Not No.7 Mata would be wearing No.8

Mata will in the end be wearing the nº8 jersey for Manchester United, despite the fact that the British tabloids had assured the Spaniard would be wearing the famous nº7 that Beckham carried for years, and that has been free since the Englishman left.

"I think that the number 8 is a great number. I know that the 7 is an icon here. David Moyes and myself have decided that 8 is good for me. I hope it brings me luck", said Mata in his unveiling.

Mata, who was Chelsea's nº10, declared that he was arriving at Old Trafford ready to "win titles" and "hopes" that he is the player that the Red Devils need to breathe some new life into the squad and them move back up the table

"What I most like about this team is its character. I think that if any other club was in this position in the league, it would be very hard to fight back and make it to the top spot, but this club can. This is the idea I have of United, a club that always fights hard to win titles and always comes back when the going gets tough", he said.

He admitted that one of the reasons for signing with United was the upcoming World Cup: "It was very important because it's not easy to get into the Spain squad. I think this is a great opportunity to keep playing and keep on form".

For Mata, it was the perfect moment to move to United: "It was a fantastic opportunity for me to continue in England. This was the moment and (United) was the club", he assured.

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Bartomeu: "Messi will be the World's Highest Paid".

Bartomeu will shortly renew Messi's contract. It's unlikely that the process will be too drawn out because the conditions have already been agreed upon between the player and the club. Messi's salary will increase significantly and will soon be similar to what Ronaldo earns at Real Madrid.

The Portuguese earns €18 million as a basic salary with another three million in variable bonuses. Messi's pay packet will be similar, which is a substantial improvement because he currently earns some €13 million that can increase to €16 million if he hits all his targets.

The new contract was already agreed on between the club's former president, Rosell, and the player's father. The only reason that it hasn't already been signed yet was that the club wanted to make sure Iniesta renewed his contract first.

With that out of the way, sealing Messi's new contract is now a priority and it will undoubtedly happen sooner rather than later. The club doesn't want it to be a drawn out affair, given that the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Manchester City is looming large on the horizon.

There is a great deal of interest in renewing contracts around Barcelona at the moment, now that the real figures involved in Neymar's transfer are coming to light. The Brazilian's contract fits the team's pay structure, but if you add all the contracts Barcelona signed with the company owned by the player's father then his earnings top everyone else's apart from Messi's - and they are in the same ballpark as the Argentine's, depending on how you interpret the figures.

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Mata will wear legendary number 7 at Manchester United

Juan Mata with David Moyes .PHOTO - Manchester United

Spanish midfield player Juan Mata has sealed his agreement with Manchester United, who paid Chelsea £37.1 million for him, a record fee in the history of the reigning Premier League champions.


Mata has just signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with United and will wear the number 7 shirt. Juan Mata is 25 years old and has been called up for 32 Spain games... He has made 135 appearances for Chelsea, whom he joined from Valencia in 2011.

Juan Mata underwent the usual medical checks on Saturday in Manchester, arriving by helicopter from London first thing in the morning, where he was welcomed by Manchester United manager David Moyes at the club's training ground. He appeared very happy with this new phase of his career in English football, and he also thanked his former club.

"I am very happy to be joining Manchester United. I have had some very happy years at Chelsea, but the time has come to face a new challenge. United is the perfect place for me to be, and I am very pleased to have had the chance to come here. I am thrilled at becoming part of the history of this club", Mata said.

"Chelsea is a great club, and I have many friends there, but I couldn't turn down the opportunity to join Manchester United. I hope to be able to help the club, and that the team will be successful in the years to come", he went on.

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Match Report and Highlights : FC Barcelona 3 Malaga 0

Alexis Goal 

Barça stay top of the league for another week after a superb 3-0 win over Malaga at Camp Nou tonight. After a turbulent week at the club the atmosphere in the ground seemed totally normal and there were no noticeable protests against new president Josep Maria Bartomeu. Gerard Piqué, Pedro Rodriguez and Alexis Sanchez scored the goals as the team responded with an excellent performance that could easily have earned a much bigger victory. There was also time for a brief appearance from Ibrahim Afellay for his first Barça game since May 2012.

Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid had both briefly led the table after winning their games earlier so the pressure was definitely on Barça to win. Tata Martino played his best available XI and the team began confidently with good swift passing moves. After just five minutes Busquets and Pedro combined and then Cesc Fabregas slipped a great pass through for Alexis who clipped his shot past Willy Caballero but the ball went wide after grazing the far post.

There was a reaction from Malaga after a doubtful foul was given against Busquets. Duda curled one of his specials but Valdés flew to his left and just got his hand to the shot. Barça continued to look the better team and after one twenty-pass build-up Alexis just over-ran the ball as he tried to burst into the area. The whole team was looking tuned in, but possibly the outstanding performer of the night was Jordi Alba who apart from threatening from the left wing, also showed some great defensive work including one speedy run back to prevent Perez a chance which was reminiscent of Eric Abidal’s best covering work.

Malaga put up a strong defensive performance from the start but gradually Barça began to find different ways through and Caballero was looking in good form. Xavi and Fabregas were moving the ball quickly and there were again more forward than square passes with Pedro on the left more often than not the target. In the 22nd minute Pedro found Messi inside the area but Caballero was out quickly forcing Messi to shoot quickly and wide.

Xavi then sent a glorious pass to Alves in space on the right, but after controlling, the Brazilian tried to chip Caballero but the keeper guessed his intentions and stretched a hand to intercept. Pedro tried his luck after cutting inside but Caballero made a comfortable stop, then Fabregas broke through on the right but after cutting the ball back to Pedro in a good position the Canarian slipped before he could shoot.

There was a brief interruption in Barça’s exhibition when Alves gave a poor pass and Piqué was required to take a booking for bringing down Pawlowski. But soon after, Alba had a chance after a cross from the right was missed by the Malaga defence but his shot was well saved by Caballero diving to his left. Barça turned up the pace another notch with Messi making a burst forward before finding Alexison the right, the Chilean dribbled his way to the by-line before crossing the ball for Pedro but the final header hit Flavio Ferreira who cleared. There were then two more attempts, the first a 20-yard shot wide from Pedro then angled lob onto the roof of the net from Alba after Messi’s pass from deep.

The only problem was the lack of a goal and of course it’s impossible to say how things might have turned out had Malaga held on at 0-0 until half time. However, in the 39th minute Barça won a corner on the left. Xavi curled the ball to the far post where Piqué had time to chest the ball down but his shot was blocked by a defender and went out for a corner on the other side. Xavi took it again, Alexis made an excellent jump to flick the ball on and Piqué again had time to control and this time he swept his shot low past Caballero and Barça were in front.

