at all) while the dynamic between Messi, Suarez, Roberto and Iniesta didn’t play out as expected. The game was begging for an attacking sub that never came. Not the Barça I enjoy.


Man of the Match

The opposition.

Apart from the own goal, this game was pitiful.



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FC Barcelona News: 28 September 2017; Barça win in Lisbon, Copa Del Rey opponent revealed

A round-up of the latest Barcelona news and transfer rumors

Real Murcia vs Barça in Copa del Rey last 32 draw - FC Barcelona
Barça are the three-time defending champions and will open the round of 32 at Murcia on 25 October, with the return leg at Camp Nou set for 29 November

Sporting v Barça, by the numbers - FC Barcelona
The blaugranas secure their second victory of the Champions League group stage and these are the Top Ten stats from the match in Portugal

Sporting Clube Portugal 0-1 FC Barcelona: Lions tamed in Lisbon - FC Barcelona
Catalans make it two wins out of two in Group D as a Sebastián Coates own goal proves decisive at the Estádio José Alvalade

Leo Messi equals Carles Puyol’s total of all time appearances for FC Barcelona - FC Barcelona
Following the game against Sporting Clube, the Barça number 10 equals Puyol’s 593 appearances for the Club and is now in the top 3 on the all time list

Ernesto Valverde relieved to secure 'crucial win' - FC Barcelona
Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta, Paulinho, Luis Suárez and Sergi Roberto also respond to the 1-0 win at Sporting Lisbon

Barca-Las Palmas will go ahead | Football Espana
Barcelona’s home clash with Las Palmas on Saturday afternoon will go ahead as scheduled despite doubts due to the Catalan referendum, say reports.

Iniesta drops new contract hint | Football Espana
Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta has dropped a massive hint he is on the verge of renewing his contract at the club.

Suarez unconcerned by form | Football Espana
Luis Suarez is not concerned by his struggles in front of goal and instead focused on the importance of Barcelona’s winning run.



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Benedito admits defeat in Barcelona vote of no confidence

He was left a few thousand signatures short

Former Barcelona presidential candidate Agusti Benedito had admitted defeat in the vote of no confidence against Barcelona’s board. The deadline was Sept. 27 and he fell short of the 16,570 signatures needed.

Vice president Jordi Cardone was the one who set the deadline of Sept. 27 and despite the best efforts of those involved, they could only gather 12,504 signatures.

"If they had not violated the will of the socios, we would have had the third vote of no confidence in the club's history.

“We're not planning another vote of no confidence because it's a big effort, financially, too. Although it would not surprise me if someone else did because the reasons remain."

Agustí Benedito | Source

Benedito also made it clear that he used notary Jose Angel Ruiz Prado in the process to “verify, count and then destroy the ballot papers.”

So if you’re out there inside Barcelona and voted, you can sleep tight knowing that your name certainly won’t leak a few months from now.



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A Fan’s Perspective: Barcelona is a ticking time bomb

There’s an implosion waiting to happen and it could be any day now...

Barcelona boast a perfect record this season with eight wins in eight games since the campaign began.

Things are, therefore, looking pretty good—the VONC has become an after-thought, Real Madrid are mid-table and Lionel Messi is back to being a super-human.

Treble incoming, right? No.

Barcelona is like the rotten apple that looks whole from the outside. All the issues that plagued the club in the summer are still there such as the dearth of world-class transfers along with a non-existent sporting plan. The big signings we were promised never came, and multiple players who departed the club mention their grievances with the board.

To be honest, I have no problem if the club isn’t signing big players; names are as good as their output. Signing Nelson Semedo over Hector Bellerin was a twist of fate that put Barcelona on the right side of the line—if one were to ask me, it had very little to do with targets and profiles.

Results and an in-form Messi have done more harm than good, as they keep the sinking boat afloat but don’t get me wrong I’m not wishing for Barcelona to lose.

The club was having a meltdown before Messi went berserk and took everyone’s mind off the crisis. It is still there—lurking and simmering.

Hard-fought wins like the one against Sporting are starting to come too often and it won’t be long before the situation blows out of proportion.

Results will only go so far in delaying the inevitable.

We’ve already stepped on the landmine—it’s just a matter of taking our foot off before it explodes.



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Barcelona to face Murcia in fourth round of the 2017/18 Copa del Rey

The Blaugrana have discovered their fate

Barcelona have been drawn against Murcia in the fourth round of the Copa del Rey.

The Blaugrana are bidding to lift the trophy for the fourth season in a row after beating Alaves 3-1 in the final in May to make it three consecutive wins.

And they will be massive favourite to beat Murcia when the two teams meet.

Here’s the draw in full:

Cartagena v Sevilla

Elche v Atletico Madrid

Murcia v Barcelona

Fuenlabrada v Real Madrid

Formentera v Athletic

Lleida v Real Sociedad

Ponferradina v Villarreal

Real Zaragoza v Valencia

Numancia v Malaga

Real Valladolid v Leganes

Cadiz v Real Betis

Tenerife v Espanyol

Getafe v Alaves

Deportivo v Las Palmas

Girona v Levante

Eibar v Celta Vigo

The first legs are scheduled to be played on 25 October with the return fixtures scheduled for 29 November.



