Gunners skipper would have no problem in returning 'home'

Cesc Fabregas has reiterated 'it won't be a problem' to join Barcelona after revealing coach Pep Guardiola is his idol.

Arsenal captain Fabregas is Barcelona's top summer transfer target as the Spanish champions look to bring the midfielder back to Camp Nou.

Barca, who lost the Spain international to Arsenal as a 16-year-old, have already failed with one bid, but remain confident of eventually agreeing a deal.

And, while Fabregas is putting his future on hold until the conclusion of Spain's World Cup campaign, he admits he would be happy to rejoin his first club.

"I won't think about anything until after the World Cup," Fabregas told Ona FM.

"It won't be a problem if I return to Barcelona because Barca is my home. The people there are always sensational in the way they treat me."

Special affection

Fabregas also expressed his admiration for Guardiola, who was a stalwart in the Barcelona midfield before becoming the club's coach.

He added: "Guardiola has always been my idol since childhood. I played in his position and I noticed him.

"My coach even gave me a shirt signed by him."

However, Fabregas was also quick to praise his current manager - Arsene Wenger - for the role he has played in helping him become one of the game's leading players.

"He means everything to me. He is the person who put his trust in me," said Fabregas.

"Without him, I don't know if I would be a professional footballer today. I owe him a lot and I have a special affection for him."

Second Valencia player could be on his way

Barcelona have reportedly agreed a deal with Valencia for Spanish forward Juan Mata.

The 22-year-old has impressed over the past few seasons with Valencia, although the likes of David Villa and David Silva captured most of the headlines.

Still Barca look to have opted for Mata ahead of team-mate Silva, and are ready to pay €20million.

Some sources claim that Barca have decided that they were also not willing to take a risk on Manchester City's Robinho.

New president Sandro Rosell is understood to have taken charge of the negotiations and it will see Barca and Valencia strike a second deal in the space of a month, following the purchase of David Villa.

Pedro happy

Meanwhile, Barca starlet Pedro has joined the chorus of Catalan voices urging Cesc Fabregas to return to Camp Nou.

The Arsenal skipper is another wanted by Barca and they still hope he will sign over the summer.

"Cesc is doing fantastic, he's thinking only about the national team and he's relaxed," he told Marca.

"Of course I would like to have him at Barca.

"He has been playing away (from Spain) for a long time, he knows the club and he would adapt quickly."

Pedro also welcomed the recently signed Villa, saying: "He's a great player, a great striker who scores lots of goals. His movement is very good and he will adapt very quickly to the team.

"He'll be great. His arrival is extraordinary news for us."

Outgoing president Joan Laporta believes it is inevitable that Cesc Fabregas will leave Arsenal for Barcelona this summer.

Laporta, who will shortly be replaced in the Camp Nou hot-seat by Sandro Rosell, fully expects the north London club to 'give way' and let their captain return to his former club.

Barca have already seen one bid in the region of £25million rejected by the Gunners for the 23-year-old midfielder.

That is despite Fabregas reportedly informing manager Arsene Wenger of his desire to return to the Catalan club following seven years in north London.

Meanwhile Laporta, who will leave office at the end of June, fully expects the deal to be completed. However, he has accepted that the protracted nature of the transfer means it is more likely to be completed on Rosell's watch.

"We'll keep trying and if it's not us who do it, the new board will, if they feel it's something they want to continue with," he said on the club's official website.

"I think Arsenal will gave way - but I don't know when and we just have to wait and let the professionals who are dealing with it get on with the job they've been given."

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque admitted there was still much more to come from his side after they struggled to overcome Honduras 2-0 on Monday evening.

It was a vital result following last week's 1-0 defeat to Switzerland and came courtesy of a David Villa brace, who also later missed a penalty.

However, Spain could still miss out on a place in the last 16 as they face an impressive Chile team in their final group match on Friday.

Del Bosque said: "We certainly paved the way for the third group match against Chile, but this hasn't been a great match.

"We had glorious opportunities, many opportunities, we should have won the game by more goals so I'm not entirely satisfied.

"I felt we've played well against Switzerland and Honduras but in both matches we lacked the finishing touch.

"We will suffer more against Chile if we continue to play like that."

Outgoing Barcelona president Joan Laporta is confident Arsenal will eventually "give in" and allow midfielder Cesc Fabregas to move back to Camp Nou.

Fabregas started his career in the Barcelona youth ranks before being lured to north London in 2003 and the 23-year-old has flourished at Arsenal, taking over the club captaincy, and has also racked up 50 caps for Spain.

Barca have already had an initial bid - thought to be in the region of £29 million - rejected by Arsenal but Laporta believes the Gunners will not be able to keep hold of their talisman beyond the summer.

"Arsenal will end up giving in, but I don't know when that will be," he told reporters on a visit to Sant Guim de Freixenet. "We will have to wait and let the professionals who are taking care of it do their work."

Laporta is set to leave office at the end of the month to be replaced by president-elect Sandro Rosell and is unsure whether a deal can be struck before then.

"If it's not us, it will be up to the new board, if they consider it appropriate, to carry on along this road," he told Barca's official website.

Barca have already signed Spain striker David Villa from Valencia this summer and have been linked with a move for his international team-mate Fernando Torres.

That means both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thierry Henry could be set for summer exits.

"The market is very changeable and is moving at the moment, so we have to be careful in that sense," Laporta said, adding that Henry's future will be decided "when the World Cup finishes for France".

Sweden international has uncertain future

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's agent wants talks with Barcelona's new president Sandro Rosell over the player's future.

The 28-year-old Swedish striker has not set Camp Nou alight in his first season in Spain, following a big-money move from Inter Milan.

And with David Villa moving to the club, he could see himself fall out of the side next term in the Primera Division.

Speculation has mounted regarding transfer interest from Premier League outfit Manchester City and Italian side AC Milan.

Ibrahimovic is thought to favour a move to the Rossoneri over a switch to City, because of the lure of UEFA Champions League football.

His agent Mino Raiola wants to get the ball rolling and sort out the forward's future, although he expects it will be a long summer.

He said: "I want to advance this subject soon but I think that this summer it will be very long for the operations."

Rosell has recently taken over from Joan Laporta as Barca president, and Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas is thought to be his number one target

Manchester City are close to completing a £25 million deal to sign Yaya Toure from Barcelona, according to the player's agent.

Toure has long been linked with a move to the Premier League and it seems City have beaten Chelsea to the signing of the highly-rated holding midfielder, despite not playing in the Champions League next season.

Agent Dimitri Seluk, who is due to hold final talks with new Barcelona president Sandro Rosell, said: "I think we will probably close his departure very soon. It is likely to be this week but at the moment we can't announce anything."

"I haven't spoken to Rosell but I will speak to him before anything is closed. [Joan] Laporta is the president until 30 June but I have to speak to Rosell and know his opinion because he is the new president."

Ivory Coast international Toure is expected to formally complete the deal after the World Cup, which ends on June 11, and will team up with his brother, Kolo, at Eastlands.

Last minute U-turn from the Ivorian?

Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure's future looks set to be resolved shortly with Sport reporting that Barcelona have almost concluded a deal with Manchester City, however the players agent has now claimed that Toure's preference is to remain at Camp Nou.

It is understood that the Spanish champions will receive an initial fee of between €25-27 million for the 27-year-old with other variables depending on his performance with the Citizens.

Dimitri Seluk, Toure's representative has told COM Radio that even though talks are progressing "very well" with the Premier League outfit, the player would prefer to stay with Barca and declared that he will be speaking to incoming president Sandro Rosell before completing the move to City.

"I will talk to him [Rosell] before closing the transaction to know his opinion. We all want to stay and everything is fine except one thing: playing 65 per cent of the minutes. That's not enough for a player of his category. "

The Spanish Supercopa will be played over the coach of two matches, rather than as a one match final...

As reported by Marca, the Spanish Supercopa to be played in August between Liga champions Barcelona and Copa del Rey winners Sevilla will be a two-legged affair rather than a single final.

The Supercopa's format was announced today by the Spanish Football Federation's Secretary General Jorge Perez, confirming the decision to opt for a home and away leg instead of a one-match final as was previously lobbied for by both Barcelona and Sevillla, the latter of which wanted to have the extra rest so to prepare for their Champions League qualifying matches.

The exact dates of the Supercopa have not yet been determined, but the tentative calendar is set for the first leg being played on the weekend of August 14/15  at Sevilla's Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium while the return leg will be played on the weekend of August 21/22 at the Camp Nou.

Become a fan of Goal.com International on Facebook! Just click onto Facebook.com/Goal to join the beautiful game's leading fan community...

Polls indicate former vice-president will replace Laporta

Sandro Rosell appears poised to replace Joan Laporta as the new president of Barcelona, according to polls which suggest he has won 62 per cent of the vote.

According to local television and radio stations, former club vice-president Rosell is understood to have secured more votes than the remaining candidates combined.

Agusti Benedito, Marc Ingla and Jaume Ferrer were also in the running to succeed Laporta, with more than 53,000 socios voting on Sunday - the highest ever turn-out for Barcelona's presidential elections.

Rosell, if confirmed, will take over from former colleague Laporta, who led Barca to 12 trophies in his seven-year tenure, but fell out with Rosell in 2005, when the former vice-president tendered his resignation.

The outgoing president had favoured Ferrer as his successor, but was criticised for making that choice public.

In response, he said: "I think I should be allowed to give my opinion as president on who should be the new president."

He added: "I have positioned myself in favour of the candidacy that I believe will be the best option to safeguard the future of the club."

Rowing in same direction

Rosell, though, wants to put his differences with Laporta and the other candidates aside after the elections.

"From tomorrow we all have to row in the same direction," he said upon casting his vote.

Laporta took over as president from Joan Gaspart in 2003, but failed to fulfil his election pledge of bringing David Beckham to Camp Nou.

That deal failed to materialise as the former England captain opted to join Real Madrid, but Laporta's decision to sign Ronaldinho proved an ever better move as Barcelona, following a trophyless first season, went on to win two league titles and a Champions League crown under coach Frank Rijkaard, also appointed by Laporta.

The Barca president survived a confidence vote after two years without a trophy as Rijkaard lost control of the dressing room and Ronaldinho lost his shape.

But success on the field returned under Pep Guardiola, who has led the club to seven trophies in two seasons, including all six on offer in 2009.

Laporta has been accused of mixing the club with his own political agenda as well as using the Barca brand for his own personal gain. But the president says he will leave with his conscience clear.

"I am happy - I leave with the sensation of having accomplished my mission," he said after casting his vote on Sunday.