Barça were encouraged by the goal and there was a spectacular move in the 43rd minute after Alba dribbled in from the left, the ball came back to Xavi who played it back again to Messi who, as the defence came out, chipped a fantastic pass over for Fabregas’s late run on the left but Caballero was again equal to Fabregas’s shot, blocking the ball at the near post.

Barça continued to attack from the start of the second half and Pedro was perhaps unlucky not to win a penalty after a push from Sergio Sanchez. However, there was a reminder that the game was far from over in the 49th minute when Antunes sent in  a dangerous cross from the left which just evaded Pawlowski before Alba miraculously got in front of Juanmi to save what seemed a certain goal.

The scare spurred Barça on in the search for a second goal. Alexis shot from an angle on the right but Caballero dived low to save, then Fabregas played a one-two with Alexis but Caballero saved again at his near post. Then from a corner Piqué headed against the post and after the ensuing scramble Busquets’s shot was blocked.

Barça’s insistence paid off in the 55th minute. Alves led a charge forward before finding Messi 30 yards out, the Argentinian played the ball through to Pedro who cut inside Angeleri before sticking his shot inside the far post. Almost straight after the goal, Valdés had to be alert to stop a shot out of the blue but that was the last threat to Barça’s victory. Five minutes later Messi cleverly turned away from Perez and his run then created space for the other forwards, Messi slipped the ball through to Pedro who unselfishly passed to the far post where Alexis had an easy tap-in to make it 3-0.

Pedro, who took a knock when scoring the second goal, was immediately replaced with Tello. Barça began to take the foot off the gas and Tello had little luck in his attempts to get past Angeleri. Messi and Xavi both sent free-kicks narrowly wide and then when Martino replaced the excellent Xavi with Sergi Roberto it was clear the work was done. In the final ten minutes Malaga finally won their only two corners of the match but Valdés was not troubled again. It was great to see Afellay come on for the last five minutes but the final chance of the game fell to Tello after Fabregas’s pass in injury time, but the winger sent his shot wide of the far post.

The victory leaves Barça on 54 points, ahead of Atlético on goal difference with Madrid a point behind on 53. Today’s performance was an excellent response to the off-the-field events this week and will go a long way to reaffirming Bartomeu in his position. Particularly pleasing tonight was the form of Jordi Alba who was excellent in defence while causing danger going forward. Xavi and Pedro also deserve credit, Xavi looked quicker tonight than we’ve seen him for some time while Pedro was a constant danger on the left. However, it was the overall team performance which was most encouraging which will send out a message to our rivals that there is no crisis at the club and the team is ready to compete with the best.

Barça: Valdés 7; Alves 6.5, Piqué 7.5, Mascherano 7.5, Alba 8.5; Xavi 8 (Sergi Roberto m78), Busquets 6.5, Fabregas 7.5; Alexis 7.5 (Afellay m87, –), Messi 7.5, Pedro 8 (Tello m61, 6).

Malaga: Willy Caballero; Angeleri, Sergio Sanchez, Flavio Ferreira, Antunes; Juanmi, Pablo Perez (Morales m66), Tissone (Darder m81), Camacho, Duda; Santa Cruz (Pawlowski m26).

Goals: m40 Piqué 1-0, m55 Pedro 2-0, m61 Alexis 3-0

Yellow cards: m16 Pablo Perez, m30 Piqué, m31 Duda, m72 Ferreira.

Attendance: 56,355

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Bartomeu the new man

Bartoneu visits the First Team

Josep Maria Bartomeu faced the press for just over two hours this evening and took questions for the first time as Barça’s new president. Bartomeu confirmed he will complete the mandate won by Sandro Rosell’s team in the 2010 elections and that he has the intention of presenting the same team at the next elections in 2016 with the intention of serving another six-year term.

Bartomeu gave a very competent performance in answering questions on a number of subjects ranging from regrets over saying Eric Abidal’s contract would be renewed if he played again (a misunderstanding as he meant to say the contract which was in suspension would be reactivated)  or whether he intends to call Johan Cruyff (yes) to his arguments to revalidate his presidency given the members voted for Rosell to which he responded by mentioning the club statutes and that he formed part of Rosell’s candidacy.

Obviously most interest was centred on the controversial Neymar transfer and Bartomeu tried to stay one step ahead by bringing up the subject in his initial statement and then by bringing out Raul Sanllehi, who was the chief negotiator in the Neymar deal, to present the figures step-by-step. Bartomeu claimed that the club hadn’t previously been able to reveal all the details because of confidentiality clauses, but that Neymar’s father, having seen all the kerfuffle being caused this week, decided to call Barça and lift the clauses.

Sanllehi presented the figures with a screen which unfortunately didn’t help because it appeared to be hurriedly prepared. The numbers were presented, first the €40 million to Neymar’s parents’ company N&N, this payment was due to the clause in the 2011 precontract which Barça felt it necessary to pay to prevent another club (read Real Madrid here, though Bartomeu said many big clubs were interested) from paying the other clause of €40 million to Barça in order to poach the player.

Next was the €17.1 million paid to Santos as a fee for their part of Neymar’s rights. So far so good as we now reach the €57.1 million that Barça continue to insist was the total price for the transfer. Sanllehi then went on to talk of other payments and concepts, a €2 million bonus if Neymar becomes a Ballon d’Or finalist, €4 million for marketing, €2 million to Neymar’s father’s scouting firm, a 5% payment to an agent and two friendly games which he claimed were ‘free’. It all became a bit confusing. While the €7.9 million paid to Santos for the option on three young players may be seen to be separate from the Neymar deal and the €2.5 million dedicated to social works in Brazil’s favelas can be accepted simply because it is a good thing to do, it is difficult to accept that a friendly is free when it seems Santos will earn €4.5 million from each game, and the €2 million for the scouting company could easily be a cover for an extra payment. Bizarrely, Sanllehi finished by adding up his own figures, arriving at a figure of €86.2 million plus the €2 million Ballon d’Or bonus and then clarifying by saying the figure was meaningless as the total amount paid for the Neymar transfer was €57.1 million. It was all too confusing for some, one journalist complained that he had tried adding up the figures several time and that he kept arriving at €73.5 million.

