As one former Barcelona player puts it: “It is the game of the century, even if there are eight of them a year.” It is a comment not just on the excellence and the expectation that comes with Real Madrid v Barcelona but also on their eclipse of all else, on the dominance and potential dilution of a […]
Tag Archives: FCB
Loss to Athletic Shows Barca Need Winter Signings
It can hardly be described as a crisis. Barcelona sit top of La Liga with an amazing 40 points from a possible 45 and are through to the second round of the Champions League as group winners. But two losses in the space of five days have taken the gloss off the Catalans’ superb season […]
Has Messi’s Goal-Scoring Obsession Hurt Rather Than Helped?
It was the cruelest of blows. Lionel Messi’s recent muscle injury has left Barcelona hamstrung at the worst possible time and seemingly contributed to the Catalans downfall in the Champions League semi-finals after a half-fit Leo failed to help his team in the Blaugrana’s brutal battering at Bayern Munich on Tuesday night. It looked like extremely […]
Neymar to Barca – a catastrophe in the making?
Barcelona need Messi. Boy, do they ever. Against Paris Saint-Germain, this immortal team appeared fallible. Without their god-like genius, hamstrung in more ways than one, they were second-best; ponderous, susceptible, beatable.Then he arrived, like a battle-scarred war hero, from the dugout. He played a part in the defining goal, and a far more substantial role […]
The Team to be Drawn Against – Are Barca Now the Underdogs?
Barcelona Coach Tito Vilanova (since July 2012) Winners 4 Last five years (most recent last): SF – W – SF – W – SF Astonishingly, the team everyone has feared for the last five years may be the one to be drawn against. Barcelona started with eight of the all-conquering Spanish XI against Paris Saint-Germain but still trailed […]
From Paris To Barcelona – The Transfer That Sparked A Revolution
It can be all too easy to forget Ronaldinho’s role in the creation of today’s Barcelona. Shepherded swiftly towards the exit door by incoming coach Pep Guardiola in the summer of 2008, the brilliant Brazilian would play no part in a team which would go on to become the world’s finest footballing side and be […]
Continuity amid Vilanova adversity could push Barcelona to greater heights
The coach will undergo an operation on Thursday, but the Catalans’ philosophy will remain intact thanks to a capable stand-in and a group of players familiar with pulling through Life without Tito Vilanova begins away to Valladolid in the Primera Division on Saturday, but the road to recovery starts at home for both coach and […]
Barcelona’s greatest spine secure
Almost an entire life at just one club. Carles Puyol, Xavi and Lionel Messi have agreed new contracts with Barcelona and their stay at Camp Nou means the side’s spine is now secure for many years to come. Club captain Puyol extends his current contract to 2016, while midfielder Xavi has agreed a two-year prolongation […]
How Argentina finally cracked Barcelona’s Messi code
Past Pele’s record of goals in a calendar year. Ten short of surpassing Gerd Muller’s record of 85 (the all time record), and currently tied with Batistuta for most goals for Argentina in a calendar year. One goal against Saudi Arabia and the Argentinian record will be all his. It would be an understatement to […]
Is Loyalty Barca’s Greatest Strength?
When Lionel Messi declared this week, at the relatively young age of 25, that he wants to spend the rest of his career at Barcelona, it provided an insight as to why the Spanish club has dominated world football in recent years. A hot favorite to be named the world’s best player for an unprecedented fourth […]
TOKNOWTHEGAME.COM 