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Valverde defends Luis Suarez and says Barcelona aren’t boring

The coach is backing his players

Ernesto Valverde has defended striker Luis Suarez after Barcelona’s 1-0 win over Sporting and has also insisted his team are not boring.

Barcelona secured a narrow win in Portugal to make it two wins from two in the Champions League this season.

However, the visitors needed an own goal to claim all three points, their fourth of the season.

Suarez has scored just two goals this season and drew another blank against Sporting but Valverde is backing him to come good.

"Suarez scored on Saturday[against Girona]," he said.

"I would be worried if he wasn't getting into goal scoring positions, but he's always close. Even for the goal today, he was there, close. I'm sure he will get back scoring again."

Source | ESPN

Valverde also rejected suggestions Barcelona are boring, with the game won via an own goal and attacking flair at a minimum.

"Everyone is free to say what they want," he added. "I don't get bored -- especially not when we win.

"There are times when you win in an exciting way, scoring lots of goals, and then there are other times when you have to suffer to win. That's how it is.

"We knew that in order to win here we would have to suffer against strong opposition. I think we began the game in a determined manner. We dominated the first half, although we were exposed to Sporting's counter-attacks -- they're very quick.

"After the goal we had 10, 15 minutes when they put us under pressure and we lost the ball at times, which created insecurity. They had chances, but we could have killed the game off, too... that's how the Champions League is."

Source | ESPN

Wednesday’s game was certainly low on excitement, but Barcelona’s ability to keep clean sheets and grind out wins against quality opposition should not be dismissed.

Of course we would all love to see the team playing with great flair and scoring goals for fun, but let’s not forget Barcelona have now won eight matches in a row and who expected that before the start of the season?



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Iniesta says good news coming soon about Barcelona future

The midfielder hints an announcement is imminent

Andres Iniesta has dropped a huge hint over his Barcelona future by saying good news is coming soon.

The midfielder is out of contact next summer and recently seemed to contradict president Josep Maria Bartomeu who had claimed an agreement over a new deal was close.

While it seemed unlikely Iniesta would leave, particularly after his father said he would never wear another shirt, there have been whispers of interest from Juventus.

However, speaking after the 1-0 win over Sporting on Wednesday Iniesta said good news was on the way, according to beIN SPORTS correspondent Achraf Ben Ayad.

Confirmation of a new deal for Iniesta would be a big boost, and let’s hope it comes soon, along with news that Lionel Messi’s new deal is officially signed too.



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الأربعاء، 27 سبتمبر 2017

Sporting Lisbon 0-1 Barcelona, 2017 Champions League: Match Review

Full recap of the action at the Alvalade

In a less than entertaining game in Portugal, Barcelona scraped together their second win in the Champions League and eight consecutive win overall. It was far from a banner performance from the Catalans, but in the end only the result matters, and an own goal from Sebastián Coates was all that Barcelona needed to secure the three points.

In a fantastic atmosphere at the José Alvalade stadium in Lisbon, the hosts kicked the match off. Sporting quickly pushed high up the pitch, and stayed high even after possession was lost. Barcelona found it difficult to navigate with such a high press as passing short wasn’t always an option while the long balls often didn’t find the intended target.

Even though Barcelona struggled in the early going, the visitors were still the first team to threaten, in the 9th minute. Whether Lionel Messi attempted a shot or a pass from the free kick from near the corner flag is unclear, but he almost beat Rui Patricio with his try, just missing the far post. Sporting fired their first shot in the 17th. Cristiano Piccini took aim from distance, but his shot whistled a few inches over the crossbar.

Quickly after Piccini’s chance, Barcelona created two chances of their own. The first one was a quick break from Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez, but the former was correctly ruled offside, while the second saw Messi take a shot from distance, but the Argentine’s shot was too weak to cause any problems.

Minutes went by, but neither side managed to show much on the pitch. Both attacked, Barcelona through possession, Sporting on the counter, but most attacks stopped far from opposing penalty areas as a result of good defending, well before either side could threaten.

Not until the 28th minute would either goalkeeper be called into action, when in quick succession Patricio had to make two saves. Sergi Roberto played a lovely through ball to Suarez, who wasted no time in taking the shot, but Patricio made a very good save one-on-one. Moments later, Suarez floated a cross to a wide open Messi, but his header went right at the goalkeeper. The very next minute Sporting tested Marc-Andre ter Stegen for the first time. Bruno Fernandes fired a good, low shot on target, but the German in the Barcelona goal made the diving stop.

The low excitement first half continued without much, well, excitement. Neither team showed much creativity, meaning this was not a half of football that will be highly ranked on lists of fans enjoying attacking football. Still, the final minutes of the half saw Barcelona create one very good scoring opportunity as Messi was played behind the Sporting defense. But just as Messi was taking the shot, Fabio Coentrao dove in to block the powerful close range shot.

Just before the break, the hosts were forced into a substitution. Seydou Doumbia picked up an injury while diving just outside of the area for which he picked up a yellow card, and was replaced with one of Europe’s top goalscorers from last season, Bas Dost.

While the first half offered very little attacking play and scoring chances, the second would start with a bang. Just over two minutes in, Barcelona celebrated the lead. Messi floated a cross into the danger area from the right side after a free kick won by Nelson Semedo. On its way in front of goal, the ball redirected a couple times before hitting Suarez. With Suarez unable to control the knuckleball, the ball continued its way, hitting Coates and bouncing into the net.

