The "Best Team in The World"? The "Best Football Team of All-Time"? This is the FC BARCELONA starting 11 Team Photo in the 2011 Champions League Final against Manchester United. The same team & 11 players that won the European Cup & the 4th Champions League Title for FC Barcelona in its history. FC BARCELONA Champions 2011 Champions League Team Photo Top:L to R: Abidal, Pedro, Mascherano,

Heroic performance. Magnificent result. Half the job done.

I was worried pressing higher up the pitch will leave Arsenal exposed but in the end the result justifies the manager's approach and the players deserve immense credit for fighting all the way till the end to achieve this win. It also shows how little I know but in this case I'm delighted to be proven wrong.

The final of the Champions League at Wembley Stadium is almost upon us. The iconic twin towers of the old Wembley may be gone but the arch of the latest, rejuvenated and reinvigorated Wembley Stadium is all set to become just as famous.

Saturday 28th May 2011 will the biggest day in the new stadiums life to date.

F C BARCELONA: Valdés; Alves, Puyol o Mascherano, Piqué, Abidal o Puyol; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Pedro, Messi y Villa.MANCHESTER UNITED: Van der Sar; O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Fletcher, Giggs, Park; y Rooney.ÁRBITRO: Víktor Kassai (HUN).ESTADIO: Wembley (Inglaterra).

FC Barcelona will be playing their first competitive match of the 2011-12 season at Santiago Bernebeu stadium tomorrow night. The Spanish Super cup in contrast to their Premier League rivals is a two legged affair and we do have the advantage of playing teh second leg at home. Real Madrid and Barcelona had kind of a contrasting pre-season tour.

FC Barcelona won this seasons Spanish Super Cup in the end of a sensational match which ended 3-2 in favor of the host at Camp Nou. Two goals from Messi and one from Iniesta took Guardiola to yet another title. The match also some disgraceful scenes at the end courtesy of the fight started by Real madrid players.

You may not know that I am currently enjoying some time in the North of Spain. Finding an Internet connection at this time is a small miracle, but with SPANISH CUP results in & SFS Blog readers in mind, here is a quick summary of tonights results. Please excuse me if the post is not as detailed as it is normally.

And what do we have here, USMNT captain Carlos Bocanegra? Our guess is a flash mob for the 'Men with Dubious Taste In Shirts' Facebook Group. Image: Facebook.

Saturday

- Good news came from the Nou Camp ahead of our always needed work-day reprieve: Barcelona defender/French international Éric Abidal returned home to rest after undergoing emergency surgery to remove a tumor from his liver.

27.04.2011 - A los duelos catalán - madridista, Messi - Cristiano, Barcelona - Real Madrid, se suman en primera plana Guardiola - Mourinho.
Pep Guardiola se refirió a los arbitrajes (vídeo), Mourinho salió a la yugular (vídeo) y Pep volvió a contestarle (vídeo).

There are times in life when an incident takes place which lifts your belief in humanity to a higher level - and thankfully, for all of its ultra professionalism, it can still happen in football....
Continue to the full story

Tomorrow night, in Kansas, we'll be able to enjoy one of those fixtures that makes the Gold Cup such a pleasure to some of us, and a rather mystifying affair to many others. Indeed, the Gold Cup competition, while it takes place year after year in the U.S., seems to largely fly under the radar for many in this country except, of course, for fans of the Mexican national team, and for those of the Central American and Caribbean teams for whom it represents perhaps the most important international competition.

Arsene Wenger has finally managed to register his first victory against FC Barcelona with a splendid 2-1 come back from behind victory. David Villa gave Barca the lead in the first half but Arsenal came back spectacularly in the second half to take the game away from us. We have now everything left to do and to make matters worse we will be without the service of Pique for the return leg.

France drew 1-1 away to Belarus tonight, in European Qualifier number 6 of 10.

Euro Qualifying Group D Standings
France – 13 points from 6 matches
Belarus – 9 points from 6 matches
Romania – 8 points from 6 matches
Albania – 8 points from 5 matches
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 7 points from 5 matches
Luxembourg – 1 point from 6 matches

France have a couple friendlies coming up in the next week visiting the Euro 2012 co-host nations: relatively interesting friendlies.

