It's still a mystery whether Cecs Fabregas will return to FC Barcelona. Former teammate Lionel Messi told Sky Sports News Wednesday that he did not know what was in store for the soccer star.

Barca has been trying to lure Fabregas away from Arsenal for years. Fabregas, a Barcelona native, trained with Barca as a young teen but signed with Arsenal at age 16.

I suck at updating lately, but bear with me, my beautiful readers, soon enough I'll get things back on track and routine-ness shall resume. Right now, here's another post of randoms:
- The picture you see here is, obviously, Andres Iniesta on the cover of this month's GQ España for their special on "Los Héroes de España", that also featured photos of David Villa and Cesc Fabregas.

By Chris Wright

(video via 101GG)

Barcelona are optimistic that Lionel Messi hasn't suffered a broken ankle (as was first thought) after being injured during their 2-1 Primera Division win over Atletico Madrid last night.

Messi was hauled off the pitch on a stretcher after a challenge from Atletico defender Thomas Ufjalusi (who received a fairly harsh red card for his part in the incident) left the agonised winger in tears on the turf of the Vicente Calderon stadium.

Martin Caceres, Victor Sanchez and Alexander Hleb all have a few things in common. They all became a part of Barca's first team for the first time during the historic treble season of 2008-2009, sharing the victory while not being a very significant part of it. Subsequently, all three were dispatched on loan the following season: Sanchez to local team Xerez, Caceres to Italian powerhouse Juventus, and Hleb to German side Stuttgart.

spotted at FIRST TEAM FOOTBALL

Yesterday it was Zlatan Ibrahimovic speaking out against his former club Barcelona after his move to AC Milan. Today it's Javier Mascherano clearing the air about his move to Barcelona and why he did it.

Xavi (25 Jan 1980) plays midfielder for FC Barcelona and the Spain national team.

The 30 year-old playmaker is coming off of a World Cup win this summer, and now declaring another Barca La Liga title. With the line-up they currently have, this may be quite feasible.

"Barca are the favourites for the title because we are the current champions.

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has spoken out about Javier Mascherano's impact on the club. The Argentine left the club in controversial fashion at the end of the transfer window, and while Barcelona fans are looking forward to seeing him at the Camp Nou, Liverpool are left figuring out how to regroup.

By Tony Attwood We've often taken a little look at the finances at clubs such as Man IOU, Barca and the like on this site. Swiss Rambler does the same, often in more detail, and recently did a brilliant piece on Inter Milan, showing how they too are facing an absolute financial crisis, and how [.

I honestly can't believe that I missed so much of action at Barca. Been away for sometime with some work. Let me first apologise to the regular readers for not updating the blog.Eventhough I was tracking each of Barca's event, never got substantial time to pen down my thoughts. The last time I wrote was about the nonsense of Cesc pursuit and am delighted that it atleast ended for the time being.

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The Press Area

Over the past fortnight we gave you an opportunity (through our Facebook & Twitter handles) to clear all the doubts about our beloved Arsenal. We got close to 30 questions in all; not a massive number but good enough to kick-start this feedback session!

Some of them were really eye-catching & well-versed.

Barcelona technical director Andoni Zubizarreta has revealed Javier Mascherano's price tag of €24 million.

After a lot of chatter over Barca's approach to finances, there has since been some debate about the high price paid for Liverpool's Mascherano.

However, Zubizarreta said: "We paid Liverpool €20 million plus the €4 million that came from the player by reducing his salary.

The international break is boring the hell out of me, since the only Barca 'news' anyone can come up with is the Pep/Mourinho handshake controversy at the UEFA Elite Coaches Forum. Apparently Marca think that Pep was a bit slow to take Mourinho's hand, and made it their front page story - in other words, they need to get a life.

The Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen has added his tuppence-worth to the Fabregas to Barcelona saga, and says that the Spanish international as good as confessed to his team-mates that he was "determined" to move to the Nou Camp during the summer. Vermaelen said: "Cesc carries Barcelona in the heart, in his DNA.

Spanish star Xavi went on to call Pep Guardiola the best coach in the world as the Ballon d'Or candidate believes that if there was such a award for managers, Pep Guardiola would be the front-runner. Having led Barcelona to multiple silverware, Pep Guardiola is definitely considered one of the best coaches but to Xavi, he considers him the best.

