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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The last two times Barca returned from international break, we failed to win our away games and subsequently had a bad result in the Champions League encounters. We always have struggled after an international break, but this time it is a make or break time for Barca. We cannot afford to lose or draw against Bilbao as it will definitely show in our all important encounter against Inter on Tuesday. Click to continue reading...

FIFA & FIFPro (the players Union) have combined to announce thisyear the "FIFA/FIFPro WORLD XI Team" which will be announced the21st of December in a Gala at Zurich (Switzerland).For the moment the organizations have handed in their 55 candidatesof which 11 are Spanish players:Casillas, Reina, Sergio Ramos, Piqué, Puyol, Iniesta, Xavi, Xabi Alonso,Cesc, Torres & Villa. Click to continue reading...

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Ahead of Barcelona's match against Athletic Club Bilbao the team was handed another blow going into a very important week for the team. Eric Abidal was diagnosed with the H1N1 virus also known as "swine flu" on top of already being sidelined for up to three weeks with a leg injury.

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SPAIN ended its last International Football game for 2009 with aconvincing 1-5 victory over AUSTRIA in Vienna tonight. The Austriansstarted with aggression & surprised a "cold" Spain in the 6th min when JANTSCHER scored for the home team.This awoken the "red beast" as Spain turned on the machine with Xavi,Iniesta, Silva, Villa & CESC FABREGAS taking over the ball & equalizingvia the later in the Click to continue reading...

Ever since I started watching football many years ago now, when it came time for the World Cup, Spain were always considered a dangerous threat by many pundits that they would win the tournament, only to let everyone down time and time again. Spain are likely to have one of the best selling World Cup Jerseys in the tournament, but the best they have finished is 4th place in a World Cup and that was in 1950.

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Ever since I started watching football many years ago now, when it came time for the World Cup, Spain were always considered a dangerous threat by many pundits that they would win the tournament, only to let everyone down time and time again. Spain are likely to have one of the best selling World Cup Jerseys in the tournament, but the best they have finished is 4th place in a World Cup and that was in 1950.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

Club soccer takes a break around the world (save for the USA and Mexico) which means international fixtures take center stage this weekend.There are crucial World Cup qualifiers and high-profile friendlies headlining this weekend's action.

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What a trio!!!!!!

Di Stéfano, Messi and Maradona.

Lionel Messi won the "Di Stéfano trophy" given to the Best Player in Spain.

Messi won the award for his fantastic performance in La Liga last season.

marca.com

El azulgrana recibió el Trofeo Di Stéfano, que le distingue como el mejor jugador de nuestro fútbol

Maradona y Di Stéfano coronan a Messi

De manos de dos leyendas del fútbol como son Maradona y Di Stéfano, Messi recibió el preciado galardón, que pesaba como una deuda en palabras de Di Stéfano, y sucedió así a Raúl, ganador de la primera edición.

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The solitary 81st goal that Rafael van der Vaart scored was all Real Madrid could come up against lowly Alcorcón.In contrast Barcelona continue to score prolifically bashing Cultural Leonesa 5 - 0 in the process.Goals from Bojan Krkic (two),Pedro, Messi and Xavi.

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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...

Last week, I asked you to vote for you favourite 20 players of the decade, here in this very post, are the Top 100 players of the last 10 years, voted for by you, the readers and bloggers of the offside. First thing I want to say is thank you, everyone for the absolutely amazing response [...] 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...

Como seria de esperar, Lionel Messi arrrebatou a esmagodra maioria dos votos dos 187 leitores que participaram na votação sobre quem será eleito o melhor jogador do mundo este ano pela FIFA. O argentino recolheu 89 votos, enquanto Cristiano Ronaldo se ficou pelos 39. O brasileiro Kaká somou 28, mais 16 que Fernando Torres. Click to continue reading...

A word of advice for Rio Ferdinand, you will have plenty of time to attend movie premieres, start a music label and run your very own magazine when you decide to hang up your boots. Until then, as long as a fat cheque comes to your house every week signed by Manchester United Football Club, kindly concentrate all your energy and effort on the pitch.

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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...

Nobody would have ever imagined that Barca's travel to Russia would turn out to be this significant in terms of Barca proceeding to the group stage. A lose against Rubin tomorrow night will reduce Barca's chances of proceeding to next stage very much. A draw might not be bad, but may result in Barca seeking help from others in the group for qualification. Click to continue reading...

The case of Cesc Fabregas By Luke Tao (Diceman) He is really a superman. I stumbled onto some blogs and found various quotes from, who else, those pub bore lot saying along the line of "Fabregas is not a better player than Xavi and/or Iniesta". I'd say to them; piss off and relocate yourself to Barcelona then you [. Click to continue reading...