Xavi Hernandez is delighted to have secured a deal that will keep him at the Club until 2016. He told us “I want to hang up my boots here”.

Xavi spoke to Barca TV and fcbarcelona.cat on Tuesday after rumours had circulated that he could be put on the transfer list depending on who wins the upcoming presidential elections: “I wanted to know that I’m not going anywhere. I’m very grateful to President Laporta and to director of sport Txiki Begiristain because they listened to me. It’s what I want. I’m a big Barca fan and I’m very happy”.

Through to retirement

Xavi will remain under contract with Barca until 2014 at least and now has the chance to extend his career at the Club until 2016, when he’ll be 36: “I’ve been involved with Barca all my life, coming up through the ranks, and I’d like to hang up my boots here. My only objective is to retire here”.

Laporta: “It’s a really nice story”

Joan Laporta was equally pleased with the deal and revealed that there had been a three-way agreement on the terms between Xavi, the Club and Laporta himself: “It’s great news for the Club. Xavi’s story is a really nice one. A boy who played in the youth teams and made his first team debut when he was 18”. Xavi is now every close to beating Migueli’s all-time record of appearances for Barca.

Winning ways

According to the Club president, Xavi has plenty of ambition left: “Xavi told me that they’re going to keep on winning”.

However, on a more personal note, Mr Laporta told us: “We should be grateful to Xavi. From the moment he became one of the captains of the team, with players like Puyol, Iniesta, Valdés, Messi and Piqué, he has shown the personal and sporting profile which proves that the youth academy has triumphed”.

Yaya Toure's agent Dimitri Seluk claims the Barcelona midfielder could be used as part payment in a deal to sign Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal.

Fabregas has long been linked with a return to Barca, the club where he learned his trade as a youngster before moving to the Gunners seven years ago, and the Catalan giants had a £29 million offer for the Spain international rejected last week.

The addition of Ivory Coast midfielder Toure to any deal could persuade Arsenal to part with their skipper, although the club have insisted they do not want to sell.

Toure had been expected to move to Manchester City to join his brother Kolo, but now Seluk believes his client could be on the way to the Emirates Stadium.

"There's a lot of interest in the deal," Seluk told Rac-1. "Arsene Wenger likes him and Arsenal are interested. If the conditions are good, everything can be finished soon.

"He could come into the Cesc deal and Barca and Arsenal are struggling to come to an agreement.

"Everything has changed with City, because they talk a lot but then afterwards they don't appear to be a rich club but rather a bankrupt one."

Barca confirmed on Monday they had slapped a €35 million price-tag on Toure, something which Seluk last week insisted was too high.

Toure was a key member of the Barca side that lifted six trophies in 2009 and he extended his stay at the Nou Camp only last summer, but he appeared to fall out of favour in the latter part of the season.

Barca president Joan Laporta is resigned to letting Toure go, and feels Arsenal must be prepared to do the same with Fabregas.

He said: "If a player of this characteristics, who also has the privilege of being Arsenal captain, announces to the club that he understands his time there has come to an end and he wants to continue his career at a club like Barca...

"I always want players in my club who want to be there and they should have that commitment.

"If a player shows legitimately that he does not want to be at Barca, immediately I open the doors and defend the interests of the club, but I try to reconcile them with those of the player and the buying club."

Yaya Toure is believed to favour a move to Chelsea as his time at Barcelona approaches an acrimonious end.

Manchester City and Arsenal are also interested, while Manchester United have also been linked with the Ivory Coast midfielder in Spanish reports.

The 27-year-old is ready to quit the Nou Camp after failing to hold down a first-team place last season.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola and outgoing president Joan Laporta insist Toure is a valued member of the playing staff, but the former Monaco player is not prepared to play second fiddle to Sergio Busquets and the attempted signing of Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal could limit his opportunities even further.

Manchester City officials reportedly met with Toure at the end of last week and are said to have discussed a £17million offer.

Barca want at least £20m, while the player is thought to prefer a move to Chelsea, despite his bother Kolo playing at Eastlands.

Carlo Ancelotti needs to strengthen his Stamford Bridge midfield ahead of the departures of Deco and Juliano Belletti, while Joe Cole and Michael Ballack look increasingly unlikely to sign new contracts.

Barca striker feels settled in Spain

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's agent claims his client is happy at Barcelona and is paying little notice to speculation regarding his future.

The Swede has seen his position at Camp Nou come under threat following the big-money arrival of David Villa.

Barca are reported to have moved for the Spain international after being left disappointed by Ibrahimovic's contribution in 2009/10.

It is claimed they are prepared to cut their losses and move him on, with various teams said to be keen on the languid frontman.

Ibrahimovic's agent insists there is no truth in these stories, though, and maintains the former Juventus and Inter Milan ace will still be in Catalunya next season.

"According to the papers Zlatan has already signed for Juventus, Manchester City and Real Madrid, but (Barca president Joan) Laporta has said that he is not for sale," Mino Raiola told Sky Italia.

Challenge

"He is happy at Barcelona. He was hoping for a different end to the season, but he scored 22 goals and his first year was quite positive.

"AC Milan? They have never asked about Zlatan, this is a story invented by the press.

"Ibra has never thought that Barcelona would be his last club, he's like (Jose) Mourinho and if he can win everything with Barca he will need a new challenge.

"English football could interest him because it would be a big test.

"Everything will depend on the club and the move coming at the right time. His future at the moment is still in Barcelona."

Barca central defender Gerard Pique issued comments on Madrid's star coach signing...

With Real Madrid confirmed as Jose Mourinho's next destination, the Special One's arrival in La Liga was the subject of conversation in the Spanish national team's post-training interviews at Las Rozas.

Speaking about the Portuguese's imminent arrival, Barcelona central defender Gerard Pique wished to dispel the notion that Mourinho was signed as a counter to Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, but rather by his own merits as a coach.

"Mourinho is a winner and a great coach, but I don't think he was signed as an anti-Barca plan. Madrid are trying to find a way to win titles, but we will have to see if it yields results."

Pique's Madrid counterpart, Raul Albiol also commented on his new coach. "He has demonstrated with other teams what he is capable of doing and one does not need to go any further than his history. We need to begin with a lot of ambition and desire so that we don't commit the same errors as last season."

Cesc Fabregas has placed his future in the hands of Arsene Wenger and says he will not let his possible transfer to Barcelona distract him from his World Cup campaign with Spain.

Fabregas is believed to have told Arsenal he wants to leave for Barcelona this summer and bring to an end a seven-year stay in North London that has seen him mature into one of world football's leading midfielders.

Barcelona are yet to make a firm offer for the player who quit their youth academy to join the Gunners in 2003, but the Spanish champions revealed on Tuesday that initial contact had been made between the two clubs.

Fabregas has spoken of the "respect" he has for Wenger after confirming he held a lengthy conversation with the Arsenal manager, and says his destiny will now be determined by his club, leaving him free to focus on the World Cup.

"I will only say one thing, I have great respect for Arsene Wenger, for Arsenal Football Club and for the Arsenal fans," Fabregas said in a press conference. "Sometimes not even in my house have I felt more loved than I have at Arsenal.

"I had a long conversation with Arsene, it is probably the greatest conversation I have had with someone in my life, and I respect him so much and I don't want to say too much about this.

"He told me to concentrate on my football, to concentrate on the World Cup. He told me to leave it in his hands and he will deal with whatever happens for my future. That is what I'm doing: concentrate on my football.

"It is not up to me anymore, it is just now about Arsenal and however it has to be, that is it. I don't want to say anything else, I just want to be focused on the World Cup because it is the most important thing. The rest is the future, and I am not interested in the future."

Fabregas missed the conclusion of the Premier League season due to a fractured leg but says he is recovering well ahead of the finals in South Africa.

"The feelings couldn't be better after training three days normally," Fabregas said. "Now it's as if I'm in pre-season, I have heavy legs which is normal at the start."

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol stepped up the public campaign for his club to sign Cesc Fabregas by insisting the Arsenal captain was 'perfect' for the Nou Camp.

Fabregas's father had earlier called on Arsenal to respect his son's wishes and allow the 23-year-old to return home to Catalonia.

And Barca director director general Joan Oliver warned the Gunners they were ready for a long fight to complete the deal.

Puyol said: 'Cesc is an excellent player and a great friend. For me, he would be perfect for Barcelona. I would love to see him with the azulgrana, but we need to respect that he has a contract with his club.'

Puyol, who is on international duty with Fabregas ahead of the World Cup, observed: 'It's very unusual to see Cesc nervous, but all this is a little problematic for him, because it's a matter that is being talked about daily and he has fans, a coach and team-mates that he needs to respect.'

Fabregas's father, Francesc Snr, said: 'Arsenal have to respect the decision and the will of the player,' said Francesc Snr.

'Negotiations between Arsenal and Barcelona will be very long. Both sides are going to have to sit several times because the issue is complicated.

'Cesc is now focused on the Spanish team but what he wants is to close the signing soon. 

'He has always responded to Arsene Wenger with his work and we are also grateful to Arsenal because they made my son a great player. We just want this to end soon.

'At the moment he has a contract with Arsenal. I get the feeling that the English club do not want to sell but in the end will finally give in and let Cesc go.'

The Catalans feel they have the upper hand in negotiations because the Spain midfielder has told Wenger he wants to leave the Emirates Stadium.

And despite the Gunners demanding £80million for a player who Barca value at £30m, Nou Camp director general Joan Oliver insists he is prepared to play a waiting game.

'The worst thing we can do is fix ourselves a deadline,' he said. 'The only time limit we have is when the window closes, at the end of August.'

Arsenal have scuppered hopes of an early deal and sources in Spain suggest Joan Laporta has now decided not to get involved with negotiations before he leaves office on June 30.

His successor, elected on June 13, will have to complete the deal, though Nou Camp insiders will continue to work on it.

It seems increasingly unlikely that the impasse will be broken before the World Cup, especially as Fabregas is now turning his full attention to the tournament in South Africa.

The player is said to have told friends that he is '500 per cent' sure of re-joining the club where he came through the youth ranks, but it is suggested he will not come out and make public a demand to leave Arsenal.

Barca insiders hoped Fabregas would make a declaration to strengthen their hand further, though they are confident it is a case of when and not if the deal is concluded.

Oliver said: 'All there is right now is interest that the player has shown in Barcelona and our initial contact with Arsenal.

'There hasn't been an official offer from Barca yet or a price from Arsenal. Everything is just speculation. Barca have of course put a limit on what we are willing to spend I'm not telling you what it is.

'If we reach an agreement, he'll come and if not, he'll stay at Arsenal.

'There is money to buy him because the club's finances are strong and we have credit from other clubs. For example, we're paying for (David) Villa in installments.'