Feliz Martes! The FIFA Ballon d'Or preliminary list of 23 men has been finalised and although the final 3 names will be announced on December 5th, you have an entire month to gloss over this. There haven't been many surprises and we've highlighted whom we think will probably and predictably make the cut based on the votes and if it doesn't work out, they can still make this into a Ballon d'Or reality TV show!

This has to be the most toughest match FC Barcelona has faced till now. Yes even bigger than the Clasico. This is the first Do or Die match we have to encounter this season. The home leg of ended in a goal less draw which perfectly places this tie in the balance. To an extent we have to say that Bilbao has a slight upper hand coming into this leg.

Robinho has a word or two to say to the press

Brazil's first outing of the 2011 sees them lock horns with France in an international friendly later this evening. Coach Mano Menezes hands Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, Renato Augusto, his first cap. Inter Milan keeper, Julio César, makes his first appearance since Brazil went out of the South Africa World Cup to the Netherlands.

FC Barcelona vs Arsenal Promise to be yet another classic

FC Barcelona and Arsenalbuild up into the most important match of this season so far in contrasting fashion. Played your opponent out of the park, is an under-statement when it comes to describing Arsenal's performance against Wolves.

Arsenal scored two stunning goals in the last 12 minutes to secure their first ever victory over Barcelona and give themselves the advantage in another high-class duel between these two European giants.

David Villa gave the 2009 UEFA Champions League winners the initiative midway through the first half and though Lionel Messi missed a couple of gilt-edged opportunities, it seemed it would be enough.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

For the first time in a decade, Sepp Blatter has a challenger.

Mohammad bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation, ended months of speculation today when he confirmed that he would stand for president of FIFA in this year's election.

FC Barcelona have won their 21st league title, and it's now three-out-of-three for manager Josep Guardiola, who has produced a winning style that has amazed the footballing world.

In three three years Guardiola has won three league titles and nine major honours in total. An amazing record by an amazing coach.

Il Barcellona è campione di Spagna. Sul campo del Levante, i Blaugrana pareggiano 1-1 (gol di Keita e Caceido) e conquistano il 21esimo scudetto della loro storia. Festa anche per il ritorno in campo da titolare di Abidal dopo l'operazione subita nel mese di Marzo. Gli uomini di Guardiola, a due turni dalla fine del [.

Friendlies are supposed to be good fun, and this one was. In front of flag-waving supporters in Montpellier, France created a number of chances, and Chile certainly had moments of their own.

Benzema and Martin were standout players for France. Marvin Martin is a fun player to watch. He has a very quick release when he spots a potential pass.

Following yesternight's demolition of Villareal more and more people are vying for the much coveted 3-4-3 fomation to be used at Barca. Already everyone is going gaga over the fact that we played almost 9 midfielde players and one defender in the starting line-up. A look into the line-up which started explains why people are so thrilled - Busquest, Mascherano who played in defense are natural defensive midfield players.

AC Milan secured a gutsy 2-2 draw against Barcelona thanks to goals in the first and final seconds of an absorbing match at the Nou Camp.

Pato gave the visitors a dream start when he notched the quickest matchday one goal in Champions League history, only for Pedro Rodríguez and David Villa to reply either side of half-time.

Despite Arsene Wenger saying the other day that Arsenal were unlikely to buy anyone in January every Sunday always brings a new batch of Arsenal rumours, and this week is no different. First off all we have the Koln forward Lukas Podolski, who has been linked with the Gunners for a while. The Bundesliga side [.

Levante could be the perfect team to start another wonderful year in the right way. The last match Levante played was against Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey, and that did end up with an 8-0 drubbing. Lionel Messi is not available for this match, but I don't think that is going to bother anyone.

FC Barcelona welcomed 2011 with a hard fought victory

FC Barcelona started the new year 2011 with a good victory against Levante. It wasn't as easy as expected, but we managed to achieve our main objective which was the three points. Pedrito struck twice in the first half to put Barca ahead before Levante pulled one back to make way for a nervous finish.

