As Barca return to take up the toils of Liga clashes, we're happy to be seeing the boys in action again after this tedious international break, and hoping they won't be too tired out as they return from their respective duties with their national teams. We've got some gaps on the squad, but we trust Pep can find a way around it all.

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Oh dear - Barca boys Eric Abidal and Yaya Toure have been diagnosed with H1N1, more commonly known as swine flu. The club's medical staff are doing everything they can by way of treatment as well as prevention for the other players; but other reports suggest that Rafael Marquez may have already caught it. Click to continue reading...

The games didn't really have everything, did they? The results did some upsets, some heroics, a few of the expected teams going in but outside of the one game which forced a playoff (Egypt 2 Algeria 0), some of these games were completely zapped of the necessary drama.

(Not, of course, that one played in the Stade de France.

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Goal highlights from the Barcelona vs Cultural Leonesa Spanish Copa Del Rey second leg game on November 10, 2009. Match KO time 21.00 UK at the Nou Camp. Barca won 2-0 in the first leg, and therefore win 7-0 on aggregate thanks to this thrashing. All five goals came in the second half of the [...] Related posts:

1. Cultural Leonesa vs Barcelona goals highlights Goal video highlights from the Cultural Leonesa vs Barcelona Copa.

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After coming off the first leg with a comfortable 2-0 lead, Barca should have no trouble cementing their qualification to the last sixteen of the Copa with tonight's match. We've got the added advantage of playing at home, plus the boys are looking to be in better form after the 4-2 triumph over Mallorca. Click to continue reading...

1. Happy Birthday Palermo
2. Is this Zidane with allergies?
3. The wake of United fans.
4. Streakin!
5. Holy shirt Pep.
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Everyone's sure to be happy with last night's result – we know we are. The boys came out to win and they did it, attacking well from the very beginning, with Pedro being surprisingly awesome. Pep was resting several starters for this match, with Xavi, Messi, Dani, Iniesta, Bojan, and Pinto on the bench. Click to continue reading...

November 8, 2009
Stade de Gerland, Lyon
3:00 EST (21:00CET, 20:00GMT)

Sunday evening it's back to work. But hopefully, it's not one of those usual Monday morning, sloping, sluggish, I need a liter of coffee to get through the day, back to works, because aside from the heart wrenching matches against Cesspool in the CL, Lyon have been afflicted with a general malaise probably since week eight in the PSG match, and need this victory to put some pep back in their step.

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What in the world is Pep wearing? This is certainly not his best moment in press conference attire, or any occasion attire, for that matter.
We're mortified a bit. Why would you even glance twice at such an abysmal sweater - except to gawk at it - let alone buy it and actually wear it? At a press conference in front of forty hundred cameras? Click to continue reading...

After the team's run of poor results lately, we're really looking to this match for a boost. Barca leads the Liga with a single shaky point, and we can't afford anything less than a win if we are to keep our first place position.
But we have a feeling this match will be a turnaround point for the boys, and they'll go back to their winning ways. Click to continue reading...

Look at that sweater. That is not a sweater that a sane man wears. Since taking over as manager at Barcelona, Pep has been something of a touchline fashion icon, but this...this is madness.

Look at it it's like he cut two different sweaters down the middle and sewed them together to form one headache-inducing schizophrenic bastardization of clashing designs.

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You can rack up all the excuses you want: it's a world cup year, the players are fatigued, they were freezing cold, yada yada. But at the end of the day, the reality of the matter is that Barca are simply not up to par this season. Especially lately.
Last night's match felt somewhat like a final going in, and the draw coming out felt like a loss. Click to continue reading...

Is this the curse of Rubin Kazan? Even exasperated Pep has run out of hand movements to last the entire game... and you know that's bad!

Anyway, after pulling off a shock victory at Nou Camp, everyone from the strange bloke who looks like Robert Pattinson on crack to the stray cat next door is wondering if the mighty Barca are really faltering.

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The freezing cold is what worries us most about this match, as Barca face Rubin Kazan in the snowy, below-zero temeperatures that are the norm in Ruissia this time fo year. Rubin are used to it, but some of our boys have never played in such extreme cold. The oppositon themselvs are no piece of cake either, on top of that; they're the only team that has beaten us so far this season. Click to continue reading...

Leo and Pep do press conferences prior to tonight's freeze-fest against Rubin Kazan, and look great while they're at it. Leo's got this whole I'm-thinking-ginger-stubble-totally-works-for-me look, while Pep is sending out I'm-just-too-hot-to-handle vibes even in the midst of his epic stare-down with the microphone. Click to continue reading...

- Barca's upcoming match against Rubin Kazan is no small deal. Weather conditions are looking to be pretty harsh, with the climate there at this time of year much colder than what our players are used to, and measures have been taken... from the team traveling to Kazan two days before match day to get used to the cold a bit, to the special gear designed by Nike to keep the players warm. Click to continue reading...

Is this the vision of Pep you would expect to see on what he should have been celebrating as his 500th day coaching Barca? It did turn out to be a memorable night... but not in a good way.
We dropped two points last night when we should have come off with all three. We can't help but be annoyed by this, for several reasons. Click to continue reading...

Catalan paper Sport has recently featured secrets from inside Barca's dressing room, where Pep continually strives to instill team unity between the players and blend all their personalities and egos into harmony.
From the more withdrawn players like Abidal and Keita to pranksters Pique and Dani Alves, the players get along great and there's always a friendly atmosphere in the locker room. Click to continue reading...

After Samuel Eto'o's alleged statements against Pep and others at Barca, he adressed the subject as expected at the presentation campaign for "Shoe Aid In Africa" which he's the face of. And Samu's statements were far from any sort of lashing out at the club:
"My relationship [with Guardiola] has never been bad. Click to continue reading...