However, Alexander Hleb, who regrets making the move from Arsenal to Barcelona two years ago, has advised his former team-mate to stay in the Barclays Premier League.

'I stay in touch with Cesc a lot,' the Belarus midfielder told the Daily Mirror. 'He and Gael Clichy are both very good players who must make their own decisions about their future. But I would advise them to stay.

'It didn't work out for Arsenal this season but, if Arsene Wenger keeps the side together, they can really go far next year.

'They play great football.I think they have a very good chance of the title next season.'

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has appeared to distance himself from a move to Manchester City or Chelsea, with the Barcelona forward admitting he might be put off a transfer to England because of the weather.

Last week Sportsmail exclusively revealed that Barca president Joan Laporta is keen to offload Ibrahimovic having secured the signing of David Villa for £34million, and has offered the Sweden striker to both City and Chelsea for around £40m.

But City's hopes, in particular, of signing Ibrahimovic appear to have suffered a setback with his admission that he does not like rain. Manchester endures a reputation as a notoriously soggy city.

Discussing a potential switch to the Premier League Ibrahimovic said: 'England doesn't feel close. I don't like rain.'

Despite his comments either of the big-spending English clubs reamins the ex-Inter Milan star's most likely desination this summer. Barca's huge asking price puts the striker beyond the grasp even of many of Europe's top clubs, but the English duo's billionaire backers would finance a move if the deal were right.

Ibrahimovic has endured a disappointing first season in Spain since his mega-money move from Italy last summer for £40m plus Samuel Eto'o.

The 28-year-old striker managed just 16 league goals in a free-scoring Barcelona side that clinched the La Liga crown. He was named on the bench for four of Barca's last six league fixtures.

Ibrahimovic also revealed that he would not consider a move back home to Sweden at any point in his career. He said: 'Football will always be in my heart, it is a part of me, but I will not make any guest appearances in the Allsvenka [Swedish domestic league].

'Not as an active player at least. Maybe I can contribute my knowledge to Swedish football in some other way.' 

Gerard Pique is "convinced" that Cesc Fabregas will follow his lead and turn his back on English football in order to return to Barcelona this summer, despite Arsenal remaining adamant their captain will not be sold.

Fabregas is believed to have informed Arsene Wenger of his desire to end his seven-year stay at Arsenal and rejoin Barcelona, the club he left as a 16-year-old in order to move to the Premier League.

At Barcelona's La Masia academy, Fabregas forged strong relationships with team-mates Lionel Messi and Pique, and the latter emulated Fabregas in 2004 when opting to turn down a deal at Barca and join Manchester United.

Pique returned to Camp Nou in 2008 though and promptly won the Treble with Pep Guardiola's side. Now he fully expects that Fabregas will also come home to Catalunya and become Barca's second star signing of the summer after Spain striker David Villa.

"I had a similar situation at Manchester United," said Pique in the Daily Mirror. "I am a Barcelona fan, I wanted to return and I am convinced that Cesc will come here.

"I am enjoying the best years of my life and my career here and I think that's why Cesc wants to come. He would fit in well. I found it impossible to resist a return to Barcelona. If he comes along with David Villa then we will have a team the envy of the world."

It is believed that Barcelona are yet to make any formal approach for the midfielder although Fabregas has signalled that he feels the time is right to end his time in England, with concerns over a lack of investment in the Arsenal squad reportedly at the forefront of his mind.

Arsenal are unwilling to sanction the departure of the player who is integral to Arsene Wenger's plans, and chairman Peter Hill-Wood has said: "We are not remotely interested in selling him."

This is a stance firmly supported by the manager, who added: "The chairman told you the story. The more you speak the less good it is."

Reports in Thursday's papers claim a transfer fee could be worth anything from £30 million to £80 million for a player who is on a long-term contract at Emirates Stadium.

Barcelona have snapped up Spain striker David Villa for $49.66 million just days after winning the Spanish Primera Division.

The addition of the prolific Valencia striker adds to an already formidable squad that won the league by a record 99 points ahead of Real Madrid.

And it could spell the end of France marksman Thierry Henry's spell at the club.

After a board meeting at Valencia in the morning, their president Manuel Llorente said they had accepted Barca's offer for the striker who scored 21 league goals last season to finish his fifth consecutive campaign as the club's top scorer.

"We have sold David Villa to Barcelona for 40 million euros," he told a news conference at the Mestalla.

On the international stage, Villa is Spain's second highest scorer with 36 goals from 55 matches, eight short of Raul's record, and he will be spearheading Spain's World Cup campaign in South Africa next month.

Barcelona confirmed the deal in a statement on their website, saying the 28-year-old would sign a four-year contract with an option for one more year.

The player, who Barca said "guaranteed goals", will travel to Barcelona on Thursday and will take a medical before being presented on Friday.

At Barcelona he will join a formidable forward line that already includes La Liga's leading marksman Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pedro Rodriguez and Bojan Krkic.

Henry spent most of last season on the bench and is expected to move on.

Precarious finances

Valencia have been forced into the sale by the precarious nature of their finances.

They are burdened with debts of around $620.8 million, they have a half-built new stadium, and have yet to sell the Mestalla.

"The board's principle objective is to make sure we have economic viability for the future," Llorente said on Wednesday.

"We are obliged to take responsible decisions. Considering our situation it is responsible to sell this player.

"As everyone knows we could have done this deal last year but we thought at that moment it was best to keep our squad together to try and get into the Champions League.

"We have achieved that aim and finished third in the league, and he has contributed a lot towards this. We think it is good sale and necessary for the economic situation of the club."

LEGEND IS BORN: Lionel Messi, from Argentina, now matches the record mark of Brazilian Ronaldo, who scored 34 goals for Barca back in the 1997 season

Barcelona made it four league titles in six seasons as they retained the La Liga crown on the final day of the season with a 4-0 win over Valladolid on Sunday to finish three points ahead of arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Barcelona knew one more win would see them crowned champions and after a nervous start, the Catalans coasted to victory with Lionel Messi scoring a brace for his 33rd and 34th goals of a terrific season.

Ballon D’Or winner Messi, 22, wins his first Pichichi trophy for the league’s top-scorer while Barcelona’s 99 points is the highest ever in the Spanish league.

“Real [Madrid] had a great season and made life tough for us, but we fought hard to win this title with a huge points tally,” captain Carles Puyol said. “It is really nice to celebrate this title in front of our fans. We have had some difficult moments and they really helped us get through them.”

Real Madrid drew 1-1 at Malaga as their 250 million euro (US$317.4 million) spending frenzy failed to bring a single title for the second successive season. It is a second league title in his two seasons at the helm for coach Pep Guardiola who also won the Spanish and European Super Cups this year along with a first ever Club World Cup.

For Real, their huge summer outlay on “Galacticos” has proved in vain and the writing looks to be on the wall for coach Manuel Pellegrini with Inter manager Jose Mourinho, who celebrated the Italian title on Sunday, strongly linked with the job.

“We can’t say it’s been a good season if we haven’t won a title,” Pellegrini said. “It is not easy making a team with a new coach and players, but I can not evaluate my own work. I have one more year left on my contract and that’s all there is to say.”

Midfield playmaker Xavi was suspended for Barcelona on Sunday so Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure came in and Guardiola went with Bojan Krkic, Pedro and Messi in attack.

Barcelona had an early scare when Mateus Manucho forced a fine save from Victor Valdes in the fourth minute and nerves were jangling at Camp Nou.

However, Barca took the lead on 27 minutes when defender Luis Prieto sliced Pedro Rodriguez’s harmless cross into his own net.

Four minutes later, Messi released Pedro who slotted through the goalkeeper’s legs for his 12th goal of the season.

At half-time, Barcelona were almost home as Real failed to make a fight of it trailing 1-0 at Malaga.

Real fell behind on nine minutes with a neat back-heel from Salvador Caicedo releasing Sergio Duda to score.

Cristiano Ronaldo, on 26 goals for the season, had a header tipped over and a free-kick punched away in the first half.

Minutes after the break Real equalized through Rafael van der Vaart with the Dutch midfielder turning neatly and getting a snapshot away into the corner.

A draw would not have done for Real in any case and it didn’t seem to matter as Messi scored to make it 3-0 against Valladolid on 61 minutes.

Yaya Toure made the goal with a surging run past two defenders and his perfect cut-back gave Messi the easiest of tap-ins. Toure set up Messi again on 75 minutes with the Argentine’s quick feet and shot making it 4-0 and 34 goals for the season.

Messi matches the record mark of Brazilian Ronaldo, who scored 34 goals for Barcelona in the 1997 season.

The defeat meant Valladolid joined Xerez and Tenerife in being relegated while Malaga and Racing Santander, 2-0 winners over Sporting Gijon, survived.

Tenerife lost 1-0 at Valencia while Xerez drew 1-1 with Osasuna on Sunday.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola saluted his players for retaining the La Liga title, but admitted he felt his team should also be in Saturday's Champions League final at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Barcelona crushed Valladolid 4-0 on Sunday at Camp Nou to lift their fourth league title in six seasons and celebrate their title triumph with their jubilant fans.

Barcelona followed up last season's historic treble with four trophies with the league, the Spanish and European Super Cups and World Club Championship but Guardiola felt the absence of the Champions League left a bitter taste.

"This is a day for great celebration and after winning three titles last season we have won four more," said Guardiola.

"It was a really tough season and small details stopped us getting through to the Champions League final in Madrid. We owe the fans. We had to be in the final on Saturday but we aren't and we will try to win it next season."

Holders Barcelona were eliminated 3-2 over two legs by Inter Milan at the Champions League semi-final stage to miss out on a dream final at the Santiago Bernabeu, the home of bitter rivals Real Madrid.

"As the coach said we owe you (the fans) one and we hope to celebrate a Champions League win again in Wembley (the venue for the 2011 final) next season," said midfielder Xavi.

Guardiola praised the fans for picking the team up after that setback as they went on to notch a league record 99 points to finish three points ahead of Real Madrid in the league title race.

"I would like to thank the fans for how they helped us after we lost that tie," added Guardiola.

"Real had an exceptional season with a lot of points and we had to get 99 points to win the title.

"I would like to congratulate Real for a great season. They have a great squad and are capable of reinforcing the team for next season so it will be difficult for us."

Captain Carles Puyol also praised arch-rivals for Real for their own league record of 96 points.

"We have to congratulate Real for a great season but there can only be one team that can be champions," said Puyol.

"Real made life tough for us but we fought hard to win this title with a huge points tally.

"It is really nice to celebrate this title in front of our fans. We have had some difficult moments and they really helped us get through them."