The 5-0 victory in the first leg has made tomorrow's second leg of academic interest. But it could be pretty important for the fringe players in the side. Guardiola is expected to rest majority of his stars in the match in Sevilla. Messi who was down with flu has recovered and has made into the squad.

FC Barcelona Strolled in to an easy victory against Racing

FC Barcelona started the second half of the season in the perfect style winning 3-0 against Racing Santander at the Camp Nou. This is FC Barcelona's 14th consecutive League victory equalling the record held by Rijkaard's Barcelona 2005-06 team.

FC Barcelona - 5, Almeria - 0

FC Barcelona has almost booked a place in the final of Copa Del Rey with a 5-0 thrashing of Almeria. The last time these two teams met, Almeria ended the match losing 8-0. This time around also there was not much change in the result. Messi, Pedro, Villa all got into the scoresheet for Barca.

FC Barcelona managed to extract a sweet revenge on Hercules CF with a 3-0 victory away from home. Yes, it was yet another record night. Now we have equalled the record for most consecutive wins in La Liga. A first half goal from Pedro and two late goals from Lionel Messi gave us the 15th consecutive victory of the season.

To promote its new football boot, CTR360 Maestri II Elite, Nike launched a hilarious video featuring Barcelona midfield magician Andrés Iniesta, who is captured on the pitch during the game and training drills alongside his teammates Éric Abidal and Thiago Alcântara.

FC Barcelona, when they meet Atletico Madrid in Camp Nou on tomorrow night will be playing for more than three points. Last week FC Barcelona has equalled the record for the most consecutive victories in La Liga with a 3-0 victory against Hercules. They have now equalled the record so long solely held by the legendary 1960- Real Madrid side.

Big Karim Benzema will likely lead the line.

Malouda could get a game wide left. Diaby could line up behind Benzema. Who wide right?

A defensive Blanc could field M'Vila and Alou Diarra in midfield.

Abidal, Mexes, Rami, and Sagna across the back.

Lloris in goal.

Player to watch: Yann M'Vila.

Arsenal scored two stunning goals in the last 12 minutes to secure their first ever victory over Barcelona and give themselves the advantage in another high-class duel between these two European giants.

David Villa gave the 2009 UEFA Champions League winners the initiative midway through the first half and though Lionel Messi missed a couple of gilt-edged opportunities, it seemed it would be enough.

Arsenal scored two stunning goals in the last 12 minutes to secure their first ever victory over Barcelona and give themselves the advantage in another high-class duel between these two European giants.

David Villa gave the 2009 UEFA Champions League winners the initiative midway through the first half and though Lionel Messi missed a couple of gilt-edged opportunities, it seemed it would be enough.

Last night, Arsenal were succumbed to the most terrifying of deaths; strangulation. This morning will be painted with headlines of 'Farce' and talk of red cards, where any unbiased consumer of the spectacle that was this match would realise that The Gunners were diving too deep, and oxygen was getting scarce.

It's all gone a bit crazy since the game last night. People are upset at the referee, at the players, at Barcelona. Let's see if I can sift through some of the rubble and see what we've been left with here.

Arsene Wenger is not a happy bunny:

"Two kinds of people can be unhappy; those who love Arsenal and those who love football can be frustrated with the referee's decisions.

El fútbol está conmocionado con la noticia de que Eric Abidal, jugador del Barça, tiene un tumor en el hígado. El próximo viernes será operado de urgencia y se establecerá la gravedad del mismo.
Abidal se dio cuenta durante la mañana de este martes. El jugador francés del Barça abandonó el entrenamiento por sentir molestias y acudió a los servicios médicos, quienes le diagnosticaron un tumor en el hígado.

El fútbol está conmocionado con la noticia de que Eric Abidal, jugador del Barça, tiene un tumor en el hígado. El próximo viernes será operado de urgencia y se establecerá la gravedad del mismo.
Abidal se dio cuenta durante la mañana de este martes. El jugador francés del Barça abandonó el entrenamiento por sentir molestias y acudió a los servicios médicos, quienes le diagnosticaron un tumor en el hígado.