Taking questions from the press Bartomeu admitted that he could also be included in the judge’s investigation into the case but he insisted he had no intention of resigning even if he were eventually charged as he has done nothing wrong. In this sense he remained strong as he did in his backing for his ‘friend’ Rosell. He reinforced the importance in Rosell’s decision of the death threats against his family, however, later when asked if he thought Rosell had been happy in the job, the new president let slip that he’d seen a happy Rosell ‘until a couple of days ago’ which only succeeded in demonstrating the dominating reason for Rosell’s resignation to be Judge Ruz’s decision on Wednesday to investigate the case. The insistence that Barça have done nothing wrong combined with Rosell’s sudden change of heart this week makes a difficult equation. Bartomeu put on a good show of being a man in control of the situation and his willingness to answer all questions directly was creditable. We will now have to see if Jordi Cases continues or not with the case. It seems very clear that Cases is acting as a Barcelonista with his best intentions for the well-being of the club. Many feel he may let the matter lie now as he had no intention of causing a crisis within the club. We should know one way or the other next week.

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Bartomeu the NEW president of CAMP NOU

A cloud of uncertainty hangs over Barcelona this morning after yesterday’s surprise resignation from Sandro Rosell. The 49-year-old Rosell blamed threats against his family and pressure caused by the ‘false accusation’ over irregularities in the signing of Neymar Jr for his decision and named vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu as the new Barça president. There was also a surprise when it was announced that Bartomeu would complete the mandate until June 2016 as it had been previously expected that new elections would be called for this summer.

The fact that Rosell gave two unrelated reasons for his departure combined with his insistence of no improper behaviour leaves many doubts as to why he decided to go, whether he has made the right decision and whether he has done anything wrong. The death threats against Rosell and his family are despicable but the timing of the announcement clearly seems to indicate that Rosell’s decision has more to do with Judge Pablo Ruz’s acceptance on Wednesday that there is a case to investigate.

Jordi Cases

The problems started for Rosell when a small group led by club member Jordi Cases sent a fax to the club asking for an explanation as to know under what concept Barça had paid €40 million to the company of Neymar’s father N&N. Cases has stated that “if they had told me there was no concept but otherwise Neymar wouldn’t have come to Barça, it would have been enough for me”. However, Rosell chose to ignore the fax. Cases’s group, now calling itself Go Barça was then involved in the attempt to bring a vote of no-confidence against Rosell over the Qatar Airways sponsorship deal but Rosell reacted by raising the number of signatures needed from 5% to 15% of the membership.

The questions over the Neymar transfer remained unanswered so Cases began his own investigation which led to him presenting a case against Rosell last month. Rosell continued to deny any wrongdoing, saying that some things were confidential, but the pressure increased earlier this week when El Mundo published a story stating that the Neymar transfer had really cost €95 million and not €57 million as Barça have always claimed. Rosell continued to stand firm on Monday, publicly asking the Judge to call him to declare but refusing to answer when the press bombarded him with questions over the case. However, Judge Ruz’s decision on Wednesday to open the case seems to have led to Rosell’s about-turn.

It should be stated that nobody has accused Rosell of financially benefitting on a personal level. The charge against him would be lying over the details in the contract which may have served the club in some way. The problem seems to be these complicated deals involving players whose rights are shared between different clubs or agencies. It could well be that Rosell was trying to act in the best interest of Barça and that any corruption in the deal came from the other side of the deal. Either way, Rosell got himself into a mess with this transfer and he has handled the accusations against him badly. The threats against his family reveal a sorry side to how far some people will go in the power battle for the running of a football club, but bringing the matter out now is clearly just a cover for the real reasons for Rosell’s resignation, and some might go as far as to say he has been behaving like a guilty man.

So what now for the future? Rosell’s board remain with Bartomeu at the helm, and the decision not to call elections may well have been at attempt by the board to show strength while maintaining the front of no-wrongdoing. Unfortunately, the case seems unlikely to disappear. Cases has brought his case against Rosell and not against the club but he could easily present a new case now against Bartomeu who I understand also signed some of the contracts for the Neymar deal along with Rosell. Whether or not there could be a case against Bartomeu, the new unelected president is sure to come under pressure from opposing factions. This is where the instability could start to affect the team if there are protests against the board during home matches. The referendum called for April 6 to decide on the Camp Nou project is still to go ahead but there is a possibility that it could become a referendum on something quite different. Bartomeu should announce new presidential elections for the summer as the best way of putting to rest any in-fighting, at least until the season has finished.

While this whole business is worrying for the instability created, there is a certain beauty to the idea that one ordinary club member can bring down a president. I’m sure there are fans of many other clubs who would love to have this possibility. Time will tell how Rosell is remembered, it is true that the club has had continued success under his leadership, and  -if the figures are to be believed – the club’s debt has been reduced. However, he began his reign promising transparency and he has fallen for hiding information. The failure to take questions from the press after yesterday’s announcement was the final demonstration of the lack of transparency.

When Rosell replaced Laporta in 2010 it was his business savvy, which contrasted to Laporta’s political nous, that won him more than 60% of the vote. I always expected that his desire to take decisions on a sporting level would be his main problem: how ironic that it has been the business dealings in the end that have brought the businessman down.

Bartomeu will give another press conference where he will take questions at 5 pm this afternoon. It’s going to be interesting to hear what he has to say.

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Marc Bartra called up for Spain

Marc Bartra has become the latest blaugrana to be called up by Vicente Del Bosque for the Spanish national team. Bartra’s good performances this season have been rewarded and the youngster must now see next summer’s World Cup in Brazil as a real possibility. Bartra has been brought into Del Bosque’s squad for the friendly games with Guinea and South Africa to replace Cesc Fabregas who has a slight knee injury.

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Match Report: FC Barcelona 3 AC Milan 1

Barça comfortably reached the last 16 of the 2013/14 Champions League after a 3-1 win over AC Milan at Camp Nou tonight. Leo Messi ended his four-match goal drought, blasting Barça in front from the penalty spot after half an hour and ten minutes later Sergio Busquets headed Barça further in front from Xavi’s free kick. Milan cut the deficit just before half time when Gerard Piqué put through his own goal but Messi added his second of the night after a good combination with Cesc Fabregas ten minutes from the end to wrap things up for Barça.

The debate this week has centred on Barça’s style of play and tonight’s game will have done little to settle the argument. Tata Martino began the season using plenty of rotations but in recent games we have seen him leaning towards an once de gala. With Adriano and Piqué declared fit, Martino again put out his best eleven, except for the injured Jordi Alba, which meant both Pedro Rodriguez and Csec Fabregas again started on the bench. Barça gave a dominant performance and deserved the victory but there was still a lack of spark in the final third of the field.