The fans started to become restless after the goal, whistling at every call and non-call from the referee, but nobody received as much abuse as Semedo – a former player of Sporting’s biggest rival, Benfica. As soon as the right back touched, a festival of whistles followed.

Even with the early goal for Barcelona, the second half wasn’t much different from the first one. Barcelona often attacked but without much success while Sporting struggled to make Barcelona pay for space allowed on the counter attack. The hosts often looked dangerous in attack, but they were lacking that final pass that would create a scoring opportunity.

Barcelona wouldn’t threaten again until the 64th minute, when Messi shot over the crossbar from a well-positioned free kick. The very next minute Rakitić would create an even better looking chance for Barcelona with a steal, but Suarez’s shot resulted in an easy save for Patricio.

In the 71st minute, Sporting created their by far best chance of the game. Roberto turned the ball over deep in Barcelona territory and Dost was immediately presented with a good look, but the Dutchman extended the play to his right to Fernandes who was in an even better spot. The Portuguese midfielder powered a shot on goal, but ter Stegen was in perfect position to make the fabulous save.

With Barcelona’s game fading and Sporting gaining momentum, Jorge Jesus made his final two substitutions, taking off Marcos Acuña and Coentrao, and replacing them with Jonathan Silva and Bruno Cesar.

Ernesto Valverde wouldn’t make his first change until the 80th minute when Paulinho took Andres Iniesta’s place. Paulinho’s toughness and defensive awareness brought immediate dividends as just seconds after entering the pitch the Brazilian stopped a dangerous counterattack. His addition and some added tactical instructions also stopped a difficult stretch for Barcelona during which the Catalans rarely carried the ball over the midfield line. The Brazilian also had a fantastic chance to ice the game in the 86th minute. Coates coughed the ball up in transition leading to Rakitić springing Paulinho alone on goal. The summer addition was clearly hoping to send the ball between the legs of Patricio, but the goalkeeper made a great save.

Valverde then made two substitutions in quick succession. First, Andre Gomes took the place of Roberto, then Aleix Vidal replaced Suarez. Referee Ovidiu Haţegan added three minutes to normal time and it seemed Barcelona would manage to survive without many problems, but Sergio Busquets made an unnecessary foul near the corner flag for a dangerous free kick. Sporting, however, couldn’t threaten from it and Barcelona ran out winners.

The grueling schedule continues on Sunday for the Catalans when they return to the friendly confines of the Camp Nou, where they will take on Las Palmas, who will be playing their first game under new coach Pako Ayestarán.



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Sporting Lisbon 0-1 Barcelona, 2017 Champions League: Match Review

In a less than entertaining game in Portugal, Barcelona scraped together their second win in the Champions League and eight consecutive win overall. It was far from a banner performance from the Catalans, but in the end only the result matters, and an own goal from Sebastián Coates was all that Barcelona needed to secure the three points.

In a fantastic atmosphere at the José Alvalade stadium in Lisbon, the hosts kicked the match off. Sporting quickly pushed high up the pitch, and stayed high even after possession was lost. Barcelona found it difficult to navigate with such a high press as passing short wasn’t always an option while the long balls often didn’t find the intended target.

Even though Barcelona struggled in the early going, the visitors were still the first team to threaten, in the 9th minute. Whether Lionel Messi attempted a shot or a pass from the free kick from near the corner flag is unclear, but he almost beat Rui Patricio with his try, just missing the far post. Sporting fired their first shot in the 17th. Cristiano Piccini took aim from distance, but his shot whistled a few inches over the crossbar.

Quickly after Piccini’s chance, Barcelona created two chances of their own. The first one was a quick break from Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez, but the former was correctly ruled offside, while the second saw Messi take a shot from distance, but the Argentine’s shot was too weak to cause any problems.

Minutes went by, but neither side managed to show much on the pitch. Both attacked, Barcelona through possession, Sporting on the counter, but most attacks stopped far from opposing penalty areas as a result of good defending, well before either side could threaten.

Not until the 28th minute would either goalkeeper be called into action, when in quick succession Patricio had to make two saves. Sergi Roberto played a lovely through ball to Suarez, who wasted no time in taking the shot, but Patricio made a very good save one-on-one. Moments later, Suarez floated a cross to a wide open Messi, but his header went right at the goalkeeper. The very next minute Sporting tested Marc-Andre ter Stegen for the first time. Bruno Fernandes fired a good, low shot on target, but the German in the Barcelona goal made the diving stop.

The low excitement first half continued without much, well, excitement. Neither team showed much creativity, meaning this was not a half of football that will be highly ranked on lists of fans enjoying attacking football. Still, the final minutes of the half saw Barcelona create one very good scoring opportunity as Messi was played behind the Sporting defense. But just as Messi was taking the shot, Fabio Coentrao dove in to block the powerful close range shot.

Just before the break, the hosts were forced into a substitution. Seydou Doumbia picked up an injury while diving just outside of the area for which he picked up a yellow card, and was replaced with one of Europe’s top goalscorers from last season, Bas Dost.

