الخميس، 1 نوفمبر 2018
Umtiti back in Barca training
The defender joins Lionel Messi on the comeback trail
Barcelona were handed another fitness boost on Thursday, as Samuel Umtiti returned to first-team training.
Lionel Messi made his comeback yesterday and now it’s Umtiti’s turn, as he steps up his recovery from knee trouble.
⚽ Thursday morning-after-win workout, and guess who else was out there? #Messi.
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) November 1, 2018
#ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/IzYeVqO1fn
Umtiti hasn’t featured since September, and there had been fears he may require surgery to cure his knee problems.
He took to social media after his workout with a post saying just “little by little.”
Petit à petit
— Samuel Umtiti (@samumtiti) November 1, 2018
Poco a poco
pic.twitter.com/SIEKS0JLQh
Hopefully Umtiti will be fit enough to make his return soon, but he will face competition for his place.
Clement Lenglet has come in for his compatriot during his absence and done a good job, scoring his first Barcelona goal for the club in the Copa del Rey win on Wednesday.
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Vidal pulls a Ramos after Copa del Rey win
The Chilean is still adjusting to life in Spain
Arturo Vidal got a much needed start this week in the Copa del Rey against Cultural Leonesa. The game went pretty well for Barcelona, ending up with three points was pretty big for the club.
Oh wait, this game was a cup game with two-legs?
Someone should have mentioned that to me, and as it turns out a player by the name of Arturo Vidal who was actually playing in said game.
“We’re happy because we have got the three points.”
Arturo Vidal | Source
Poor Vidal pulled what Sergio Ramos managed in 2011 in the Champions League. Getting so used to pulling the same boring quotes out of their heads to the media that he forgot this game wasn’t just one leg.
There’s another leg to go and for Arturo’s sake I hope Barcelona come away with a win.
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Valverde ‘saw a lot of good things’ in Copa del Rey win
The boss has given his verdict
Ernesto Valverde says he saw a lot of good things during Barcelona’s narrow win over Cultural Leonesa in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.
The Barca boss made plenty of changes to his side for the game, giving youngsters and fringe players a chance, and seemed pleased with their performance.
“The team had the right winning attitude” he said. “But it was hard to get our game flowing and we lost a lot of balls because they were coming in so strong. Football is always a permanent test, but I did see a lot of good things today.”
“My players looked good. They shouldered a lot of responsibility. The youngsters are used to playing in Division 2B, but it was much harder today because Cultural upped the intensity.”
Source | FC Barcelona
The team needed a stoppage-time goal from substitute Clement Lenglet to secure the win. The two teams will meet again for the second leg of the tie in the first week of December at the Camp Nou.
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FC Barcelona News: 1 November 2018
Cultural Leonesa 0-1 FC Barcelona: Lenglet wins it in León | FC Barcelona
Ernesto Valverde had warned that Cultural Leonesa would be giving it 200%, and that proved to be the case. Barça, with several of the biggest names being rested, struggled to get to grips with the intensity of the Division 2B side in Wednesday’s Copa del Rey round of 32 first leg.
Three from La Masia make first team debuts | FC Barcelona
Three products of the FC Barcelona youth team all got to make their official debuts in Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Cultural Leonesa in the Copa del Rey. Juan Miranda, Juan Brandarizna (Chumi) and Jorge Cuenca of Barça B all started in Ernesto Valverde’s defence at the Reino de León.
HIGHLIGHTS: Cultural Leonesa v FC Barcelona | FC Barcelona
Victory for FC Barcelona away at Cultural Leonesa thanks to an injury time goal from French defender Clément Lenglet. The blaugranes fought for the opening in the first leg of their tie against the Segunda B side but had to wait right until the death to get the winner.
Ernesto Valverde: ‘Football is a permanent test’ | FC Barcelona
Speaking after his side had won 1-0 at Cultural Leonesa, Ernesto Valverde admitted that “this was a difficult game. These are among the hardest of the season because there’s always a special kind of difficulty. The team had the right winning attitude. But it was hard to get our game flowing and we lost a lot of balls because they were coming in so strong. Football is always a permanent test, but I did see a lot of good things today.”
Lenglet has solved Barcelona’s third-choice centre-back problem | Marca
It has taken some time, but Barcelona finally have three centre-backs they can count on in Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti and Clement Lenglet. With Umtiti having been out through injury, Lenglet has had to step up in recent weeks and he has done a good job.
Xavi Hernandez: What are Barca doing with La Masia? | Sport
“The situation with youth football at Barcelona worries me,” said Xavi. “It’s bad they have sacked Joan Vila. What’s going on at Barcelona? He’s the person with the most knowledge of Barcelona’s positional play. I don’t understand it,” he told Catalunya Radio.
The Asturian ‘pearl’ that Barca and Man City are fighting over | Sport
Sporting renewed the right winger’s contract for five seasons but Barca launched a new bid this summer to try and bring him into their Juvenil A team. However they weren’t able to, with Sporting demanding a big fee.
FC Barcelona Museum incorporates new digital fan experience | FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona and Rakuten Viber, in partnership with Dugout, have joined forces to create an augmented reality feature that will radically transform the fans’ experience of the Museum, whereby they will be able to feel like a first team player on the day of his or her presentation.
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Should Barcelona sign a successor to Busquets?
The club lack a natural replacement
Sergi Samper has been injured once again and his future as a Barcelona player looks bleaker by the day.
While much has been said about Samper and his ill fate when it comes to injuries and first team opportunities, a bigger question awaits Barcelona in the near future which is the future of Sergio Busquets.
The Catalan occupies a unique position in world football as one of the most intelligent defensive midfielders, also capable of making play. His short-passing and defensive positioning have made him critical to Barcelona’s style of play.
While Barcelona has a host of options in central midfield, they still lack a like-for-like replacement for the lanky midfielder.
Many had hoped that Samper would be his natural successor but even before his injuries, the youngster was deemed to be better utilised in central midfield as opposed to being a pivot. Another name on the list of potential replacements within the club is Oriol Busquets who has been one of the best prospects in the academy.
However, 19-year-old Oriol is far too young to replace Sergio Busquets adequately in the coming years.
Should Barcelona consider buying a potential replacement for Sergio now that Samper’s future looks in doubt? Probably.
Some of the best prospects in the pivot-role have already been snapped up, and the only viable option that currently seems available is the once highly-rated Julian Weigl.
The German is battling form and currently rides the bench for Borussia Dortmund, but his abilities have made him quite popular as an option for teams that play short-passes with a possession-based philosophy.
Even if Weigl is not the best option out there due to his form and other concerns, it will not hurt Barcelona to begin exploring options in the market.
Busquets is a generational player in his own way and it will be difficult to replace him directly but the club can try to find someone with a similar profile.
One injury to Busquets could derail Barcelona's campaign and that’s a risk the board shouldn’t be willing to take.
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