Goalkeeper Pepe Reina claims the departure of Javier Mascherano is a "big problem" for Liverpool.
Argentina captain Mascherano left for Barcelona last month after telling new Reds boss Roy Hodgson of his desire to move on after three and a half years at Anfield.
Hodgson banked £17million from the sale and signed Christian Poulsen and Raul Meireles in a bid to bolster his midfield options.

FC Barcelona would be playing their first home match of this season tomorrow against newly promoted Hercules. Usually coming back from an international break is a bit worrisome for Barca. But Guardioila will be happy playing hercules rather than any other team. Hercules went down to Athletic Bilbao on the opening week and was not expected to create any trouble for Barca.

Time for a news round-up, and we'll kick it off with the most prominent issue of the moment: Bojan transitioning into the number 9 shirt, worn by Ibrahimovic and Eto'o before him (Jeffren is now wearing Bojan's former 11). Bless EMD and the photographer who took the glorious shoot (below) of him pulling his new shirt on bit by bit.

MADRID (Reuters) Barcelona striker David Villa, whose family have worked in mining for generations, has sent two signed shirts to the 33 workers who have been trapped down a Chilean shaft for more than a month.

The 28-year-old from the Spanish mining region of Asturias signed one Barca shirt "be strong" and wrote a personal message on another for Franklin Lobos, a former professional soccer player who is one of the trapped workers.

Newly promoted Hercules made a mockery of the attacking talent Barca possessed by dominating a match and winning it quite comfortably. This was suppposed to be a cake walk and I myself predicted a 5-0 drubbing tonight at the Camp Nou. Instead Hercules gave an astonishing drubbing to the defending champions.

FC Barcelona suffered their first defeat of this years La Liag season at Camp Nou infront of an almost packed house. Let's just hope they don't do this often as we may not be able to afford the same. The team can be rated as a 5 out of a scale of 10. So let's get to the business straight away.

Newly promoted Valencia side Hércules CF shocked defending league champions FC Barcelona 2-0 at the Camp Nou on Saturday in Spanish La Liga action. New signing Paraguayan forward Nelson Haedo Valdez scored both of Hércules' goals when he found the back of the next after 26 and 58 minutes. The defeat is Barca's first home loss since [.

Newly promoted Valencia side Hércules CF shocked defending league champions FC Barcelona 2-0 at the Camp Nou on Saturday in Spanish La Liga action. New signing Paraguayan forward Nelson Haedo Valdez scored both of Hércules' goals when he found the back of the next after 26 and 58 minutes. The defeat is Barca's first home loss since [.

Roy Hodgson has been blasted for his role in Javier Mascherano's controversial move to Barcelona.
The Liverpool boss was forced to let the Argentina midfielder go to the Nou Camp for £20million after he refused to play at Anfield.
But Barca superstar Lionel Messi says Mascherano HAD to move to save his family from a private hell in England.

AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who began his second spell at the San Siro after falling out with manager Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, claims that it was irresistable to decline an offer from a club that has a superior history to Barcelona.

Despite speculation linking him away from Catalunya for months, the Swede remained vocal about his commitment to cementing a place in Barca's line-up before an approach from the Rossoneri convinced him that it was the right time to move.

An absolute shocker in the Liga as Javier Mascherano's debut turns to dust.

Hercules, a club promoted after 13 years and composed of former rejects including Real Madrid's Royston Drenthe, Juve's David Trezeguet, Pompey's Noe Pamarot, and Borussia Dortmund's Nelson "Haecho" Valdez defeated the Liga title holders, 2-0 at home.

Ricardo Carvalho's goal made the difference as Real given their dominance were tentative when it came to finishing off their numerous chances.

The Liga looks a bit strange as Real's derby rivals Atletico are on top of the table followed by Valencia and Sevilla. It is still too early but notably for all of Real's firepower the top scoring team last season has scored just one goal in their two matches.

It was 16 months in the waiting but on Saturday night Pep Guardiola and Barcelona experienced their first home defeat in La Liga and it was to the most unlikely of opponents.

Newly promoted Hercules came to Camp Nou with more hope than expectation but left this great stadium with the 3 points after a stunning 2-0 victory over the reigning champions.