While the first half offered very little attacking play and scoring chances, the second would start with a bang. Just over two minutes in, Barcelona celebrated the lead. Messi floated a cross into the danger area from the right side after a free kick won by Nelson Semedo. On its way in front of goal, the ball redirected a couple times before hitting Suarez. With Suarez unable to control the knuckleball, the ball continued its way, hitting Coates and bouncing into the net.

The fans started to become restless after the goal, whistling at every call and non-call from the referee, but nobody received as much abuse as Semedo – a former player of Sporting’s biggest rival, Benfica. As soon as the right back touched, a festival of whistles followed.

Even with the early goal for Barcelona, the second half wasn’t much different from the first one. Barcelona often attacked but without much success while Sporting struggled to make Barcelona pay for space allowed on the counter attack. The hosts often looked dangerous in attack, but they were lacking that final pass that would create a scoring opportunity.

Barcelona wouldn’t threaten again until the 64th minute, when Messi shot over the crossbar from a well-positioned free kick. The very next minute Rakitić would create an even better looking chance for Barcelona with a steal, but Suarez’s shot resulted in an easy save for Patricio.

In the 71st minute, Sporting created their by far best chance of the game. Roberto turned the ball over deep in Barcelona territory and Dost was immediately presented with a good look, but the Dutchman extended the play to his right to Fernandes who was in an even better spot. The Portuguese midfielder powered a shot on goal, but ter Stegen was in perfect position to make the fabulous save.

With Barcelona’s game fading and Sporting gaining momentum, Jorge Jesus made his final two substitutions, taking off Marcos Acuña and Coentrao, and replacing them with Jonathan Silva and Bruno Cesar.

Ernesto Valverde wouldn’t make his first change until the 80th minute when Paulinho took Andres Iniesta’s place. Paulinho’s toughness and defensive awareness brought immediate dividends as just seconds after entering the pitch the Brazilian stopped a dangerous counterattack. His addition and some added tactical instructions also stopped a difficult stretch for Barcelona during which the Catalans rarely carried the ball over the midfield line. The Brazilian also had a fantastic chance to ice the game in the 86th minute. Coates coughed the ball up in transition leading to Rakitić springing Paulinho alone on goal. The summer addition was clearly hoping to send the ball between the legs of Patricio, but the goalkeeper made a great save.

Valverde then made two substitutions in quick succession. First, Andre Gomes took the place of Roberto, then Aleix Vidal replaced Suarez. Referee Ovidiu Haţegan added three minutes to normal time and it seemed Barcelona would manage to survive without many problems, but Sergio Busquets made an unnecessary foul near the corner flag for a dangerous free kick. Sporting, however, couldn’t threaten from it and Barcelona ran out winners.

The grueling schedule continues on Sunday for the Catalans when they return to the friendly confines of the Camp Nou, where they will take on Las Palmas, who will be playing their first game under new coach Pako Ayestarán.



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Sporting Lisbon vs. Barcelona, 2017 Champions League: Final Score 0-1, Barça win really tough away match

That was really, really, really nervous, but it’s three points anyway.

Barcelona have now won eight matches in a row this season and now sit alone on top of their Champions League group thanks to a really tough 1-0 win against Sporting Lisbon at the José Alvalade on Wednesday night. The match was very difficult since the first whistle, and the Blaugrana couldn’t play their best football and basically survived the final minutes after an own goal by Sporting early in the second half.

FIRST HALF

It was a tough game as expected, with Barça having problems with a well organized Sporting defense while being wary of the Lions’ potency on the counter, which meant that the Blaugrana didn’t commit their full-backs forward and relied only on Andrés Iniesta, Sergi Roberto, Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez to try and break down the Sporting defense.

The first 25 minutes were filled with stoppages due to offsides and fouls, but Barça slowly grew into the game in the final few minutes and created big chances for Messi and Suárez that weren’t put away. Sporting could not trouble Barça in any way apart from a few set pieces, but nothing too dangerous.

At halftime, it was a somewhat boring game, but Barça played quite well in the final minutes and looked in a good position to get the goals and the win in the second half.

SECOND HALF

The final period started with an own goal from Sebastián Coates that put Barça in front, but from then on what we saw was a very different proposition from what we saw in the first 45 minutes: Barça completely lost control of the game and couldn’t complete more than five passes in a row, and the match was dominated by counter-attacks and long balls from Sporting to try and get a goal.

Marc-André ter Stegen made a fantastic save to stop Bruno Fernandes from getting an equalizer, and the Blaugrana really needed a second goal to guarantee the win as the pressure from Sporting grew more and more. As weird as it sounds, the entrance of Paulinho in place of Iniesta helped calm things down and Barça managed to regain control of the game in the final minutes.

This is a giant victory that must be celebrated. It’s really not easy to win at the Alvalade, and Barça did it. They could have played better, but maybe better finishing would have given them a 4-0 win and people would see it differently. So let’s be happy with the victory.


Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets; Roberto (Gomes), Iniesta (Paulinho); Messi, Suárez (Vidal)

Goal: Coates (O.G. 49’)

Sporting: Rui Patrício; Piccini, Coates, Mathieu, Coentrão (Silva); William, Battaglia; Gelson, Fernandes, Acuña (B. César); Doumbia (Dost)

Goals: None



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Sporting Lisbon vs. Barcelona, 2017 Champions League: CONFIRMED Lineups, Live Game Thread

Lineups, television and streaming options, and full coverage of Barcelona vs. Sporting in the Champions League. Join the conversation!