Milan set out in a defensive 4-4-2. Balotelli was sacrificed to the bench which meant that Robinho and Kaká led the attack for the visitors while Andrea Poli was brought in to bolster the midfield. The Italians didn’t exactly sit back and wait and they pushed up when they could, however, they tried to leave little space between the midfield and defensive lines to make things difficult for Barça, and it was not unusual in the first half to see the entire Milan team back in their own half.

Despite the defensive approach from Milan, Barça started the game well. In the first few minutes Xavi sent a free kick wide, then after a quick one-two with Xavi, Messi burst towards the area and was only denied by Abate putting the ball out for a corner. Barça took the corner short with the ball coming inside to Busquets whose shot was deflected for another corner. Then soon after, in the 6th minute, Messi sent an excellent ball in for Neymar but the Brazilian’s control let him down.

There were good sensations from Barça. In the 11th minute Neymar tried a curler from the left but sent the ball well wide of the far post, then three minutes later Xavi stabbed a superb quick pass into Alexis but the ball got caught between the Chilean’s feet and Mexes had time to intervene. Alves tried his luck but missed the target from 25 yards, then Iniesta got a second attempt to thread a pass through to Adriano but the left back’s dangerous cross was missed by Messi, and Alexis couldn’t get enough of a touch to steer the ball in. From the resulting goal-kick Abbiati played it short to Mexes who passed back to the goalkeeper, giving Alexis the chance to charge at the keeper but despite getting in the way of Abbiati’s attempted clearance Alexis could only deflect the ball out for another goal kick.

Little by little Milan began to find their position and the chances started drying up. However, just when Barça seemed to be running out of ideas Iniesta sent a chip in towards Neymar who was impeded by Abate grabbing at his shoulder. The Brazilian spun to the ground and the Serbian referee Milorad Mazic pointed to the spot. Abbiati dived to his right as Messi powered the penalty straight down the middle and Barça were in front.

Milan didn’t manage a shot until the 35th minute when Poli pulled the ball back from the right but Montolivo sent his effort wide from 25 yards. However, as the Italians adopted a more attacking approach Barça began to find more chances to penetrate. Messi sent Alexis away with a delightful scoop pass but the Chilean’s cross clipped a defender and Abbiati was able to dive and gather. Then it was Iniesta who found the pass into the area for Messi who did well to resist Zapata’s challenge but as Abbiati came charging out of his goal Messi could only chip the ball across the goal and Mexes headed clear. Barça’s pressure paid off a minute later when Xavi sent in a free kick from the left and with the Milan defence looking for an offside Busquets was left free to stoop and head home Barça’s second.

Barça should have been home and dry at this point. Adriano might have made it 3-0 with a thirty yard drive but Abbiati palmed the ball over the bar. Then just before half-time Kaká for once escaped from Alves on the left, and just before Alves could recover Kaká sent in a low cross which clipped off Piqué’s right foot, leaving Valdés with no chance at his near post.

Milan were encouraged for the second half and Max Allegri replaced Robinho with Mario Balotelli. The controversial forward was soon in action, shaking off Mascherano’s challenge before going past Adriano to send in a low hard cross that Valdés did well to hold. Barça seemed divided between pushing for another goal and playing a more conservative approach. There was little threat on Abbiati’s goal as Barça were twice frustrated by the linesman. First, Messi was caught offside as Adriano’s shot hit him and then looped in for a disallowed goal. Then Neymar looked in line with the last defender as Xavi sent a fine pass through but the official raised his flag. Barça didn’t test Abbiati in the second half until the 59th minute, after a short corner Messi played the ball back for Iniesta who had to nudge the referee out of the way in order to shoot, Abbiati dived quickly to his left to save.

Milan continued to edge forward and Barça converted more and more to looking for the quick counter-attack. Mascherano needed to make a last-ditch tackle to thwart Balotelli, then a minute later the powerful Italian forward again got past Adriano and Mascherano to send a cross to the near post where Kaká, under pressure from Piqué, sent his shot narrowly wide.  Two minutes later, as the visitors had their best spell of the game, Mascherano had to turn Emanuelson’s dangerous cross out for a corner.

However, Barça began to find chances again at the other end with Adriano shooting over from 25 yards. Neymar then went on the most incredible run, cutting inside from the left and going past Abate, Poli, Zapata and Mexes before missing his chance for a goal-of-the-season candidate by blazing well wide from close to the penalty spot.

Birsa replaced Poli with just over fifteen minutes remaining as Allegri looked for an equalizer but as Milan came forward Barça looked increasingly dangerous on the counter. There was one marvellous combination between Messi and Neymar which ended with the Argentinian slipping the ball right for Alexis, but tonight the Chilean was not as his most fortunate and Abbiati denied him with an excellent save.

Martino delayed any substitutions until the 78th minute when he decided to rest Iniesta and give a Fabregas a short run-out. Soon after, Milan had their final chance for an equalizer but Alves managed to cut out Montolivo’s pass towards the unmarked Muntari. Then in the 83rd minute Fabregas showed his worth playing a brilliant return to Messi who avoided Mexes’s lunge and outsprinted De Jong before keeping his cool to lift the ball over the advancing Abbiati and seal the win for Barça.

Messi might have had a hat-trick after another Fabregas pass sent him into the area but Mexes made a fine saving tackle. There were late substitutions with Pedro and Song replacing Neymar and Xavi but there was little time for them to do much. Milan had already run out of steam after the third goal and there was no more threat on Valdés’s goal. The three points leave Barça on 10 pts from four games in Group H, Milan remain second on five pts, Ajax are now third on four pts after beating Celtic 1-0 which leaves the Scottish side bottom of the group on three pts. One more point from the last two games will now guarantee top spot for Barça.

Barça: Valdés 6.5; Alves 6.5, Piqué 7, Mascherano 6.5, Adriano 6.5; Xavi 7.5 (Song m88, –), Busquets 8, Iniesta 7 (Fabregas m78, 7.5); Alexis 6, Messi 7, Neymar 7 (Pedro m85, –).

Milan; Abbiati; Abate, Mexes, Zapata, Emanuelson; Poli (Birsa m74), Montolivo, De Jong, Muntari; Kaká (Matri m84); Robinho (Balotelli h/t).

Goals: m30 Messi (pen) 1-0, m39 Busquets 2-0, m45 Piqué (o.g.) 2-1, m83 Messi 3-1.

Yellow cards: m29 Abate, m32 Muntari, m56 De Jong, m62 Alexis.

Attendance: 80,517

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Champions League Preview: FC Barcelona vs AC Milan

Champions League football returns to Camp Nou tomorrow as Barça take on AC Milan in the battle for first place in Group H (Wednesday 8.45 pm). Tata Martino’s men go into the match in a strong position, knowing that a victory will mean qualification to the last 16 while almost guaranteeing top spot and even a draw would still leave Barça in pole position to win the group.