Guardiola has now won two league titles in his two seasons in charge but there will be change in the summer with president Joan Laporta, the man that hired him, leaving after seven years at the helm.

Laporta has put the emphasis on bringing players through the youth system and called on the club to follow the blueprint for future success.

"This is the model that works and has been proven," said Laporta. "I hope it is followed for many more years."

Barcelona will need to keep the euphoria in check if they are to hold onto the La Liga title in what promises to be a nerve-jangling final day of the Spanish season on Sunday.

The champions are at home to Real Valladolid (1700 GMT) and have a one-point lead and the head-to-head advantage over chasing Real Madrid.

At the same time, their arch-rivals visit Malaga, where a victory and a Barca slip up is the only way Real can avoid finishing a second consecutive season without a trophy.

Both Valladolid and Malaga, along with three other sides, are fighting to avoid relegation to the second division.

Last weekend's nervy 3-2 win away to Sevilla saw Barca''s players celebrating on the pitch having overcome what had been considered the toughest obstacle left for them, but captain Carles Puyol sounded a note of caution.

"It's a difficult game against a side that is fighting to stay in the league. It won't be a stroll in the park," the Spanish international told reporters. "We''ll have to control the anxiety."

Barca have the mixed blessing of playing in front of their own fans at the Nou Camp but face a wily opponent in the shape of former Spain boss Javier Clemente, who has been brought in to try and save Valladolid from relegation.

"Miracles don't exist in football, but surprises do," Clemente told daily Sport.

Guardiola, who played under Clemente with Spain at the World Cup finals in 1994, will be without suspended playmaker Xavi but could have Andres Iniesta back from injury as a replacement.

Calculators and pens

A victory for Real in Malaga would see them finish the season with 98 points which is enough to have taken the title every year since the league began. But it will not be enough if Barca also win to move onto 99.

Coach Manuel Pellegrini is having to prepare for the weekend with the local press talking up the possibility of Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho being brought in as his replacement next season.

"I have a year left on my contract and whether we win or lose (the title) should not condition Madrid''s future," the Chilean told reporters.

"You can't say this has been a lesser project when you consider how many points we have achieved."

On Saturday (2000), fourth-placed Sevilla visit Almeria where a victory would secure them the final Champions League qualification slot. They have a one-point advantage over fifth-placed Real Mallorca, who host Espanyol.

At the foot of the table, the three relegation slots will be decided on Sunday (1700) with Valladolid, Racing Santander, Malaga and Tenerife tied on 36 points, three ahead of bottom club Xerez.

With the head-to-head rule deciding matters for those who finish level on points, fans will be reaching for their calculators and pens to work out the complicated consequences of each goal as events unfold during the evening.

The Spanish international is set to return to action in the final match of the season...

Whatever reservations were held about Barcelona's chances of easily shoring up the Liga title against Valladolid at the Camp Nou on Sunday have been put to rest as Andres Iniesta is set to make his return from injury.

As reported by Sport, the Spanish international returned to training today and is likely to start in this Sunday's Liga match which will see Barca clinch the title if they win. Iniesta, who turns 26 years old today and was congratulated by his team-mates at training, suffered a hamstring tear that kept him out for over a month, during which time Barca were eliminated from the Champions League.

Iniesta is set to take on Xavi Hernandez's role in the attacking midfield as his compatriot has been ruled out of Sunday's match because of suspension.

Row over TV revenue threatens to create a schism between the country's leading clubs

After successfully running away with Spain's league championship this season, turning the title race into a straight shootout between the country's top two football teams, now Barcelona and Real Madrid could break away from the league altogether.

Spain's two biggest clubs are among the teams calling for the Primera Division to follow the example of rival European leagues and split from Spain's second tier Segunda Division in a row over television revenue that threatens to create a schism between the country's leading contenders.

The teams in favor of breaking away from the Spanish football league, known as the LFP, agreed at a Monday meeting in Madrid to initiate official talks over separating the top two divisions. Some of Europe's leading leagues have split in the past: The Premier League split from the Football League in England back in 1992, while the Italian top-flight, Serie A, will officially separate from Serie B in July.

Barcelona and Real Madrid were among the 11 teams to have requested the meeting, which lasted several hours and concluded with 15 of the 20 Primera Division clubs voting in favor of a breakaway. A series of meetings will begin after June 21 to hammer out the details before the start of the 2010-2011 season this fall.

"The Primera Division clubs have decided to initiate a debate aimed at creating new rules of organization and development exclusively for the Primera Division which will allow it to compete in the same conditions as the big European leagues, where the Primera and Segunda Divisions are separated," an LFP statement said. "The new system of organization and development will allow a much more attractive and better-run competition."

While the statement also said mechanisms would be established to control club's finances, most observers acknowledge that this proposed agreement isn't so much about restructuring Spanish football but about distributing television revenue.

Unlike the top leagues in England, France, Germany and Italy, which sell their broadcast rights collectively, Spanish football allows teams to negotiate television deals individually. By bargaining separately, Barcelona and Real Madrid—the country's strongest teams—collect roughly half of the €520 million ($ 665 million) a year that the league generates from broadcasters. The rest of the country's professional clubs, many of which are in dire financial trouble, are left to fight for the remainder.

That situation has created a gulf between Spain's elite teams, underscored by current standings: Barça is in first with 96 points, with Real second at 95. Valencia is in third, 28 points adrift and closer to 15th-place Zaragoza than the top two. Assuming both Real and Barcelona win their final games this weekend, the gap over the third-place team will be the largest since 1928.

"There is an imbalance at the top of the Spanish league with Real Madrid and Barcelona possessing all the hype and all the money," said Alex Fynn, a football consultant who advised the English Football Association over the creation of the Premier League.

In an effort to redress that imbalance, 27 of Spain's top-42 teams reached an agreement of their own at the LFP's general assembly this week, asking the Spanish government to regulate the sale of television rights and introduce legislation forcing clubs to negotiate broadcast deals collectively, said Carlos Campos, the league's general secretary.

Yet the clubs behind the push for a breakaway league are likely to resist any attempt to create a more equitable distribution of television revenue. Barcelona director Joan Oliver says the club is "radically" opposed to any attempt to alter its business model—a structure that has seen Spain's top two clubs become the richest in the world, according to accounting firm Deloitte LP's annual review of football finances.

The current impasse has raised the prospect of Spain's poorer teams going on an unprecedented strike, leaving the Primera and Segunda divisions with eight teams each next season. Although the players union staged a walkout in 1984, football clubs themselves have never gone on strike.

Without the money earned from the sale of broadcast rights—both Barcelona and Real Madrid are midway through seven-year deals with the Spanish broadcaster Mediaproduccion SL valued at roughly €1 billion each—the two clubs would fall behind Manchester United in Deloitte's rankings.

"The benefit to Real and Barcelona is so huge they will not negotiate collective rights," says Guillem Balague, a Spanish football analyst. "It is very difficult to convince them and the domestic league is affected by it. As long as they have individual rights they are very strong in Europe."

But Mr. Fynn believes the country's elite clubs will eventually be forced to adopt a fairer system. "The current system is unfair and unwise," he said. "You cannot measure a country's football strength by two clubs. Spanish football, and by extension the Spanish national team, would be stronger with a more equitable distribution of television money."

The Brazilian left-back will be unavailable for Barca's final match of the season...

Barcelona left-back Maxwell will be out for three weeks after suffering a muscle injury in the Blaugrana's weekend match at Sevilla, reports Marca.

The Brazilian has a hamstring tear in his right leg which will require a recovery period of at least three weeks, thus ruling him out of this Sunday's match at the Camp Nou against Valladolid. It is a match which will determine whether or not Barca take home a second consecutive Liga title.

Maxwell's injury has coincided with French left-back Eric Abidal's return from a six-week spell out with injury. The Frenchman replaced Maxwell in Saturday's match and is expected to start this Sunday's fixture.

Barcelona moved to within a whisker of a second straight La Liga crown when Lionel Messi, Bojan Krkic and Pedro earned a nervy 3-2 win at 10-man Sevilla on Saturday.

Real Madrid kept the gap to one point with one match left when a late flurry of goals gave them a 5-1 victory at home to Athletic Bilbao, who also had a player sent off, but Barca now only need a win at home. Barca beat arch rivals Real in both this season's "Clasicos" and have lost only once all season, scoring 94 goals and conceding 24.  They extended their record points tally to 96 from 37 matches with Real in second on 95 and Valencia trailing on 68. La Liga top scorer Messi put them in front in the fifth minute at the Sanchez Pizjuan when he controlled Maxwell's pass on his chest and drilled a low shot past goalkeeper Andres Palop for his 32nd of the season. A sublime first-time pass from midfielder Xavi sent teenager Bojan clear to score a second for the visitors in the 28th and Barca looked to be cruising when Pedro added a third with a snap shot from the edge of the area in the 62nd. Two Sevilla goals inside three second-half minutes from Frederic Kanoute and Luis Fabiano set Barca's nerves jangling. The final whistle prompted wild celebrations from the Barca players and their knot of travelling fans high in the stands.  At the Bernabeu, a Gonzalo Higuain shot struck the hand of Fernando Amorebieta in the penalty area in the 20th minute and the referee showed the Bilbao defender a straight red card.  Ronaldo sent goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz the wrong way with the spot kick but Real were stunned four minutes before the break when midfielder Fran Yeste burst clear and finished with aplomb past Iker Casillas. With the score at 1-1 and Barca winning in Sevilla, Real's title hopes were slipping away but Higuain, Sergio Ramos substitute Karim Benzema and Marcelo struck four goals in the last 20 minutes to keep Real hot on Barca's heels.

Dani Alves has his sights on claiming a second consecutive Liga trophy with Barcelona and hopes to do it on his former club's pitch....

In an exclusive interview with Marca, Barcelona right-back Dani Alves declared his desire to win the Liga title on Saturday as Barca travel to Andalusia to face his former club Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan.

Should Barcelona beat Sevilla and Madrid manage to dispatch Athletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu, the Liga title would be decided in the final match of the season, but Alves hopes that Madrid slip up this weekend so that a Blaugrana win against Sevilla would guarantee the Catalans a second consecutive Liga title.

Alves, who turned 27 today, also defended Zlatan Ibrahimovic's performances with Barca and acknowledged Jose Mourinho's ability to stymie the Barca attack after Inter eliminated the Blaugrana from the Champions League in last week's semi-final.

It has been a while since a Müller hat trick won the Bundesliga title for Bayern Munich, but it happened at the weekend when three goals from 20-year-old Thomas Müller effectively sealed Munich’s first trophy of the season after a 3-1 victory over Bochum.