MATCH INFO, HOW TO WATCH ON TV/ONLINE

Preview: Sporting Lisbon vs. Barcelona, Champions League Matchday 2

Date/Time: Wednesday, September 27, 2017, 8:45pm CET, 7:45pm (UK & Nigeria), 2:45pm ET, 11:45am PT (USA), 12:15am IST (India, Thursday)

Venue: José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal

Television: Fox Sports 2 (USA), BT Sport Extra (UK), Canal+ Sport 3 (Nigeria), beIN SPORTS (Canada), SONY TEN 3 (India)

Online streaming: Fox Sports GO (USA), BT Sport Live Streaming (UK), FuboTV (7-day free trial, click here to sign up)


LINEUPS

Barcelona

Starting XI: ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Umtiti, Alba; Busquets, Rakitić, Iniesta; Messi, Suarez, Roberto

Bench: Cillesen, Mascherano, Digne, Vidal, Denis, Paulinho, Gomes

Sporting

Starting XI: Patricio; Piccini, Coates, Mathieu, Coentrao; Battaglia, Carvalho; Acuna, Fernandez, Martins; Doumbia

Bench: Salin, Silva, Ruiz, Cesar, Petrovic, Dost, Figueiredo


JOIN THE CONVERSATION

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Jeremy Mathieu Says He Lost Confidence in Part Because of Luis Enrique

The Frenchman thinks Luis Enrique failed to motivate players

After telling the press he would only celebrate a goal against Barcelona to spite members of the club hierarchy like Robert Fernandez and Josep Maria Bartomeu, Jeremy Mathieu has come out with some criticism of former coach Luis Enrique.

“I lost my confidence in the last year. That’s football. The problem is Luis Enrique didn’t talk with the players,” Mathieu told El Club de la Mitjanit. “I didn’t know what to do to play more. I played a lot in the first two years. I don’t know why it changed in the last year. But that’s the way it is.”

It’s Lucho’s approach to his players that Mathieu kept coming back to, saying “I’m not sure he talked much with the captains.”

He also once again launched an attack on Diario SPORT, saying the newspaper made him “angry.”

“They kill you, he said, “you do a good job, but they’re not happy.”

Mathieu felt scapegoated last season, saying it made him “afraid that [he] would do poorly.”

“It affected me. I saw it a bit against Juventus. In my opinion, we win together or lose together, but the press wants a scapegoat. And it was always me.”

Mathieu had previously asked why the press didn’t ask more questions of his defensive teammates Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano. He says he understands he made mistakes after watching the game twice, but still felt hard done by.

“I was taken off at half time,” he said. “I didn’t understand it, and afterwards I’d rather not talk about it, because I could say bad things.”

Mathieu also talked about his exit last summer, to join Sporting CP, Barcelona’s next opponent in the UEFA Champions League.

“Bartomeu told me he didn’t count on me. I talked with Ernesto Valverde on the phone, he told me he thought that I wanted to go. I spoke to him when we played against Athletic Bilbao, and I told him ‘if Luis Enrique stays, I go.’ And he thought I wanted to leave.”

Mathieu says it was a misunderstanding: “I told him I couldn’t do it anymore, I didn’t know he’d be our next coach. When I saw he signed for Barcelona, I was happy. I know him well, he talks with the players, he gives confidence. But he thought I wanted to go. He decided that he didn’t count on me in his plans. But it’s no big deal.”

Mathieu was full of praise for the new manager: “Valverde has started well, the players are happy. I know him. He’s close to players. He talks a lot, he talks to the players who don’t play, makes them feel important. To me, he’s a good manager. For sure everyone is happy with him.”

He contrasted Valverde’s style with the stern Luis Enrique: “He’s a good manager, but he doesn’t talk much to players who don’t play much or are in a complicated situation. That’s the only thing, he’s a good manager. But he was tired [in his last year].”



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Vote of No Confidence: Barcelona VP Says Agusti Benedito’s Time is Up

Benedito wants to continue collecting signatures until October 2nd

Barcelona’s VP Jordi Cardoner said in a press conference that it's time for Agusti Benedito to hand over the signatures he has collected in an effort to oust Josep Maria Bartomeu as club president.

Benedito’s last update was that he had over 10,000 signatures of the 16,570 required to launch a vote on whether to remove Bartomeu as president.

Benedito maintains that he should have until October 2nd to collect the signatures, but Cardoner and the rest of the Barcelona board have maintained that today was the last day.

Benedito says that Saturdays should not count as part of the 14-day period he has to collect signatures, as they are legally not working days. Cardoner insists that Saturdays should and do count and that "they have always been counted in previous votes of no confidence and electoral processes."

“It’s fundamental to know the valid support that this initiative has had. The socis deserve to know this information,” Cardoner said. “It’s unacceptable that he would set conditions on the giving of the signatures, based on whether we stretch the deadline.”

“Today is the day the process of collecting signatures ends,” he finalized.



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Barcelona vs. Sporting Lisbon live stream: Lineups, Kickoff time, TV listings and how to watch Champions League online

A tough trip to Portugal awaits Barça, and you cannot miss it

It’s been nearly a month and a half since Barcelona lost or drew a game, home or away. The Blaugrana have won their last seven matches in all competitions and turned the summer crisis into a state of hope and excitement for what’s to come.