While Maradona is busy making a shamockery of the Argentinean national side, the man who typically lurks behind Diego & Pele whether prudent or not in the discussion for the world's greatest ever player has returned to football. Johan Cruijff, arguably the greatest ever player/coach combination in football history, has returned to the bench Catalonia and don't you call it Spain.

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FC Barcelona squandered two points with a last second own goal from Pique to help Real Madrid close the gap on top to one point. In a game where the defenses held their fort, Barca went ahead with a strike from Keita in the 72nd mnute but they had to pay dearly for wasting a host of chances after the goal. Click to continue reading...

Barca's next Liga match has them facing Osasuna, as they look for another win to maintain their lead at the top of the table. Previous matches between the two teams have been pretty tight, so let's hope Barca come off with a comfortable result tonight.
Theirry Hnery is cleared to play, and has been included in the squad: Valdés, Pinto, Puyol, Piqué, Chygrynskiy, Márquez, Abidal, Maxwell, Keita, Touré, Sergio, Iniesta, Jeffren, Xavi, Messi, Ibrahimovic, Pedro, Henry and Bojan. Click to continue reading...

...and remembers some of it's predecessors fondly...
The technical side:A new PowerSpine technology is supposed to give the Predator X an unprecedented increase in shooting power of seven percent in comparison to its predecessor. Ball velocity tests in the adidas laboratory demonstrated that the new PowerSpine enables the Predator X to reach a velocity of 110 kilometres per hour which, when compared to other boots, makes a speed difference of almost three metres per second.

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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...

Seydou Keita

Well when you're on the same team as Messi, Ibrahimovic, Henry, Iniesta, Xavi, among others it is easy to be overlooked if you're name is Seydou Keita. But last weekend the Barcelona midfielder continued to add on to his strong start for Barcelona by putting three goals into the back of the net against new boys Real Zaragoza.

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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...

CR9 fails with poor attempt at mind games.

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I Would Not Sign Any Barcelona Players For Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo
Barca may have several major stars, but none of them could play for Los Blancos, according to 'CR9′.

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It's Barca, Bojan's giving you the lazy eye, and they thrashed Zaragoza 6-1 yesterday. What more can we say? For all those who can't stop talking about the midweek loss to Rubin, Xavi wants you to grab an umbrella and sit down NOW.

"It has been proved that the cycle was not finished because the only difference between Rubin and Zaragoza was our success in front of goal, because our philosophy of attacking play is always the same," he said.

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FC Barcelona extended their lead at the top of the league to three points with a marvelous 6-1 thrashing of Zaragoza. It was quite a night with Keita scoring a hat-trick. Not many times you will see Keita outscoring the likes of Messi and Ibrahmovic. There were serious doubts about Barca's form, but the players put them into rest with a sensational display. Click to continue reading...

British football magazine FourFourTwo, just published (in the November issue) the list of the "100 Best Players in the World." The choices are based on the input of the magazine's journalists. Of course it will lead to all kinds of debate as "lists" are always subjective and don't mean anything beyond getting fans talking.

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It looks like Gerard Pique has replaced Samuel Eto'o this season as the player who most often shows up late to training. And today was no exception, with Geri arriving five minutes later than the 11:30 deadline (pictured). Naturally he's up for a fine now; all the better for the club's contributions to medical research. Click to continue reading...

After a painful loss at home to Rubin Kazan in the Champions League, Barca are looking to bounce back into form with tonight's Liga meet with Real Zaragoza. With four days separating last match day from this one, the team's had more time to prepare than usual in this World Cup- affected schedule. What with that, players reterning from injury, and Real Madrid dropping two points last night, tonight's game should be a great one for Barca. 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...

Yeah, yeah, Iker we know you want to be Spain's Minister of Wedgies but disculpe cara. You'd be better quick because our bets are on Geri-Florentino-Perez-Is-A-Lion-Pique. Besides, Zapetaro's goth daughters already decided.

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Everyone's calling it the 'Biggest Upset in European Football', but unless you started watching el futbol yesterday, you'd know that teams like Barca can't be on a perpetual winning streak. Mistakes happen, and underdogs have their days! So it's Rubin Kazan's day today and... who knows?

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AP Photo/David Ramos

Well the concern over Barcelona under estimating Rubin Kazan were warranted as the Russian side came into the Camp Nou and pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Champions League history. Kazan on paper definetely were over powered but after a surprise performance against Inter Milan in the Champions League people were beginning to take notice.

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