It's hard to believe that the Barca of last night is the same team that fell against Hercules on the weekend. Right now, Hercules seems like nothing but a distant, very hazy memory - that's what Barca can do to you with their brilliance.

From Lio Messi with his perky dashes in and around the penalty the box to Pique ambling down the pitch with his bandaged head, every last one of our players was totally there.

When was the last time we failed to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League? Not being a historian I cannot tell you but it was a rare occurrence and some time ago. Which is why I am not over enthusiastic about tonight, it seems a diversion from the real target of the Premiership. I realise this is a purely subjective view but I would swap the winning of the CL for the PL (both would be best but unlikely).

The Emirates was rocking today with what was a great performance by Arsenal. This team really is in form especially considering all of the injuries and unfit players. I hope they can continue their style of play and believe in themselves against Chelsea, Man U. , Barca, etc. Here's some highlights from the game and if your ready to sport the gunners pick up a jersey by clicking below.

Hurried and harried, so I'll leave you with a few quick links:
- Lio Messi spent the past couple of days trotting around London on a PR stunt for Adidas that went horribly wrong. I don't see how they expected it to work out in the first place.
- Here's Gerard Pique 'not knowing what to say' about his status as the number one sizzling Catalan in the eastern or western hemisphere.

Diego Forlan, Atletico de Madrid

Set your DVR for Sunday at noon when World Cup star Diego Forlan and his Atletico teammates will take on the Galactica's of Barca.

Sunday 12 pm on ESPN2 ATLETICO MADRID vs BARCELONA, Live!

From Goal.com La Liga Weekend Preview

Early-season pacesetters Atletico Madrid play host to reigning champions Barcelona Vicente Calderon this weekend.

Diego Forlan, Atletico de Madrid

Set your DVR for Sunday at noon when World Cup star Diego Forlan and his Atletico teammates will take on the Galactica's of Barca.

Sunday 12 pm on ESPN2 ATLETICO MADRID vs BARCELONA, Live!

From Goal.com La Liga Weekend Preview

Early-season pacesetters Atletico Madrid play host to reigning champions Barcelona Vicente Calderon this weekend.

FC Barcelona would be looking to avoid a second succesive league defeat tomorrow when they face Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon. This trip for sometime have been a very unpleasant one. The last two league visit to Vicente Calederon ended up with away defeats. So the chances of ending up on Sunday night with two successive league defeats is pretty high.

Returning in high-spirited triumph from their 5-1 trouncing of Panathanikos in the Champions League, Barca now heads out to the Spanish capital to face Liga contenders Athletico Madrid, in a meet that's set to be anything but easy.
Barca hasn't had the best of luck on the Vicente Calderon in the past, not having been able to win a match there in years.

Not what you wanted to hear if you are a Barcelona fan!

The brilliant Lionel Messi suffered ligament damage to his right ankle but no break in Barcelona's Primera Division clash with Atletico Madrid.

The injury occurred when Tomas Ujfalusi made a late challenge on Messi, a tackle that saw the Atletico defender sent off.

Barcelona hit-man Lionel Messi will miss up to three weeks of action after sustaining an ankle sprain.

During Barca's 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid today, Messi was stretchered off the pitch in the closing moments of the game after a hard tackle by Tomas Ujfalusi.

The one-time Czech Republic international footballer was issued his second yellow card of the match and in turn shown the locker room.

Luckily for Lionel Messi, what was thought to have been a horrible ankle injury has only been declared a sprain. Reports say that he may miss two games, including Barca's La Liga game on Wednesday and Saturday's match against Athletic Bilbao. The questionable dirty challenge by Atletico Madrid's Tomas Ujfalusi has brought up a debate that many [.

Hey guys... just here to let everyone know that I'm going to take a few days off from the blog, in case you missed my tweet last night (I'll keep tweeting though) and to post the results of the summer poll: The Ibrahimovic Issue: It was close, but most were of the opinion that the club did well to sign him and he'd do better his next season; too bad he didn't see it that way.

Protection. It seems to be a word that almost defines itself, and yet in Spain, despite being nearly identical in appearance and pronunciation protección the very mention of it in the footballing arena can cause a stir.

For some people in Spain the word 'protection' pretty much sums up what are often seen as the the two biggest problems in La Liga; Real Madrid and Barcelona.