The dudes who run La Liga, otherwise known as the LFP (La Liga de Futbol Profesional) just dished out all the player awards for last season, and naturally, it was all about Barca, with seven spots out of nine going to our boys: .Best Player: Lionel Messi
Best Coach: Pep Guardiola
Best Defender: Daniel Alves
Best Midfielder: Xavi
Best Attacking Midfielder: Andres Iniesta
Best Striker: Lionel Messi
Best Breakthrough Player: Sergi Busquets
Meanwhile Iker Casillas of Real Madrid came off with Best Keeper, and the Fair Play award went to Deportivo's Juan Carlos Valeron. Click to continue reading...

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This morning manager Pep Guardiola released the 16 man roster that will travel on Wednesday to take on third division side Cultural Leonesa.

The roster features mostly youth players with Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Gerard Pique, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol all being rested for this weekends match up at Osasuna.

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- According to EMD, ex-Barca striker Samuel Eto'o as given an interview to Canal+ in which he lashes out at some of the figures from his former club. The interview won't come out till next Thursday, but leaked statements suggest that when asked which members of the club he's dissapointed in, Samu's reply was something like "Yes, I think if I'd pick two, I'd probably aim at Pep and Joan, but there are many more people who let me down, many more. Click to continue reading...

- Chygrynskiy is back from his injury, more cause to rejoice! He's greenlighted for this Sunday's Liga meet with Zaragoza, wonderful news especially now that Dani's out. Medics are saying that Titi could be returning as well, things really seem to be picking up now don't they?
- People call Pep harsh for fining the players when they're naughty, but who would have guessed that the club's donating the money for great causes? Click to continue reading...

As if last night's result wasn't bad enough, Dani Alves came out of the mtch with a muscle rupture in his right leg that's put him out for an expected three to four weeks. Just what we needed. The injured list stretches on, and of all people it had to be Dani...
There goes our only rightback. Click to continue reading...

Barca pick up where they left off in the Champions League, meeting Russian club Rubin Kazan at home in the final match of the group stages first leg. We'll be looking not just for a win that will keep Barca at the top of their CL group, but also for a clean sheet that will maintain the team's current form of not having conceded a single CL goal this season, something only three other teams have accomplished so far. Click to continue reading...

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Manager Pep Guardiola addressed the media on Monday regarding the team's matchup on Tuesday at home against Russian side Rubin Kazan in the Champions League. Guardiola called the match a "vital" one saying, "The group remains very complicated, but winning against Rubin would be a very important step and we would be three or four points in the standings.

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Videos and goal highlights from the Valencia vs Barcelona La Liga ( Spanish Primera Division) game on October 17, 2009- Saturday. Kickoff at 21.00 UK time. Barcelona are chasing their seventh straight league win, but will be without Thierry Henry for the trip to the Mestalla. Valencia are seven points behind Barca going into the game. Click to continue reading...

We're finally back! And just in time for Barca's first match in two weeks, following the international break. The boys head out to a clash with Valencia that's got us pretty excited, particularly about facing David Villa, the Liga's current top-scorer, who has been confirmed to participate tonight after doubts had been circulating about wether he'd be able to make it because of injury. Click to continue reading...

Something to read while you watch this excellently put together "How to Dive" YouTuber that Unprofessional Foul uncovered earlier today... Nine goals in nine minutes? Suspicious? All explained at (Dirty Tackle) Failed innovations in brand extension (Run of Play) Maybe Pep can "settle" Robinho? (Reuters Soccer Blog) And maybe Robinho could buy some new jeans with his cut of [. Click to continue reading...

The January transfer season began in earnest this week with rumors flying that Manchester City and Barcelona were working on a deal involving Robinho. But chalk it up to pure speculation because this transfer doesn't make sense for either club. Here are three reasons why:

Barcelona Can't Come Up with the Cash: Manchester City would want to recoup their £32.

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Oh, Senor Pep! Ha sido un largo tiempo! Now that the internationals are over and done with, Barca's Babes are getting ready to face the exciting Valencia tomorrow. As expected, the Messiah flew back via private jet which was provided by the club.

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This is the kind of space Xavi thinks he deserves.

The theory is that because of the low amount of scoring in football, using particularly protective and cynical tactics ruins the sport whose nature inhibits a high amount of goals per match. Football's common nickname is "The Beautiful Game," but from where did that phrase initially originate?

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REUTERS/Marti Fradera

Almeria came to the Camp Nou trying to put the first blemish on FC Barcelona's perfect La Liga record. From the starting whistle it became very obvious what manager Hugo Sanchez had in mind to control Barcelona's powerful offense. Sanchez employed Chico to stick on Xavi Hernandez and not let the Barcelona midfielder control the ball and coordinate the offense.

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Hacía mucho tiempo que no contábamos con la posibilidad de charlar con algún blogger sobre fútbol, ya sabéis nuestro pequeño test en el que el invitado nos explica algunas de sus anécdotas y repasa algunos tema de la actualidad más rabiosa.
En esta ocasión tenemos el honor de presentaros a Alex Santalo, el genio detrás de la web Gol Sud, en la que a través de sus viñetas nos cuenta a modo de humor la actualidad culé. Click to continue reading...

Il martedì di Champions è stato, come sempre, ricco di gol ed emozioni, ma anche di risultati a sorpresa. Meritato ma sicuramente inaspettato da tanti, lo strepitoso successo, "all'inglese" della Fiorentina contro il Liverpool di Benitez, una delle grandi d'Europa. Al Franchi è show del montenegrino Jovetic, sempre più elemento fondamentale del gruppo viola. Click to continue reading...