Against Lyon, a great European side, Barca's 3-man forward line had an average age of 20. Eto'o wasn't quite fit enough yet, Henry's body had finally given out after playing continuously while not 100% fit, and Ronaldinho was on the bench. Andres Iniesta, 23; Lionel Messi, 20; and Bojan Krkic, 17, a forward line crafted in the Barca youth academies, led the line in their stead.

Exams are over (hooray!) and I'm back, although currently preoccupied with...well, life in general. To be honest, I've just been thinking a lot, and there's a couple of posts I want to make about coaching styles, quotas in European leagues, and all that. But it's Barca that's really been frustrating me.

(graphic swiped from Sport)
Any other team might be pleased to win 3-0 (especially with most players coming off two international appearances) and gain some distance on our rivals at the top of the table, but as always, Barca are our own greatest enemy. It feels like forever since I've done one of my rambling, player-by-player match reports, so here goes.

Yes, after much procrastinating, I've finally written the long-overdue post welcoming the new signings to the club, including 2 'graduates' from the B team.

"Pressure? Pressure is what you feel when you're about to die or when you might go to jail; when you have no money, no food. But feeling the pressure while playing soccer? I've been playing since I was 17.

Barca 2 - 1 Sevilla
A very important win for Barca, especially given the pre-game celebrations for the 50th birthday of that beautiful stadium, the Camp Nou.
positives

• Henry looks better with every game. Desperately unlucky for the nth time in front of goal, but as the man said himself, give him a month to get fitter and used to the team.

As Ray Hudson said, Barca demonstrated both sides of their personality in this game. The first half was marked by a return to the wonderful, flowing, quick-passing football that the fans have been missing for quite some time, while the second half was marked by the constant state of uncertainty that characterised some games from last season. By that I mean that the players looked like they didn't know what they were supposed to be doing out there.

Barca are obviously Spain's crisis club, having drawn their first game away, a horrifying fate that has surely -
Oh for God's sake. Dictionary definition of 'leaping to conclusions', anyone?
Barca 5-0 Inter Reserves (Joan Gamper Trophy)
El Mundo Deportivo called Inter 'tourists', which is harsh but true, and who can blame the Italians with an important league fixture to come in the weekend?