He struck with his chest, his head and his foot. Gerd Müller, the original “Bomber” and Germany’s all-time record scorer, used to do that sort of thing all the time. And though they are unrelated, there is a connection: Gerd, now 64, remains a coach, an example, to Bayern’s apprentices.

Speak of youth, and Barcelona can never be out of the equation. On Saturday, three days after its elimination from the Champions League, Barça resorted to type, selected eight players who have come through its academy, and thumped Villarreal, 4-1, away from home.

Somebody had to pay for Barcelona’s loss of a trophy, and that someone happened to be Villarreal, which had won its previous six home games.

Lionel Messi, of course, scored — twice. Xavi Hernández chipped in with a typical, immaculate Xavi free kick. But the goal of the night, a goal of audacity, intuition and skill that suggest the making of a truly prolific career, came from Bojan Krkic.

The son of a former Serbian striker of the same name, but born in Catalonia, Bojan is 19. He is built in the small, swift mold of Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Pedro Rodríguez.

And judging from the especially warm hug Bojan got from his coach, Pep Guardiola, it will be a surprise if speculation in the Spanish media is true: They think that Barcelona’s response to its European failure last week is to buy Valencia’s David Villa — and to offer Bojan in part exchange.

Guardiola neither confirms nor denies the interest in the prolific Spanish striker Villa. But by preferring Bojan to Zlatan Ibraimovic and to Thierry Henry for a match that was a test of Barcelona’s character, the coach showed his hand. By hugging the teenager substituted toward the end, Guardiola demonstrably showed almost paternal pride in the “boy.”

Maybe we read too much into a gesture, but ask any coach what young, gifted, vulnerable people need after a letdown. Ask any coach at a top club what their instinct is just days after a youth has blown a shot in front of an empty net from five meters that would have kept his team in the Champions League.

The best coaches, if they believe they have the best of youngsters, put an arm around the lad and send him back into the fray.

Guardiola, still under 40 and in only his second season as Barcelona coach, knows his trade better than most. What the know-alls on studio couches said happened against Inter Milan last week, rushing to denounce Barça as a team with no Plan B, was actually wide of the mark.

Barcelona did change its game against Inter. It muscled up and tried to match the Italian champion in a physical sense.

On Saturday, it was back to the true Barça, back to the irrepressible passing and movement that most teams on earth cannot defend against. If that is Plan A, and such a very stylish Plan A that keeps Barcelona top of the Spanish league, why change it?

Two of the four goals were pure Barça. The first came when Xavi slipped the ball through the heart of Villarreal’s defense, Messi took it on his instep, swayed out of reach of the nearest defender, and then with a low shot that deflected off the boot of Diego Godin, beat the Villarreal goalkeeper, Diego López.

Bojan’s little gem was even more impudent. Xavi, then Dani Alves, played him in, but then Bojan flicked the ball to one side of the big Javier Gonzalo, darted to the other side, and with turbo pace and sure-footed finish he picked his spot to score the goal.

Think Guardiola wants to let this talent go? The coach, rather, has the problem of how and when to give a growing teenager game time in a team that is forever chasing one title or another.

Bayern Munich’s board, led by men who were legends in their own playing time, would give their eye teeth for such a product line of talent. Munich, however, has long known that Thomas Müller could be something special.

In his boyhood, with TSV Pähl, a regional club 65 kilometers, or 40 miles, from Munich, he once scored 120 goals in one season. As quickly as you could say the name Müller, he was signed up by the club where the phenomenal Gerhard Müller scored the vast bulk of his 572 goals in 669 appearances.

The older Müller retired as a Bayern player in 1979. Where he was short and stocky and relied upon an uncanny instinct and an unshakable low center of gravity, the younger Müller is taller, leaner, more versatile.

On Wednesday, when Bayern swept aside Lyon to reach the Champions League final, Müller was the provider, the hard-working foil for his Croatian co-striker Ivica Olic, who scored a hat trick.

Saturday was Müller’s turn. He could have had more goals, and so could others, as Bayern overwhelmed relegation-threatened Bochum. And while Munich was winning so easily, its crowd was singing because news arrived that Schalke, its rival for the domestic title, was losing 2-0 at home to Werder Bremen.

It had been Schalke’s presumption that Bayern, pursuing a league, Champions League and German cup treble, would slip up somewhere along the way. But it was Schalke’s nerve that failed, and Munich that now, with a 3-point lead and a goal difference 17 goals superior to anyone, will be the champion.

There are few individual gongs that elude Lionel Messi and he is fast closing in on one that is missing from his trophy cabinet: the European Golden Shoe (www.eurotopfoot.com).

The Argentina forward has 31 goals in La Liga this season after his double for Barcelona against Tenerife on Tuesday, giving him 62 points in the race to be named the continent's leading marksman with two matches still to play.

Udinese's Antonio Di Natale, Chelsea's Didier Drogba and Manchester United's Wayne Rooney, who all have 26 goals and 52 points, have a slim chance of overhauling Fifa World Player of the Year Messi, with two Serie A matches and one Premier League game left.

Gonzalo Higuain has netted 25 for Real Madrid, giving him 50 points, and has three games in which to catch his compatriot as Real have a game in hand over Barca.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola paid tribute to the prolific Messi, still only 22, who has 44 goals in all competitions and needs three more in the league to match the club record of 34 in a season set by Brazilian striker Ronaldo in 1996-97.

"He was chasing passes in second-half added time with the same enthusiasm as if it were the first minute," Guardiola said at a news conference after Barca went four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

"That's because he's a born goalscorer and he has that gift," he added.

Goals scored in Europe's top leagues like the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga are awarded two points and those in less prestigious leagues 1.5 points.

Atletico Madrid's Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan won the shoe last season with 32 goals.

After an epic 94 minutes at the Camp Nou, in a match that pitted Industry against Beauty, Industry prevailed. Barcelona failed to become the first team in Champions League history to defend their European crown, Real Madrid fans heaved a sigh of relief as their bitter rivals were ensured of not celebrating club football’s most coveted trophy in their stadium, and Jose Mourinho’s Inter put in a Herculean effort to hold Barca’s multi-headed attacking Hydra at bay.

For those who have kept close eyes on La Liga football this season, last night’s match revealed something many of us are not used to seeing: a frustrated Barca team that, despite an astonishing 78% possession, was only able to generate a handful of chances.

Inter’s defence was remarkably organised, as in the wake of Thiago Motta’s red card, Mourinho shuffled his team into a perfectly coordinated and disciplined back four preceded by a tightly-knit Sneijder-Cambiasso-Chivu triangle that refused to give the normally incisive Barca midfield a moment’s comfort. The notoriously egotistical Samuel Eto’o selflessly devoted himself to what amounted to a left-back position while Diego Milito followed suit in a slightly more advanced role on the right.

Unable to find a way through the compact walls of the Nerazzurri fortress, Barca were forced to search for a way around it as they filtered the ball out to the wings with the hope of breaking down the Italian defence by way of runs in from the flanks or crosses into the box. As the match waned, the Blaugrana players even began to take uncharacteristically desperate pot-shots at Julio Cesar’s goal from outside the box - which begs the question: if Andres Iniesta, currently suffering a month-long absence due to injury, had been fit for his side, would Barca have been able to crack the Inter blockade?

A left-sided midfielder, Iniesta customarily pairs with Xavi in the attacking midfield - the yin to Xavi’s yang - creating a nearly unstoppable two-pronged passing attack. With his deft control and darting runs, ability to shield off and weasel past multiple defenders (despite his diminutive stature), and clairvoyant passing, it is certainly conceivable, if not probable, that had Iniesta been able to play in last night’s match, Barca would have been able to find the two goals they so desperately needed to progress to the final. Instead, Xavi was left far too isolated, Messi was forced to withdraw out to midfield, and the onus of scoring was placed on players like Bojan, Pedro, and Jeffren.

Of course, when one opens up such speculative debate, one opens up a Pandora’s box of “what ifs”. What if Goran Pandev had not succumbed to injury moments before the match? Would Inter then have had the offensive skill to score the crucial away goal to put the match out of reach? Oddly enough, Chivu’s insertion into the starting line-up in Pander’s stead saved Mourinho a valuable substitution when Motta was sent off. What if Busquets had been shown a yellow card for simulation instead of Motta seeing red? What if Bojan had been able to head home Messi’s sublime chip? What if Gerard Pique had been rightfully called offside? What if Bojan’s goal had stood instead of being disallowed by a mistaken handball call on Yaya Toure?

The point is that it serves no purpose to speculate what might have been. With or without Iniesta, Barca outplayed Inter last night and in his post-match comments, even Mourinho acknowledged that Barcelona are the best team in the world. But as the result indicates, over the course of this particular two-legged semi-final tie, Inter were the meritorious winners and Mourinho deserves his ostentatious celebration.

FC Barcelona will not be going to the 2010 Champions League final. They dominated Inter Milan tonight, but the goals just would not come. Gerard Pique’s 83rd minute goal set up a gripping finale but it is the Italians that will be going to Madrid

The fans responded in incredible fashion, creating one of the most electric atmospheres the Camp Nou has ever seen. But there was an increasing sense of frustration as Barça’s almost uninterrupted possession of the ball, which reached 84% at one point, was constantly thwarted by the incredibly tight defence deployed by Jose Mourinho. Inter played the last hour with only ten men following Thiago Motta’s red card, yet their tiredness rarely showed. At last, when Pique finally found the net, there were renewed roars of expectation from the crowd. But ultimately it wasn’t to be, and the night ended in bitter disappointment for the team and its ever-faithful fans.

Dominance but no danger

Almost all ninety minutes of the game followed the same pattern. Barça wanted to hold onto the ball, and Inter seemed quite happy to let them. But extremely tight defending, coupled with some often overly-reckless tackling saw Barça often reduced to being forced to try hopeful long-range efforts – and Inter keeper Julio Cesar was in good enough form to deal with the danger.

The refereeing was generally impeccable, although Ibrahimovic had reason to disagree when a claim for a potential penalty was rejected and the call was given against the Swede – despite the rather telling evidence of a massive rip in the front of his shirt! The time-wasting from Inter was also causing frustration, and the worst culprit, Julio Cesar, was finally booked on the half hour.

Motta gets marching orders

The potential turning point came in the 27th minute when former Barça man Motta, who had already been yellow carded, caught Busquets in the face and was shown a direct red. Believing Busquets to have overreacted, the former Barça’s man’s departure from the field was anything but graceful. In fact, the Italians could be considered fortunate not to have ended the half with just nine men on the pitch after Chivu got away with just a yellow for a shocking tackle from behind on Messi.