Barça are clear favourites to win the game and with Milan going through a crisis of form, few give the Italians much hope at Camp Nou. Since the two teams drew 1-1 at the San Siro two weeks ago, Max Allegri’s men have managed just one point in Serie A from a home draw with Lazio while they lost 3-2 at Parma and 0-2 at home to Fiorentina on Saturday. The seven-times champions of Europe have taken just 12 points from 11 games in the Italian league which leaves them a massive 19 points behind leaders Roma.

If things don’t improve soon Allegri may be out of a job by Christmas. The difficulty of his task tomorrow is demonstrated by the fact that Milan haven’t won in their last five Champions League games in Barcelona. The Italians last win at Camp Nou came in the group stage in 2000 when goals from Coco and Bierhoff earned a 0-2 victory for the visitors. Since then, in 2004 Eto’o and Ronaldinho scored in a 2-1 Barça win in the group stage, then in 2006 a goalless draw in the semi-final 2nd leg proved enough to send Barça through to the final against Arsenal. Milan managed another draw (2-2) in the group stage of the 2011/12 season but then when the teams met again in the quarter-finals two penalties from Leo Messi and a goal from Andres Iniesta gave Barça a 3-1 win and classification for the semis. The teams last met in March last season’s last 16 when Barça famously overturned a 2-0 deficit from the first leg with a 4-0 victory at Camp Nou.

Despite the statistics Milan should never be underestimated. They will be boosted by the probable return in goal of the veteran Christian Abbiati, while ageing stars such as Kaká and Robinho demonstrated in the first leg that when the stage is right they are still players to be reckoned with. Mario Balotelli is another who seems to perform better in big games and after returning from injury as a substitute in the first leg he will be fit to start at Camp Nou. Balotelli’s form has been disappointing this season and he has picked up more yellow cards (five) than goals (three); however, despite his inconsistency, Super Mario has demonstrated enough times in the past that he has the strength and ability to trouble any defence.

Barça have doubts over the fitness of Piqué and Adriano. The two defenders underwent specific programs yesterday rather than training with the group though the local press seems optimistic that both players will  be ready to play though they may both begin on the bench. The squad will train again this evening before Tata Martino decides on his list for the game.

With Jordi Alba still out injured, the problems of Piqué and Adriano only go to emphasise the apparent fragility of our defenders. Puyol and Mascherano have also both missed games through injury and it seems as if it is always our back line that suffers these problems which might indicate that we really should have signed another defender in the summer. However, a look at our recent record shows we have only conceded four goals in the last eleven games which demonstrates the effectiveness of Martino’s methods. It’s a slightly strange sensation as neither Piqué nor Mascherano, considered the first-choice centre-backs, is in his best moment, though acknowledgement must go to Victor Valdés who has begun the season in excellent form while Dani Alves deserves credit for improved performances defensively.

Johnathan dos Santos underwent surgery on the cruciate ligaments of his right knee today following his injury last week in training. The operation was successful but Dos Santos now faces a six-month recovery period which makes it unlikely he will play again this season. Let’s hope the team can put on a good show tomorrow and dedicate a victory to the youngster.

Possible teams:

Barça: Valdés; Alves, Puyol, Mascherano, Montoya; Xavi, Busquets, Fabregas; Pedro, Messi, Neymar.

Milan: Abbiati; Abate, Mexes, Zapata, Constant; De Jong, Montolivo, Muntari; Robinho, Balotelli, Kaká.

Prediction: Barça 2 Milan 0

Date: Wednesday 6 November 2013. Kick off 8.45 pm local time.

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Match Report and Highlights : FC Barcelona 1 Espanyol 0

Espanyol came close to frustrating Barça in the local derby at Camp Nou tonight, but with twenty minutes to go Alexis Sanchez scored the only goal of the game after an assist from Neymar Jr to take Barça to 34 points from 12 games and guarantee top spot in La Liga for another week.

Tata Martino picked the same team that started in Milan last week with the exception of Martin Montoya at left back in place of Adriano, which may signal he is settling on his idea of Barça’s best XI. Espanyol coach Javier Aguirre surprised, however, by leaving out Simao, Stuani, Pizzi and Mattioni while giving a chance to the out-of-favour Thievy and Gabriel Torje.

It was the Frenchman Thievy who had the first shot of the game which was blocked by Montoya in the second minute then soon after Torje shot wide from 25 yards. Barça’s first chance came after an early switch of wings from Neymar and Alexis. Neymar played the ball infield from the right to Messi and after a touch from Iniesta the ball came to Alexis on the left but Espanyol’s keeper Kiko Casilla dived quickly to his left to save the Chilean’s effort.

Most of the early danger came from Neymar who began the game well. He was unlucky to get called offside after Xavi’s through-ball though Casilla was quickly out of his area to clear just in case. However, as Barça took control of the ball Espanyol worked hard to close space with Thievy and Torje dropping back to support a narrow midfield line of five which shielded the back four and forced Barça to play the ball wide. The result was lots of crosses from Alves and a couple from Montoya from the left, but neither Barça full-back found much accuracy. Xavi’s corners were equally disappointing with the Espanyol defence winning all the headers.

Espanyol continued to frustrate and it wasn’t until the 28th minute that Barça created another chance. Iniesta played a cross-field pass for Alves’s forward run and the Brazilian headed the ball nicely for Alexis who volleyed his shot off target against Fuentes. Espanyol hit back on the counter, first Torje had time to shoot but Valdés got behind the ball well, then in the 35th minute Alves failed to cut out Thievy’s pass, allowing Victor Sanchez the chance to put the visitors ahead but Valdés did brilliantly to save with his feet.

After the scare Barça ended the first half well. Xavi fired narrowly over from 25 yards after Neymar worked some space. Then from a corner in the 43rd minute the ball was only cleared as far as Iniesta who smashed a shot through a forest of bodies but Casilla followed the ball well to punch the ball away, the ball came 35 yards out to Alves who, after a quick one-two with Busquets, cracked in a low shot that bounced out off Casilla’s right-hand post. It was a good end from Barça to a disappointing first-half though Espanyol will have been encouraged by arriving to the break with the score goalless.

Messi header 

Barça seemed to raise the pace slightly in the second half but Espanyol disciplined defence continued to cut off the final pass, get in the way of shots and thwart the dribbles from Messi and Iniesta. In the 54th minute a Barça cross finally found a Barça head with Alves delivering from the right and Messi charging in and jumping to meet the ball but Casilla sprang to his right to make an excellent save. Xavi was under more pressure from the defence when he headed wide from Alexis’s cross soon after. Then from another Alves cross the ball came long to Neymar who brought the ball back inside past Raul Rodriguez and Abraham before letting fly with a wicked curling shot that just failed to creep inside the far post.