Barça look like Barça again, but as we get closer and closer to a brutal month of October, the Catalan giants are having to prove themselves against tougher competition. One example is today at the José Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, where Barça play their first Champions League match away from home against Sporting Lisbon.

Since many people don’t follow Portuguese football, they won’t be thinking of this as a tough game, but they couldn’t be further from the truth. Sporting are a very capable side and have very good attacking threats on the ground and in the air, and they also feature a former Barça player, French defender Jérémy Mathieu, who’s been speaking strongly against the club and says he will celebrate if he scores a goal for his new team.

The atmosphere at the Alvalade is one of the most hostile in Europe, and the fans will push Sporting to make this a very difficult test for Barça. Thankfully Barça have Lionel Messi in sensational form, and with a good start to the season from the whole team, Messi will have help to overcome this tough challenge and get another win for the group leaders.

This is a key match in Barça’s group, it’s the Champions League and Messi will be playing. There’s just no way you’ll be missing it, right?


MATCH INFO

Date/Time: Wednesday, September 27, 2017, 8:45pm CET, 7:45pm (UK & Nigeria), 2:45pm ET, 11:45am PT (USA), 12:15am IST (India, Thursday)

Venue: José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal

HOW TO WATCH

Television: Fox Sports 2 (USA), BT Sport Extra (UK), Canal+ Sport 3 (Nigeria), beIN SPORTS (Canada), SONY TEN 3 (India)

Online streaming: Fox Sports GO (USA), BT Sport Live Streaming (UK), FuboTV (7-day free trial, click here to sign up)

(Listings via LiveSoccerTV)


LINEUPS

Lineups will be posted when announced.



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FC Barcelona News: 27 September 2017; Barcelona Train at Estádio José Alvalade, Gerard Pique Speaks at Harvard Class

MATCH PREVIEW: Sporting Lisbon v FC Barcelona | FC Barcelona
Both teams head into the second Champions League matchday in good form though it’s worth noting that Sporting have not beaten Spanish opposition and have also never managed to win their opening two games in the competition. By contrast, Barça have yet to lose against a Portuguese side and have won 14 of their last 17 group games.

First contact with the Estádio José Alvalade | FC Barcelona
Immediately after Ernesto Valverde and Nélson Semedo had given press conferences, the FC Barcelona first team squad took to the field at the Estadio José Alvalade in Lisbon to train ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League game at Sporting.

Valverde prepared for a tough away trip | FC Barcelona
“This competition, the Champions League, is very demanding because it is played at another pace. We are up against a top side and we are aware of that.” That was how FC Barcelona Ernesto Valverde summed up Wednesday’s meeting with Sporting Clube de Portugal in Lisbon in his pre-game press conference ahead of Barça’s second game in this season’s Champions League.

Barcelona search for airline sponsor after Qatar Airways talks break down | ESPN
Barcelona have broken off their relationship with Qatar Airways and ended talks over the continued use of the company as the club's official airline partner, sources have confirmed to ESPN FC.

Jeremy Mathieu hits out at Bartomeu and Fernandez over Barcelona exit | ESPN
Jeremy Mathieu has said he has a point to prove to Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and sporting director Robert Fernandez over the way his summer exit from the club was handled. Mathieu, 33, who spent three seasons at the Camp Nou, left for Sporting Lisbon on a free transfer.

Gerard Piqué teaches Harvard about the Barça way | FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué on Tuesday afternoon took part via videoconference in a Harvard University master class entitled the “The entertainment, media, and sports industry,” in which the 30-year-old star presented the Club as having successfully managed its local roots while achieving global expansion.



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Barcelona announce squad for Champions League match against Sporting Lisbon

Ernesto Valverde has called up 20 players for the trip to Portugal

The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana are in Portugal for their second Champions League group stage game against Sporting Lisbon, and Ernesto Valverde called up on Monday 20 players for the trip. Only 18 will be in uniform for tonight’s game.

This is the full squad:


Goalkeepers: 1. Marc-André ter Stegen, 13. Jasper Cillessen, 31. Adrián Ortolá

Defenders: 2. Nélson Semedo, 3. Gerard Piqué, 14. Javier Mascherano, 18. Jordi Alba, 19. Lucas Digne, 22. Aleix Vidal, 23. Samuel Umtiti

Midfielders: 4. Ivan Rakitic, 5. Sergio Busquets, 6. Denis Suarez, 8. Andrés Iniesta, 15. Paulinho Bezerra, 20. Sergi Roberto, 21. André Gomes

Forwards: 9. Luis Suárez, 10. Lionel Messi, 16. Gerard Deulofeu


Valverde calls two extra players for the first European trip of the season, just in case something weird happens. The injured Rafinha Alcântara and Ousmane Dembélé miss out along with Thomas Vermaelen, Arda Turan and Paco Alcácer.

Predicted starting lineup (4-3-3):

Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Deulofeu, Messi, Suárez


The match kicks off on Wednesday night at 8:45pm CET / 7:45pm (UK & Nigeria) / 2:45pm ET, 11:45am PT (USA) / 12:15am IST (India, Thursday), and you can join us to follow and comment all the action.