Yet these constant off-the-ball incidents were doing no favour to Barça’s famous style, who had only really come close to scoring thanks to two Pedro efforts before, in the 32nd minute, Messi produced a fantastic bending shot, and Julio Cesar responded with an equally brilliant save.

Revolution in attack

The second half saw more of the same. Barça in total command, but failing to find any way through the brick wall that Inter’s defence resembled. Guardiola needed fresh ideas up front, and Bojan was sent on in Ibrahimovic’s place, while Jeffren came on for Busquets. Time was running out, and it was time for Barça to send on as much firepower as they could.

Inter, meanwhile, became defensive to such an extent that there was sublime moment when Samuel Eto’o went on what looked like a dangerous run up the wing, but not one of his team mates showed even the slightest bit of interest in crossing the halfway line to support him.

Pique at last

It seemed extraordinary that the game was heading for its last quarter of an hour without Barça having found the net once. It looked like they had when a Bojan header went inches wide, but just a minute later Xavi provided one of his trademark assists to Pique, who made a brilliant turn inside the area and slotted the ball home to make it 1-0.

The goal breathed new life into the players, and also the fans, and there was real belief that ‘the spirit of Stamford Bridge’ was about to send Barça into the final in the same dramatic fashion that it did twelve months ago. And it looked like it had when Bojan blasted the ball home, but the referee had already blown for an earlier handball by Touré Yaya. It was yet another moment of frustration on a night on which Barça did indeed ‘give everything’ as they have promising all week. But ultimately, Inter made good of their 3-1 win in the first leg, and it will be them who will be facing Bayern Munich in Madrid on May 22.

Jose Mourinho and his Inter Milan players managed to stifle Champions League holders Barcelona last week at the San Siro but repeating the feat at the Nou Camp on Wednesday is a different proposition altogether.

Blaugrana coach calls for focus…

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has warned his side they now face the most important week of the campaign, insisting the next seven days will decide their season.

“This week will decide everything,” he told a press conference. “We will not worry about the rest because we depend on ourselves and cannot let our heads drop."

Barca host bottom club Xerez at Camp Nou this weekend in what should be a likely victory for the Blaugrana, but Guardiola isn’t taken anything for granted.

“They are unbeaten in three matches and are still battling,” he said. “We will have to take them very seriously. [Xerez coach Nestor] Gorosito has done a great job there.”

Barca host Inter on Wednesday night in the Champions League semi-final second leg and Guardiola called upon his players to put the Italians out of their minds until the full-time whistle on Saturday evening.

“We are prepared but that match will be difficult to block out. We have to try and to carry on. Great mental strength will be needed and we know that it will be hard work,” he concluded.

The Dutch legend calls on the Blaugrana to eliminate errors...

Honorary Barcelona president Johan Cruyff has stated that with patience, and a different referee, the Blaugrana can overcome Inter to secure a place in the final of the UEFA Champions League for the second year in succession.

Cruyff said that Barcelona would have to eliminate the errors they showed on Tuesday night when the two sides meet at Camp Nou on Wednesday next. He also declared that two goals may not be enough for Barcelona to turn the tie around but added that they must play with their heads throughout the second leg.

"Barcelona scored first but to no avail. Later they could not manage the 1-0 lead. There is no point in trying to get the 2-0 [score line] at the start [of the second leg]. We must minimise the risks and above all, errors in building [attacks]. The three [Inter] goals came after losing the ball and getting caught out of place," Cruyff said in his regular column in El Periodico.

"We accumulated too many errors, not just for a European semi-final, but also against an opponent as powerful as Inter.

"We should try to play like we did in the last 20 minutes [in Milan] but with our heads. We must not try to turn the tie around in ten minutes. Two goals may not be sufficient for Barca. We may need three but we will have opportunities to score them for sure."

Cruyff also criticised the performance of Portuguese referee Benquerenca Olegario, stating that mistakes are normal but when all the key decisions go against the same team it is not acceptable.

"Last night was worthy of comment. In that regard, I make it very clear that you make a mistake (especially if your linesman did not help) the resounding offside of [Diego] Milito for the third goal, even not signalling a penalty to [Dani] Alves but you cannot get all the fouls rong and even less to always, always, be wrong against Barcelona," he insisted.

Tireless Inter Milan produced a rip-roaring home performance to overpower Barcelona 3-1 and leave the defending champion in real trouble after a thrilling first leg of their Champions League semi-final yesterday.

Barca lost by a two-goal margin for the first time under manager Pep Guardiola as strikes from Wesley Sneijder, Maicon and Diego Milito, after Pedro had given Barca the lead, set up a fascinating second leg at the Nou Camp next Wednesday.

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol was booked and will miss the rematch along with Inter midfielder Dejan Stankovic.

In one of the most electric atmospheres inside the San Siro in years, both sides stretched every last sinew to the limit in Europe's top club competition.

"Anything can happen in the second leg. We can go there and lose the game and lose the coach," Inter boss Jose Mourinho cryptically told a news conference.

"What happened today happened, it wasn't a dream. It was reality. We deserved to win. We saw a team working until the death. The team was destroyed by what they gave on the field."

Inter had the better of the early chances but first blood went to Barca, forced to make a 14-hour bus journey to reach the match because of the Icelandic volcano restricting flights.

Left back Maxwell, who quit Inter for the La Liga leaders last year, exposed his ex-teammates by setting up Pedro after 19 minutes.

The 22-year-old was again preferred to Thierry Henry in Barca's starting lineup and the diminutive spark-plug forward is quickly becoming a good bet to earn a spot on Spain's World Cup squad.

Inter, which has not won this competition since 1965 and is playing in its first Champions League semi-final since 2003, then demonstrated the steel-plated resilience Mourinho has instilled in his men by hitting back on the half-hour.

Argentine striker Milito, who missed two glorious chances from tight angles, turned his back on the goal when picking up the ball in the box but cleverly sent in former Real Madrid playmaker Sneijder for his score.

Goran Pandev did well early in the second half to release Milito in a barnstorming break and his cutback pass was scuffed home by right back Maicon, who was later taken off on a stretcher.

Milito headed in the third after 61 minutes and for a moment feared he had again been flagged offside before running to celebrate with the ecstatic Inter fans, who have been spoiled by four straight Serie A titles but starved of European success.

"I congratulate them but we'll see them next week," said Guardiola, whose side beat Inter 2-0 at home in the group stage.

"We are in the semi-final of the Champions League against a great team, it can happen. We move forward."

Guardiola was gracious in defeat and had only one complaint about the sticky San Siro pitch, saying the Nou Camp would be watered for the second leg.

"The pitch was not the one we wanted. At home we can choose, we have attackers who are very quick." He also refused to blame the long overland trip for his the defeat.

"I'm not a doctor so I can't say how much the journey affected us," he added.

Lionel Messi only had one good effort after largely being kept under wraps by the sheer brute force of Inter's defence.

Bayern Munich host Olympique Lyon in the second semi-final, first leg today.

Jose Mourinho delivered a "that was then, this is now" message to Barcelona ahead of tonight's Champions League semi-final.

The Internazionale coach watched his team humbled in the Nou Camp towards the end of last year as the Italians were beaten 2-0 in the group stages. But, with summer signings Wesley Sneijder and Samuel Eto'o now fully acclimatised to their new surroundings, Inter go into the home straight still with the chance of winning a treble and, more importantly, of lifting the European Cup for the first time in 45 years.

"Barcelona showed they were hugely superior to us and they won easily," Mourinho said. "They deserved the victory and we were unable to respond to their superiority, but that was November. Barça are still as good as they were back then but what has changed is the way we are playing. We are a much better team than we were back then. I understand why everybody seems to have Barcelona as the clear favourites and that doesn't offend me, but when I look at it I see a tie that is balanced 50-50."

Asked if he thought Barcelona's unorthodox and potentially draining coach trip to Milan would be a major advantage for his side he said he believed the holders were capable of turning an inconvenience into something positive.

He added: "It is a drama but they will have made the journey fun, I am sure, and it would have been an opportunity for them to bond even more as a team and be even more united ahead of the game."

Barcelona's sporting director, Txiki Begiristain, was less inclined to see the positive side of his side's long-haul road trip.

He said: "I know that there are no dates to play these games but ultimately an effort has to be made to prevent one team – in this case the home team in the first leg – from having a clear advantage. Making one side arrive to a game by bus is a story that seems to belong to another era."

Pep Guardiola, the Barça coach, echoed the thoughts of Begiristain, saying: "The trip was not too comfortable for us but we can't let it affect us now. Lots have people have been left stranded throughout Europe. I would rather spend 14 hours on a coach to play the Champions League semi-finals than have to watch them at home. We will try to give everything on the pitch."

Guardiola was eager to expand on the threat posed by the Italian side and their canny coach. "Inter are playing differently now with three up-front and one attacking midfielder," he said. "It is very difficult to prepare a game against them because their coach is very intelligent. We will try to generate chances and get the away goal. We know how important it is to score away and, of course, we will run until we can run no more."

Guardiola also said that he felt Inter's long wait for success in Europe's premier competition made them a more dangerous opponent. "They have not won the Champions for so long so they have that ambition which makes them very dangerous," he explained. "They are strong throughout the whole side and they can hurt you on the counter attack."

Key to resisting such a threat will be a certain Lionel Messi, who scored four times in the second leg against Arsenal and has 40 in all competitions this season. Mourinho admits it is difficult to know how to handle his threat, given the fluid tactics employed by Guardiola. "Above all, let's see how they play because I don't know," Mourinho said. "None of us know. He could play right, left, centre. We don't know.

"What we know is that he is an important player and football, for me, is not about marking man-to-man. It's not for me. Tomorrow it is not one against Messi and 10 v 10, it will be 11 v 11, although he deserves special attention."

Guardiola looked to ease some of the pressure on himself and his players by labelling his opposite number Mourinho as the world's best coach. Asked about tonight's opposition he said: "We are up against a very good Inter side, who have a coach who is possibly the best in the world at the moment.

"The game will not be decided here in San Siro. Inter are too good for us to tie things up here. Everything will be decided in the [return leg at] Camp Nou."

Barcelona’s players are traveling by bus to Milan for the first leg of the Champions League semifinal against Inter on Tuesday because of air travel disruptions caused by Iceland’s volcanic eruption. The squad planned to drive 394 miles on Sunday to Cannes, France, where it was to spend the night, the club reported on its Web site. It will then travel the remaining 218 miles to Milan on Monday.