Alexis goal celebration

It was beginning to look like Espanyol might hold out as they were limiting Barça’s number of chances, but the breakthrough finally came in the 68th minute. Busquets found Neymar in a bit of space on the left but as he entered the area Sidnei and Raul Rodriguez came across to block his way. The Brazilian managed to pass the ball through both Espanyol defenders’ legs and Alexis was sliding in at the far post to score yet another vital goal.

barça 1-0 espanyol neymar and casilla 2013Espanyol changed shape and tried to push forward in search of an equalizer but Barça began to exploit the spaces left. Alexis supplied a great ball through for Neymar and Casilla was fortunate not to be seen pulling the Brazilian’s arm as he would surely have been sent off for preventing a probable goal. There had to be one more chance for the visitors and it came in the 79th minute when Sergio Garcia got the wrong side of Montoya but then blazed his shot just over the bar. Besides that there were hopeful efforts from Espanyol’s substitutes Lanzarote with a header wide and Cordoba with a shot blocked by Piqué but Valdés was not troubled again. Barça’s subs Fabregas and Pedro combined for the best late chance for Barça but Casilla did well to stop Pedro’s shot with his foot.

Espanyol’s disciplined defensive lines made things difficult for Barça tonight but perhaps we should also take the heavy fixture list into account. Tonight’s game was the fifth in 14 days and the third in the last 7 but since the draws with Osasuna and Milan we now have three straight wins over Madrid, Celta and Espanyol. We have extended our consecutive home wins record in the league to 20 games, stretching back to October 2012 and the 2-2 draw with Madrid, and we are still unbeaten after 17 games with Tata in charge. All in all we can be pretty satisfied. What the heck! Even Alexis is coming good. That’s seven goals now in the league from the Chilean and after the injury-time winner over Sevilla, the brilliant chip against Madrid and tonight’s only goal, he’s getting a handy knack of popping up with vital strikes which we can only hope continues.

Barça: Valdes 7; Alves 6, Piqué 7, Mascherano 6.5, Montoya 6.5; Xavi 6.5, Busquets 6, Iniesta 6.5 (Fabregas m86, 6.5); Alexis 6.5 (Pedro m83, 6), Messi 6.5, Neymar 7.

Espanyol: Kiko Casilla; Raúl Rodriguez, Sidnei, Hector Moreno, Fuentes; David López, Abraham (Lanzarote m83), Víctor Sánchez; Thievy (Cordoba m62), Sergio García, Torje.

Goals: m68 Alexis 1-0.

Yellow cards: m45 Fuentes, m67 Victor Sanchez, m77 Mascherano, m90 Lanzarote.

Attendance: 79,977

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Match Report and Highlights: Celtic 0 FC Barcelona 1

Fabregas celeb. vs Celtic

Tata Martino’s Barça go marching on after a 0-1 victory tonight at Celtic Park. There was no Leo Messi but the two players who were expected to take more responsibility proved to be decisive. Neymar Jr was now the team’s star and he played his part by drawing several fouls including one from Scott Brown after an hour which was punished with a straight red card from the French referee Stephane Lannoy. With Celtic down to ten men, Cesc Fabregas, who played Messi’s false nine role, headed in the only goal of the game from substitute Alexis’s cross with fifteen minutes remaining.

There were various changes to the teams that faced each other last season at Celtic Park when Celtic won 2-1. Piqué, Adriano, Busquets, Fabregas and Neymar came in for Mascherano, Alba, Song, Alexis and Messi from Barça’s starting XI last year. While for Celtic there was no Wilson, Wanyama, Ledley or Miku who were replaced by Van Dijk, Izaguirre, Brown and Stokes.

The contrasting styles of the two teams was evident right from the start, with Barça stringing together about thirty passes in the first 100 seconds before Celtic even touched the ball. The problem was that with Celtic concentrating on closing spaces anywhere near their goal there was little penetration from Barça’s forwards. The first moment of danger came in the fourth minute when Iniesta nutmegged Ambrose inside the area but Van Dijk was quickly across to cover. Then a minute later Celtic put together a good quick move down the left, the ball came to Stokes who sent a fine ball into the left of the area for Samaras and Valdés had to be out quick to close the angle and block.

The possible danger from Celtic’s breaks led to Barça playing a more conservative game. The ball was moved patiently from side to side, and often Barça moved backwards in an attempt to draw Celtic out, but every time Barça moved forward Celtic regrouped in a packed defence to shut off all routes to goal. Barça didn’t manage a shot until the 17th minute when Fabregas met Alves’s low cross with a side-foot effort wide then soon after Neymar sent a weak shot rolling wide. Then in the 19th minute Iniesta made space with a nice shimmy to throw Brown off balance, before firing just wide from 25 yards.

There had been little from Neymar so far as Celtic right-back Lustig looked solid early on. In the 23rd minute the Brazilian made his first exciting run but his final pass, which was looking for Alves, was well cut out by Commons. A minute later Neymar was warned by the referee for diving and it was beginning to look like a frustrating evening for the Barça star. But then soon after he sent in a fine ball for Adriano to chase but the full-back fired his shot into the side-netting.

Pique

Neither goalkeeper was having much work to do. Celtic’s populated defence continued to form a solid barrier in front of Forster while Bartrá and Piqué dealt well with any ball played out towards Samaras. Celtic, in fact, were struggling to string three passes together in a scrappy period while Barça’s passes towards the danger area were also off-target and missing a finisher. There wasn’t a decent combination until the 40th minute after Pedro played a nutmeg in midfield and then opened play out for Alves to cross from the right, Neymar met the ball at the near post but flicked his shot just wide. Then in the 44th minute Neymar beat Lustig for the first time on the left, and the Swedish full back received the game’s first yellow card for a crude foul. Xavi swung in the free kick and Forster made a hash of his jump for the ball and was lucky to deflect the ball on with his shoulder and out for a corner.

Brown Red card ~ Neymar

The improvement towards the end of the first half continued after the break. Neymar became more and more involved and his direct runs were causing Celtic problems. In the 55th minute he tried a run through the middle, the ball bounced kindly to Xavi but the veteran midfielder’s venemous shot was blocked by Van Dijk. Then in the 58th minute Neymar set off on a gallop down the left, Brown was close on his heels but wasn’t fast enough to catch him, with the Brazilian about 35 yards from goal Brown clinically took Neymar from behind. The Celtic fans will no doubt have been expecting a yellow card – I certainly was – and may feel hard done by that the ref went straight for the red. But the truth is the Celtic midfielder really had absolutely no chance of playing the ball and as a tackle from behind the ref’s decision could be justified.