VISCA EL BARÇA!



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الثلاثاء، 26 سبتمبر 2017

Champions League: FC Barcelona vs. Sporting Lisbon: Team News, Match Preview

Barça meet the other group leaders in Portugal for a very tough European match

After a sixth consecutive win to start the La Liga season at the weekend, Barcelona return to action on Wednesday night with a trip to Portugal for the first Champions League away match of the season, against Sporting Lisbon at the José Alvalade.

Most people don’t care about Portuguese football and will think Barça must win by four or five goals, but that’s definitely not the case. Sporting deserve loads of respect and are incredibly difficult to beat their stadium, which is one of the most hostile atmospheres in Europe. Sporting fans love their team and sometimes win games for them, and they’ll definitely be up for it against Barça.

The Blaugrana could reach six points in the first two games and open up a three-point lead over Sporting and Juventus (if they beat Olympiacos in Italy), so a victory will be crucial and a big step toward winning the group. Sporting have some very good players on the wings and one of the biggest aerial threats in the world, so they’ll definitely cause Barça problems.

The Catalan giants will need to play their best football, and any win, pretty or ugly, should be celebrated. Seriously, this will be really tough.


MATCH INFO, TV/STREAMING

Date/Time: Wednesday, September 27, 2017, 8:45pm CET, 7:45pm (UK & Nigeria), 2:45pm ET, 11:45am PT (USA), 12:15am IST (India, Thursday)

Venue: José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal

Television: Fox Sports 2 (USA), BT Sport Extra (UK), Canal+ Sport 3 (Nigeria), beIN SPORTS (Canada), SONY TEN 3 (India)

Online streaming: Fox Sports GO (USA), BT Sport Live Streaming (UK), FuboTV (7-day free trial, click here to sign up)

(Listings via LiveSoccerTV)


TEAM NEWS

For European matches, there’s not much doubt when it comes to lineup selection, and that’s especially the case with Ernesto Valverde, who isn’t a fan of rotations as it is. Against such a dangerous team that has threats on the ground and in their, Barça will need their best players ready to go.

We seem to already have a Gala XI picked this season, and that’s what we’re going to see on the pitch on Wednesday night. The only change to what is likely to be Barça’s strongest lineup this season is enforced, with Gerard Deulofeu coming in for the injured Ousmane Dembélé. Deulofeu needs to step up his game for the next few months until Dembélé’s return, and having a good performance at a tough stadium in an European match will be a good statement of Deulofeu’s development in this early season.

The most important part of the team will be the left side, because that’s where Gelson Martins will play. Gelson is the most promising and dangerous player on the Sporting team and combines unbelievable pace with skill and scoring prowess, and he’ll be the outlet for almost every counter-attacking chance Sporting have in the game.

Because Jordi Alba loves to attack so much and his overlapping runs are so important in Valverde’s system, Samuel Umtiti will be required to stretch wide and deal with Martins’ pace if the Portuguese international manages to get in behind Alba. Nélson Semedo will also have a tough time on the right side with Marcos Acuña, who’s a very good crosser and will deliver dangerous balls into the box, and that’s where Bas Dost will be waiting. The Dutchman is ridiculously good in the air, and Gerard Piqué really needs to be at the top of his game to deal with Dost.

In midfield, Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Andrés Iniesta will have a tough time against William Carvalho and Rodrigo Battaglia, two tall and strong defensive midfielders who love to muscle small, creative midfielders off the ball, and William in particular will keep a close eye on Lionel Messi.

Up front, along with Deulofeu, Luis Suárez will certainly be boosted by the goal he scored against Girona. Even though he was offside about a billion times, the Uruguayan finally found the net and that will help his confidence. Suárez needs to regain his usual form and Messi will need his help to break down a Sporting defense led by former Blaugrana Jérémy Mathieu, so it’ll be very interesting to see if Suárez will struggle against the Smoking Grandpa.


POSSIBLE LINEUPS

Barcelona (4-3-3)

Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Deulofeu, Messi, Suárez

Sporting (4-2-3-1)

Rui Patrício; Piccini, Coates, Mathieu, Coentrão; William, Battaglia; Martins, Fernandes, Acuña; Dost


PREDICTION

This definitely will not be easy and Sporting could prove to be a nightmare on the counter, but Barça will find a way to get the win: 2-1 to the visitors.



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Valverde talks Messi man-marking, Iniesta, Paco Alcacer and Semedo ahead of Sporting clash

The coach has been speaking to the press again

Ernesto Valverde and his Barcelona team are in Lisbon to take on Sporting in the Champions League and before the game he’s had his usual grilling from the press.

On the agenda this time were Lionel Messi being man-marked, Paco Alcacer not being in the squad and a whole host of other players including Sergi Roberto, Andres Iniesta and Paulinho.

Here are the best bits...

Valverde on Sporting

“They are a very strong team, they had a great season last year and they’ve started really well.

“We will have to be very careful with their wide players, they are quick and they deal with the centre of the park really well. They dominate the football so we must try to take the initiative but we also have to be careful with them on the counter.”

Valverde on Iniesta

“He is clearly a fundamental player for us that's why he's playing so many games. It would be a lie to say we don't miss him when he’s not on the field.

“He marks the way we play, he has done that throughout his career he is a very important part of the team.