Arsenal allowed three goals in the last 10 minutes and lost, 3-2, at Wigan, all but ending its hopes of winning the Premier League title. Arsenal is 6 points behind first-place Chelsea and 5 behind Manchester United with three games left. Arsenal needs to win its last three games by big margins and hope Chelsea and United each win no more than one of their remaining matches. premier

Spain striker Fernando Torres will be out six weeks and miss the rest of Liverpool’s season after right knee surgery, which was to take place Sunday night. Torres should be able to return in time for Spain’s World Cup opener against Switzerland on June 16. Liverpool faces Torres’s former club, Atletico Madrid, on Thursday in the Europa League semifinals.

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has revealed Barcelona have assured the Gunners they will not table a bid for Cesc Fabregas this summer.

Speculation has long linked the Arsenal captain with a return to the Catalan club, where he spent several years as a youth player before moving to North London.

Barca star Lionel Messi said he believed it was just a matter of time before Fabregas returned to the Camp Nou as he "has Barcelona in his blood".

However Hill-Wood is convinced a deal is not in the pipeline as the Spanish champions are happy with their current crop of players.

Speaking to ESPN Soccernet, Hill-Wood revealed that high-level talks between the clubs during their recent Champions League tie ruled out the possibility of Fabregas joining up with Pep Guardiola's side any time soon.

"There was a private conversation that took place in the boardroom and assurances have been made at the highest possible level," Hill-Wood said. "Arsenal do not expect those to be broken.

"I was not privy to the conversation, but was told about it. They said to us they are not interested (this summer).

"It was a recent conversation, as recent as the time that they played us in the Champions League in fact - as we got a bit upset because of all the media speculation."

Barcelona edged closer to the Spanish title with a 3-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna at the league leader's Camp Nou Stadium on Wednesday.

Barcelona now has 83 points, while second-place Real Madrid is on 77 before its match against Almeria on Thursday. Valencia is third on 56 with Mallorca fourth, four points behind.

Barcelona's 19-year-old striker Bojan Krkic opened the scoring in the 15th minute when he collected a precise Xavi Hernandez pass in the penalty area and fired home.

The Catalan team pushed forward with several fast-paced attacks as the second half began, with Lionel Messi shooting just over the bar and Pedro Rodriguez sending a shot just wide minutes later.

Barcelona's second goal arrived in the 68th minute when goalkeeper Victor Valdes made a clearance which Rodriguez controlled in midfield before firing a long-range shot over Deportivo's defence and past stranded goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia.

Midfielder Yaya Toure completed the scoring when he chested the ball down and spun to smash a right-footed shot with such force that Aranzubia could only deflect it into the top of the net in the 72nd minute.

In Wednesday's other games, Walter Pandiani scored twice to give Osasuna a 2-2 draw with Malaga while Xerez won 2-1 against Atletico Madrid, Racing Santander beat 10-man Espanyol 3-1 and Zaragoza drew 1-1 with Mallorca.

Pandiani opened the scoring for Osasuna when he volleyed home in the 10th minute after Javier Camunas provided a chest-high cross.

Malaga equalized in the 31st minute when Osasuna goalkeeper Ricardo Lopez tried to make a clearance but the ball hit his defender Jose Urtasun in the back before falling at the feet of Salvador Caicedo, who scored with an open goal.

Pandiani hit Osasuna's second in the 48th minute after controlling the ball and timing his shot to wrong-foot goalkeeper Gustavo Munua.

However, Malaga midfielder Nabil Baha rose to send in a powerful header which Lopez was able to parry, only for Baha to pounce on the loose ball to make it 2-2 in the 76th minute.

Xerez striker Mario Bermejo gave his side the lead when he leapt to head a long ball over goalkeeper David de Gea Quintana's head in the ninth minute.

Atletico's Diego Forlan hit a powerful right-footed shot just below the crossbar from outside the penalty area to level in the 12th minute.

But Emiliano Armenteros scored Xerez's winner and his second goal of the season in the 72nd minute.

Mallorca settled for a draw despite defender Ruben Rocha rising to head home a cross from Borja Valero in the 15th minute.

Zaragoza's Chile striker Humberto Suazo beat Mallorca's Israeli goalkeeper Dudu Aouate with a skilful lob in the 22nd minute to equalize.

Espanyol made a good start to its game when striker Ivan Alonso scored his fifth goal of the season in the 32nd minute.

But Santander's Mohamed Tchite converted a penalty in the 36th minute and Espanyol's Cameroon goalkeeper Idriss Kameni was sent off at the start of the second half after fouling Pedro Munitis in the area without making contact with the ball.

Santander captain Munitis was stretchered off the pitch with a left knee injury, while Kameni will be suspended for this weekend's game against Barcelona as a result.

Tchite scored from the resulting penalty and Manuel Arana made it three for Santander in injury time.

Andres Iniesta is likely to miss most of Barcelona's season run-in after sustaining an injury in training this morning that is set to keep him sidelined for a month.

The Spain midfielder underwent tests on the problem which revealed he has suffered a tear in his right hamstring.

According to the Catalan club's website, the injury is likely to keep Iniesta out for four weeks, in which case he would miss most of Barca's final seven league matches - the La Liga season finishes on the weekend of May 15/16 - and both legs of the Champions League semi-final against Inter Milan.

Barca, who are currently three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, will be hoping that Iniesta will be fit in time for the Champions League final on May 22, if they get that far.

They said they weren't giving up but it looked suspiciously like their fans already had. Well before the final whistle blew on Saturday night's clásico against Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid supporters were heading for the exit, their side trailing 2-0 and their title hopes fading. Those who stayed watched in sad silence or voiced their disgust – some even angrily whistled Cristiano Ronaldo. There could be no complaints, except against their own side.

Barcelona now have a three-point lead at the top of the table, as well as the advantage of a better head to head record, employed rather than goal difference, with seven games remaining. "We have to lift our heads up and believe that the league is possible," Ronaldo insisted. "There are still 21 points to play for," the coach Manuel Pellegrini said, "and we're not going to let down our guard." His Barcelona counterpart Pep Guardiola, too, signalled the points are still to play for. "I do not think this is over," he said.

"We have to at least oblige them to win every game," Pellegrini added. But that may be the problem. Even if Madrid can win their remaining matches, Barcelona must now drop points twice for Madrid to have a chance. They have been beaten once all season and have won 25 of 31 games. Besides, this was a psychological blow as well as a statistical one. Pellegrini, whose last chance of remaining in charge next season vanished with defeat, admitted that Madrid had been beaten by a "better team". He did not just mean on the night, he meant a better team, full stop. This was not the game that had been anticipated – there was a foul every two minutes and the ball was not even in play for half of the 90 – but Barcelona defeated Madrid and ultimately did so comfortably. "We did not play brilliantly," Guardiola admitted. This remained an impressive performance, however.

When it came to the sub-plot, the other clash of the titans that obsessed everyone, Lionel Messi defeated Ronaldo equally comfortably. "Once again the team showed we are superior to anybody else when we want to be," Messi said. "You always have to prove it on the field and today we did that. We can keep making history. It was a very important triumph, but we have to continue on. I don't mean to say that with only words we win. You have to try to win every game and that's what we try to do, always."

"Messi is way ahead of everyone else," Carles Puyol said. Few would disagree. Messi scored his 40th goal of the season after 33 minutes to set Barcelona on their way to a huge victory. Only the reflexes of Iker Casillas prevented him scoring twice more, while he was also denied a penalty after Ezequiel Garay tripped him.

As Messi celebrated the first, Ronaldo was looking to the sky, frustrated and furious. The Portuguese was determined to drag Madrid back into the game, racing at Barcelona, but his approach was often counter-productive, his anxiety palpable. He tried to do it all alone but could not. His former Manchester United team-mate Gerard Piqué handled him impeccably.

Ronaldo was a portrait of his side. Although Madrid began at a breathless tempo, seeking to increase Barcelona's discomfort, the same wildness and urgency characterised them in possession, too. There were plenty of shots, few of them testing. "It's not a disaster to lose against Barca. I don't think they were so much more superior than us," Ronaldo said. "We're professionals and you cannot give up. We can win the league."

"We were far too hasty," Pellegrini said, "and we were edgy." And once Barcelona opened the scoring and began to get hold of the ball, they eased away from Madrid, led by Xavi Hernandez, who provided two perfect passes for the goals and two more for Messi to be stopped by Casillas.

There were still 35 minutes remaining when Pedro got the second but with the exception of a Rafael van de Vaart chance which Victor Valdés was equal to, there was startlingly little reaction from Madrid. There was no fight, no belief and even less threat. For all the talk, for all the intent, they had already been beaten. On Saturday night they were busy insisting that there is still a league title to play for. Now, they must hope that there really is.

Real ace ready for Barca bash

Cristiano Ronaldo does not fear Barcelona, but accepts Saturday's El Clasico could be crucial to both teams.

The Real Madrid forward is bracing himself for what promises to be an epic contest with Barca at Santigao Bernabeu this weekend.

Real head into the game top of the Primera Liga, but with only goal difference keeping them ahead of their arch-rivals from Catalunya.

There are now just eight games remaining for either side to establish an advantage, and Ronaldo admits three points in the derby would give the victors the edge.

"This may be the most important match of the season," said the Portuguese winger.

"Whoever wins will hold a slight advantage in the race for the title, but there are still many games left and we have to try and win them all.

Confidence

"The season is winding down, so whoever wins on Saturday will have a bit more confidence than the other team and an opportunity to draw a match.

"Both teams are very ambitious so no-one will be giving up, we just have to try and win every game."

He added: "I respect Barcelona, but I do not fear them. They have a very good team, but I will do my best.

"I am not worried about a thing. I just want to do my best and make a difference. I think it will be a match that is decided by the smallest details.

"May the best team win, and I hope Real Madrid are the better team. I am sure we can come away with a win."

Credit

Stopping the mercurial talents of Lionel Messi will be pivotal to Real's plans, with the Argentine illuminating the UEFA Champions League in midweek.

The Barca star has already wrestled the Ballon d'Or and World Player of the Year crown from Ronaldo this year, but the Real ace insists Messi is not the only man Los Blancos should be wary of.

"I am taller and wider than Messi," Ronaldo joked when pressed on comparisons between the pair.

"He is having a great season and will be remembered among the best players of all time.

"But the coach and the entire team deserve credit. Messi does not play alone, he has great players by his side.

"I am working hard, I am happy here and I hope to continue feeling this good. I believe that playing here will also allow me to be remembered as one of the best players around."

On rare but perfect occasions, the World Cup finals become a coronation ceremony for the planet’s outstanding footballer; think Pelé in 1970, Diego Maradona in 1986, Zinédine Zidane in 1998.