Barça could now smell the three points. The build-ups continued to be patient but as Celtic’s ten men tired the Scots became more and more stretched by Barça’s ball movement. Bartrá got forward in the 65th minute to hit a powerful low 30-yarder that Forster dived to his left to save, then three minutes later the young central defender was forward again to assist Fabregas who drove a cross-shot straight at the Celtic keeper. Barça continued to push forward with Neymar making a short dribble inside the area before playing a wall pass off Xavi but the Brazilian blazed his shot wide.

Victor Valdes awesome save 

Then against the run of play Celtic had a clear chance to take the lead. Barça had done well dealing with any corners or free kicks crossed into the area. But in the 73rd minute Mulgrew sent a long throw from the left into the danger zone, Barça only cleared the ball as far as Celtic substitute James Forrest who smashed a shot towards goal but Valdés flew magnificently to his right to turn the ball over the bar.

The importance of Valdés’s save was magnified when Barça took the lead two minutes later. A Celtic attack broke down and Busquets played the ball forward to Neymar in a central position 35 yards from goal. The Brazilian held the ball up well before releasing Alexis who had just come on in place of Pedro, the Chilean crossed from the right and Fabregas met the ball unmarked at the far post with a header across Forster and in.

Fabregas Goalll

With a man less Celtic found no response. Barça should probably have added to Fabregas’s goal but Forster made one fantastic double save to deny Neymar and Alexis. Then in injury time a splendid run and pass from Alexis sent Neymar clean through but Forster made another splendid save low to his left.

There was a lot about Barça’s game tonight that wasn’t pretty and you could tell Celtic Park was none too impressed by some of Neymar and Alves’s theatrics. However, last season with Messi we lost whereas tonight without him we take all three points. One has to be impressed by the seriousness we showed in defence with encouraging performances by both Bartrá and Piqué, while Busquets also provided good cover. Martino has a good sense of when we can put on a show and when we need to take a more practical approach. The results so far could hardly be better with the Supercopa in the trophy cabinet and a 100% win record in both La Liga and the Champions League. We have also kept a clean sheet in an impressive seven out of eleven games this season. Valdés’s form here has been crucial of course. The first stop tonight from Samaras was good and then his save from Forrest was arguably his best and most important of the season so far. Besides Valdés, Neymar turned out to be the game’s decisive player after starting slowly, I just wonder whether the whack on the head he took in a clash with Izaguirre sparked him into action as his game seemed to come to life afterwards.

HIGHLIGHTS -
Following Milan’s draw at Ajax, Barça now lead Group H with six points with Milan in second place on four, Ajax third with a point and Celtic without a point at the bottom.

Celtic: Forster; Lustig (Forrest m70), Ambrose, Van Dijk, Izaguirre; Brown, Matthews, Mulgrew, Commons (Pukki m86); Stokes (Kayal m70); Samaras.

Barça: Valdés 7.5; Alves 7, Bartrá 7.5, Piqué 7.5, Adriano 7; Xavi 6, Busquets 7.5, Iniesta 6.5 (Song m89, –); Pedro 6 (Alexis m74, 7), Fabregas 7 (Tello m78, 6.5), Neymar 8.

Goal: m75 Fabregas 0-1.

Yellow cards: m44 Lustig, m55 Fabregas, m75 Busquets, m77 Samaras, m85 Izaguirre, m90 Alexis

Red card: Brown m58

Attendance: 60,832

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Champions League Preview: Celtic vs FC Barcelona

The Champions League returns tomorrow (Tuesday) with Barça taking on Scottish champions Celtic in the always tremendous atmosphere of Celtic Park. With Leo Messi joining Jordi Alba, Javier Mascherano and Carles Puyol on the injured list Tata Martino has called up centre-back Sergi Gomez and midfielder-turned-right-back Patric Gabarrón from Barça B to make up the numbers in a 21-man squad for the game.

Pedro Rodriguez took a knock in Saturday’s 0-2 win at Almeria but he has been included in the list and should be fine to play if needed. With Messi missing, Martino could opt for either Neymar or Alexis to play a more central attacking role though it seems more likely he will again choose Cesc Fabregas in the false nine role. This means Neymar will almost certainly return on the left wing, leaving Alexis and Pedro to fight for the other forward spot. We should see our classic trio of Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta in midfield, while with limited options in defence we will probably repeat the back four of Alves, Piqué, Marc Bartrá and Adriano. Bartrá will no doubt be hoping to build on his good performance in Almeria

celtic 2-1 barça wanyama goalBarça and Celtic are no strangers in European competition, having faced each other on eight occasions in the last ten years. Anyone thinking it will be easy for Barça tomorrow should take a look at these previous games. In the spring of 2004 a 1-0 Celtic win in Glasgow followed by a 0-0 draw at Camp Nou saw Barça eliminated from the Uefa Cup. The following autumn Barça recorded a fine 1-3 win at Celtic Park in the Champions League group stage but the Scots managed a 1-1 draw in the return in Barcelona. The teams met again in the last 16 of the 2007/08 Champions League with Barça winning 2-3 in Scotland in the first leg and 1-0 in the return. Then last season the two sides were drawn together in Champions League Group G, an injury-time goal from Jordi Alba gave Barça a 2-1 victory in the game at Camp Nou but Celtic got revenge winning 2-1 in Scotland incidentally with Bartrá appearing in both games. Both sides classified for the next round where Celtic were beaten 5-0 on aggregate by Juventus while Barça of course went on to lose to Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.

There have been few changes at Celtic since last season’s meetings. Neil Lennon is still the coach and the core of the team is the same. However, midfielder Victor Wanyama, who was very impressive last year, has been sold for £12.5 million to Southampton while striker Gary Hooper moved to Norwich for £5 million. The most important players signed are defender Virgil Van Dijk (Groningen £2.6 million), winger Derk Boerrigter (£3 million Ajax) and Finnish striker Teemu Pukki (£3 million Schalke), though of these probably only Van Dijk will start tomorrow.