“Let’s see to what extent for the rest of the season. There is no doubt that he is going to play a lot of football and hopefully as well as he has done up until now.”

Valverde on Messi being man-marked

“Every team is free to adopt whatever attacking tactics or marking they want. They can play whatever defensive tactics they want, it’s up to them and it’s up to us to work around it.

“If they go for man-marking, or zones, whatever we have to deal with that. From an individual and a team point of view.”

Valverde on Paco Alcacer

“He was in the squad for the Girona game so what can I say? Who knows what is going to happen in the future? There are 24 players in the squad. I can't pick all the players, UEFA won’t allow it.”

Valverde on Nelson Semedo

“Tomorrow we have an away game and there’s a good chance he will start.

“Nelson has been adapting slowly to the team. It’s not easy to join the dynamic of play that we have here, they way Barcelona plays.

“He found it quite hard at first, but he has improved a lot. Every time he plays you really know, not just attacking but defending, he’s quick. I’m sure he’s going to help us a lot.”

Valverde on Sergi Roberto

“He can play in different positions and I’m sure he will continue to do so, that’s one of his virtues, versatility.

“Last year he was more of a right-back, this season he's alternating. The fact is I like versatile players they give you different possibilities.

“Sergi Roberto isn't just a midfielder and a full back he can play in other positions further back and further forward.”

Valverde on Paulinho

“We are very happy with Paulinho. He does a lot for the team, he’s blended into the team very well, with his team mates.

“We are very, very satisfied with what we have got from him. But most of all with the way he's integrated with the squad.”



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Terrific Results So Far, But Can FC Barcelona Be Exposed?

Barça may have a soft underbelly

FC Barcelona won again, their seventh in a row across all competitions, with a 3-0 triumph over Girona. It was a bit of a weird one, though, with Girona scoring two own goals. Girona also took more shots than Barça, 13 to 11, according to WhoScored.

And it's not like Girona were just peppering hopeful shots from outside the box, in fact it was Barcelona who were taking more speculative efforts. Just 13% of Girona's shots came from outside the box, with 62% in the 18-yard box, and 8% in the 6-yard box. Meanwhile, 44% of Barcelona's shots came from outside the box, and 56% within the 18-yard box, and none within the 6-yard box.

This isn’t something new, either. Eibar outshot Barcelona 13-11 despite losing 1-6. Getafe lost 1-2, but took 13 shots to Barça's 7. It's the same with Juventus (lost 0-3, outshot Barcelona 13-9). It wasn't the case against Espanyol, Alaves, or Betis, as Barcelona outshot both teams by a factor of more than 2.

Now, shot counts obviously aren’t everything. If they were, Barcelona wouldn’t have won all of those six games.

But this trend is backed up by, for example, expected goals graphics made by Michael Caley. To explain it quickly, where shots are taken from and the situation they were taken in (for example, where they were assisted from or whether the player made a dribble before shooting) are taken into account. Better shot types leads to a better chance of goals.

If a team has more goals than their expected goals, that means they are doing better than expected given the quality of chances. If they have less, it means they are doing worse than expected.

Not everyone that puts forth an xG number is calculating it the same way, so it can be difficult to compare them if you get them from different sources. For consistency, I’ll be using his only.

Expected goals stats are in their relative infancy, as is statistical analysis of football in general. This is by no means the gospel, but let’s take a look.

Top teams have a tendency to overperform xG anyway, but Barcelona have been doing it more than usual so far this season. On the other hand, Real Madrid have underperformed.

Here are a few examples.

Against Eibar, Barça “should have” gotten 1.7 goals + a penalty, let’s say that’s 3 goals. Instead, they got six. As Michael writes, they’ve done it a bunch.

Let’s look at Real Madrid-Levante

Real Madrid “should have” gotten about 3 goals to Levante’s 1. Instead it was 1-1.

Let’s look at another one:

Barça “should have” scored 0.4 goals, essentially, maybe not even 1. Instead they scored two and won 2-1.

Here’s Real Madrid-Valencia

So, Valencia should have had about 1 goal to Madrid’s 3, but instead it was a 2-2 draw.

I think you get the point. So what does this tell us? Well, there are two possibilities:

  1. Barcelona are overperforming compared to their “fundamentals”, whereas Real Madrid are underperforming. Essentially, Barcelona are getting slightly lucky and Madrid slightly unlucky. Both teams will regress towards where the xG says they should be, Barcelona will lose more and Madrid win more.
  2. Barcelona are just better at converting chances than Real Madrid. We then expect this trend to hold. Both teams may regress a little, but not a lot. Barcelona may not overperform their xG as much, but they’ll still overperform a lot.
  3. The model has it all wrong. Barcelona are creating chances just fine, Real Madrid are not. We are expecting the wrong number of goals.

So to go back to the original question, it’s hard to say which scenario we’re in. However, I’m inclined to think it’s either scenario 1 or 2. In other words, Barcelona are either on a hot streak that could go away, or they’re unusually efficient.

And most likely, we’re in a blend of the two scenarios. Barcelona probably are in a hot streak that will end, but I don’t think they’ll stop overperforming their xG. For example: they do have Lionel Messi, he’s going to be more efficient than the vast majority of players. He’s going to score more goals than you’d expect from certain positions.

This is something to follow as the season goes on.



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