With the demise of bitter enemy Glasgow Rangers, Celtic easily won last season’s Scottish League by a margin of 16 points over second placed Motherwell. This season the Bhoys have started strongly with six wins and a draw from seven games. Last Saturday they won 2-5 at Kilmarnock with a hat-trick from Greek striker Georgios Samaras who you may remember opened the scoring for Celtic last season at Camp Nou. Inverness Caledonian Thistle are top of the league on goal difference but Celtic have a game in hand.

celtic barça bartra 2012It’s always a pleasure to face Celtic, the two contrasting styles of the teams guarantee an interesting battle if not always the most open game, while the vociferous Celtic fans always provide a magnificent atmosphere. For Barça a draw might seem a good result in as far as classifying for the next round is concerned. However, given the importance of finishing top of the group, we really should be looking for all three points. In the first round of Group H matches two late goals gave AC Milan a 2-0 win over Celtic while Barça were beating Ajax 4-0.

For a recent insight into the Celtic-Rangers rivalry here’s an excellent documentary which is well worth a watch.

Barça’s 21-man squad: Valdés, Pinto, Oier, Alves, Montoya, Patric, Piqué, Bartrá, Sergi Gomez, Adriano, Song, Busquets, Dos Santos, Xavi, Iniesta, Sergi Roberto, Fabregas, Pedro, Alexis, Neymar, Tello.

Possible starting XIs:

Celtic: Forster; Lustig, Ambrose, Van Dijk, Izaguirre; Brown, Matthews, Mulgrew, Commons; Stokes, Samaras.

Barça: Valdés; Alves, Bartrá, Piqué, Adriano; Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta; Alexis, Fabregas, Neymar.

Prediction: Celtic 1 Barça 2

Date: Tuesday 1 October 2013. Kick off: 7.45 pm in the UK, 8.45 pm in Spain.

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Messi an ICON spirit

A day after it was learnt that Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi did not ask for a pay rise akin to the deal Cristiano Ronaldo recently signed at Real Madrid, the Argentine ace was at his sensational best nevertheless.

Lionel Messi celebrates one of his goals against Ajax on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

On Tuesday, when Barcelona boss Sandro Rosell was asked if Ronaldo’s contract renewal (he signed a five-year deal with Real worth 90 million euros) making him the Spanish League’s best-paid player, would affect Messi’s contract, he said: “Does Ronaldo’s renewal affect Messi’s contract? Messi hasn’t said anything to us. He’s happy here and he’s at the best club in the world.”

A day later, Messi simply went about his job in the best possible way he knows – by scoring goals! Messi moved into second place on the all-time list of Champions League goalscorers with his 27th career hat-trick as Barcelona beat Ajax 4-0 at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.

The four-time World Player of the Year now has 62 Champions League goals to his name as Barca cruised to victory in the first ever competitive meeting between the two sides. Messi opened the scoring on 22 minutes with a sensational free-kick and made the game safe 10 minutes after half-time with a typically cool left-footed finish.

Gerard Pique added a third when he headed Neymar’s cross past the stranded Kenneth Vermeer before Messi rounded off the scoring 15 minutes from time. And the visitors were even denied a consolation when Valdes saved Kolbeinn Sigthorsson’s penalty 13 minutes from time after Javier Mascherano had upended Thurani Serero.

“In the first-half we found it a bit difficult because they played well, but in the second we moved the ball much better and controlled the game,” Messi told Canal Plus. “In general I think we played a very good game. The more variety we have the better.

There are games where we need to manage the ball, control the game, and others which are more difficult where we will need to do a bit more.” Messi took time to lend his support to coach Gerardo Martino, who flew back to Argentina yesterday to attend his father’s funeral. “It was a special game. It’s is a shame what has happened and he is suffering, but we are all with him in this moment.”

Champions League top scorers

71
Raul Gonzalez

62
Lionel Messi

56
Ruud van Nistelrooy

53
Cristiano Ronaldo

50
Thierry Henry

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Messi stars in Messi and friends 9-6 win over Rest of the World | Highlights

Lionel Messi scored a lovely opening goal as his ‘Messi & Friends’ team beat a Rest of the World XI 9-6 in Colombia.

The Barcelona star staged the match to raise money for charity and brought a host of stars with him to the Atanasio Girardot stadium in Medellin, including the likes of Javier Mascherano, Pablo Aimar and Florent Malouda.

Brazil star Robinho was leading out the Rest of the World XI but they could do nothing to stop Messi and his friends running away with the victory.

Messi curled home the opener from just inside the area and was substituted with 20 minutes remaining to a standing ovasion.

Watch all the goals from the Lionel Messi & Friends v Rest of the World XI below...

love u leo-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Guardiola made Bayern win 15-1 on his debut match

The treble winners ran out comfortable winners during the Spaniard coach's first game in charge, with several youngster's handed their chances to impress

Bayern Munich earned a comprehensive 15-1 victory in a friendly match against a team of local fans on Saturday, during what was Pep Guardiola's first game in the dugout.

The Bavarian's hosted their Wildenau-based supporters and were already 3-0 up in the first period, thanks to goals from Thomas Muller as well as youth prospects Oliver Markoutz and Vladimir Rankovic.

Die Roten opened the floodgates in the second-half as Patrick Weihrauch, Julian Green, Franck Ribery, Mitchell Weiser and Toni Kroos struck.

Germany Under-19 international Weihrauch will have done his first-team prospects no harm after his four-goal haul, while fellow starlet Green, who was born in Florida, impressed with his display and subsequent hat-trick.

Guardiola will also be pleased to welcome back Kroos, after the playmaker missed the tail-end of last season through injury.

The 23-year-old turned out beside Ribery and Jerome Boateng in the second-half.

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Isco: Why my dog is called Messi

The highly-rated youngster is set to complete his move to Real Madrid, but is seemingly a keen admirer of Barcelona and their players

New Real Madrid signing Isco might have some explaining to do at his new club as the Spain Under-21 international seems to be a keen admirer of the club's arch-rival Barcelona and Lionel Messi.

The attacking midfielder not only feels the Argentina international is in a league of his own, but he has even gone as far as to name his dog after the four-time Ballon d'Or winner.

"I named my dog 'Messi' because Messi is the best in the world, and so is my dog," explained Isco when questioned about his labrador's unique name earlier this summer.

The 21-year-old previously made headlines when an old interview surfaced from his time at Valencia where he described himself as an anti-Madridista due to the club's arrogant attitude.

Additionally, Isco took a swipe at then Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho on Twitter during the 2011 Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United, voicing his support for the Catalans in the process.

The youngster has also previously voiced his admiration for Barcelona duo Xavi and Andres Iniesta, while admitting that Blaugrana legend Ronaldinho is one of his inspirations.

Isco will sign a five-year deal with Real Madrid upon completion of his medical on July 3, before he's presented to the press at the Santiago Bernabeu.

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