Lionel Messi in 2010? Well that rather comes down to his coach’s abilities to build an Argentina side capable of contending in South Africa this summer.

And that’s the worry. Watching a training session in Buenos Aires shortly before one of Argentina’s chaotic qualifying defeats, to Brazil, was to be struck by the lack of organisation that has characterised much of Maradona’s reign as coach.

As some of his team-mates played head tennis, Messi looked bored and walked off to the changing rooms. Messi became the target of fan frustration as his team lost in Rosario, angst born from a failure to find him a defining role in the national team, which infuriates the player as much as anybody.

“It bothers me a lot,” he said recently. “I’m Argentine and I have a feeling for the shirt. I give everything for the Argentina team.”

Some may argue with this statement whenever things are at a low ebb. Such sentiments may have roots in Messi’s move to Europe as a young boy. He has never played club football in the country of his birth.

Some critics choose to refer to him as “the Catalan” when they want to condemn inconsistent international form — 13 goals in 43 games — with his goal-fest for his club. But while a few may have reacted coolly to his sensational form at Barcelona, the majority will have watched the games beamed to Buenos Aires with ever greater longing for him to prove himself a worthy inheritor of Maradona’s No 10 jersey.

With Messi only 22, the relationship has time to grow and the country will embrace him lovingly enough, if his coach can find a settled team in which he can star.

Maradona, of all people, should recognise and embrace the challenge of constructing a team around one little genius but, thus far, results have been as erratic as the coach’s private life (he was savaged last week by his dog) and his scatter-gun selection.

Maradona has called up 102 players in 18 months. Messi has played wide and also as a second striker, both roles he can perform beautifully in the slick Barcelona team so brilliantly organised by Pep Guardiola, but Maradona needs to settle on a system.

Every country lags behind Spain and Brazil, but Argentina’s playing resources should make them dangerous dark horses this summer.

They are spoilt for choice in attack, where Messi can be joined by the in-form Carlos Tévez or, most recently against Germany, by Gonzalo Higuaín who has been impressing at Real Madrid. There is further back-up from Sergio Agüero and Diego Milito.

Angel Di María, the highly regarded Benfica winger, is a threat out on the left wing. For holding players, Maradona can call on Javier Mascherano and Esteban Cambiasso, as well as the evergreen Juan Sebastián Verón. Gabriel Milito’s return from long-term injury at Barcelona provides another centre half alongside Walter Samuel and Martín Demichelis. There are weaknesses, notably in goal, but it is a squad capable of reaching the semi-finals with sound leadership.

Which, with Maradona in charge, remains the big “if”. It would be a terrible shame if Messi’s talent were wasted a second time. He was only 18 at the previous World Cup but it was painful to watch as Argentina succumbed to Germany on penalties in the quarter-finals, with Messi looking on disconsolately from the bench.

Coaching errors by José Pekerman cost Argentina, and Messi, dearly in that tournament. The whole of that nation prays that history will not repeat itself.

Four goals from Barcelona striker leaves humbled Wenger hailing 'best player in the world'

Lionel Messi produced one of the truly great individual performances here last night, scoring all four goals in Barcelona's dazzling 4-1 victory over Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final second leg.

Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, described Messi as "making the impossible possible" after seeing the 22-year-old tear his side apart. Barcelona won the tie 6-3 on aggregate after an exhibition of glorious football and will meet Internazionale – and Jose Mourinho – in the semi-finals.

Messi, the current World Player of the Year, was saluted by the lucky 93,330 souls inside Nou Camp after he scored a wonderful hat-trick in 21 first-half minutes, and then finished off Arsenal with a sublime solo goal late in the game. Messi's wonder show, including his fourth hat-trick of 2010, came after Nicklas Bendtner had given Arsenal a shock early lead after 18 minutes.

Afterwards Wenger paid a glowing tribute to his tormentor-in-chief, saying: "For me, Messi is the best player in the world, and by a distance. He made the impossible possible. When he's in the game, he's really dangerous. He can make a difference at any moment in the game. He can take advantage of every mistake we made.

"He's very young, but he can achieve a lot. For example the fourth goal he scored, I don't know many players in the world who can score that. He's not always in the game, but when he gets on the ball he's unstoppable. When he changes direction at such pace no-one can stay with him. He has something exceptional. He has six or seven years in front of him, touch wood that nothing happens to him, and he can reach unbelievable levels."

Pep Guardiola, the Barcelona manager, added: "He's a very special player and I want him to continue at that level. These kind of things you cannot explain. There are no words. What can I say? You see it better, this kind of performance. We just have to enjoy having a player like him in our ranks. We don't demand Leo makes performances like this. We don't demand him to score four goals to get us through. We just ask him to enjoy it when he has the ball. The rest sometimes happens, sometimes it doesn't."

Wenger criticised his team for making life too easy for the reigning European champions. "Over the two games, for a team like Arsenal, we conceded cheap goals," he said. "They didn't have to work hard enough. When you have players like Messi, any mistake you can pay for it. Congratulations to Barcelona – they were better than us."

Barcelona face Real Madrid on Saturday while Arsenal contest the north London derby at Tottenham Hotspur next Wednesday. Wenger admitted it will be hard to lift his team, saying: "When you go out of the Champions League, the next day you are in front of a very empty future. It's a big disappointment, but we must recover quickly because we cannot drop any points."

Asked if the result signified a shift in the balance of power in Europe away from English teams, Wenger said: "That's a good question that United have to answer tomorrow. Certainly, you have more teams in Europe now who can compete with England. That is for sure."

Semi-final draw: Key details

Internazionale v Barcelona, Tuesday 20 & Wednesday 28 April

Bayern Munich/Manchester United v Lyons/Bordeaux, Wednesday 21 & Tuesday 27 April

Final: Saturday 22 May (Bernabeu)

Dont miss the next Messi's show: buy your FC Barcelona tickets at www.fcbarcelona.eatb.es !!!

Barca chief plans to keep out Gunners

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola is unfazed by the threat posed by Theo Walcott in Tuesday's Champions League clash with Arsenal.

Walcott came off the bench to inspire Arsenal to an unlikely 2-2 draw with Barcelona in the first leg last week after the Spanish giants dominated proceedings for the first hour of the game.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is expected to start Walcott at Camp Nou as he looks for the England international's pace to unsettle the Barca defence.

However, Guardiola is not worried about Walcott and he feels Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia was the main reason for his side not winning the first game in North London.

"Let's be clear, Walcott was not the determining factor, the determining factor was Almunia, who saved 12,000 balls," said Guardiola.

Guardiola believes the key to keeping Walcott quiet is by dominating possession and stopping him getting hold of the ball.

"Walcott is so speedy, he has strong legs, he played very well against us (on Wednesday) and also in the last league game," added Guardiola.

"But we will try to keep the ball, that's the best way to stop Arsenal and to stop Walcott as well."

Massive game

Guardiola admits the clash is Barcelona's biggest of the season and he insists they will go out and play their usual attacking game.

"We are going to try to be ourselves, to keep the ball, to get the ball and play with great intensity," noted Guardiola.

"And I think Mr Wenger will want to do the same.

"The team that has the ball most will win the game.

"Let's hope that's us, we have to keep going - tomorrow is our biggest game of the season."

Barca boss pleased with display

Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola insists he was proud of his players following their 2-2 draw at Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final first-leg.

Barca were in superb form and outplayed The Gunners for the first hour at the Emirates.

They led thanks to a brace from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but a Theo Walcott goal and a Cesc Fabregas penalty sealed an unexpected comeback for Arsenal.

But Guardiola was happy with his side, although he feels the tie should have been over before Arsenal fought back.

"We had a lot of chances and we had a lot of control. We are proud of our performance. We have a good chance to qualify for the next round," he said.

"We are happy with this result, but we could have killed the tie.

"We need to be more focused because they are a good team, otherwise we will go out.

"We are happy to come here and let people watch our team and our game.

"We never played last year like we did here. We moved the ball and didn't allow them to play. We created many chances.

"We were better in certain aspects of the game but we need to be precise and good at the back. I don't think anyone can criticise us.

"We have given a good image of how football should be played.

"The second leg will be much more complicated, not because they are going to close down and shut up shop. It is just going to be much more difficult."

Arsenal's mettle will be tested tonight when they meet opponents who match their aesthetic quality but do so to greater effect

"Let's all do a Wenger," the St Andrew's crowd chanted before throwing their hands in the air. Exasperation can look like the Arsenal manager's default setting. The aftermath of Saturday's 1-1 draw was predictable as Arsène Wenger made many complaints. Critics respond by protesting that the Frenchman feels he has some right to determine how the opposition should play. At the Emirates tonight Wenger has refined visitors, although he can scarcely be delighted to take on men who not only share his values but do so to greater effect.

Barcelona are more of a rapier than a measuring stick. Nonetheless, the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final will be revealing about the development of Arsenal. In January, the Aston Villa manager, Martin O'Neill, imagined precisely this occasion after becoming exasperated by Wenger's comments on his side's supposedly direct style. "If they lose to Barcelona, Barcelona will be considered a long-ball team," the Northern Irishman said scornfully.

O'Neill was at pains then to declare his admiration for Pep Guardiola's side while insisting that Arsenal do not live up to Wenger's rhetoric.

"What he wants to do," said the Villa manager, "is try and point out to everyone who is under his spell that Arsenal are the only delightful team around. You are trying to get an excuse ready if you cannot compete with Manchester United and Chelsea. That is the point. The fact is they probably are able to compete, because they have enough physical players in their side to cope."

Wenger himself is too wise to delude himself that the squad have simply been kicked out of contention. He, above all, knows the balance struck between vigour and technique that prevented Arsenal from falling to defeat in the 2003-04 league campaign. If he gets overwrought and slips into exaggeration there still should be appreciation of his continuing enterprise.

It ought, after all, to be absurd that we should picture Arsenal among the elite. While the cost of the Emirates is being paid off, Wenger works within the sort of transfer budget that some of his peers would see as cause to set mere respectability in the Premier League as the target.

Instead, he goes on putting himself through torment while occasionally making outsiders wince at his special pleading no matter what wrongs or lapses have occurred.

Considering the financial context, Arsenal are remarkable even now. Their quality is taken for granted to such an extent that a 6-2 aggregate defeat of Porto, who appeared to have a sound squad, did not excite much notice in the last 16 of the Champions League.

An encounter with Barcelona, however, is a different matter. Arsenal, despite seeing their goalkeeper Jens Lehmann sent off after 18 minutes, led these adversaries in the 2006 final in Paris before being beaten 2-1.

Barcelona, who are again the holders, have improved since then and one of the few obvious weaknesses must now lie in the fatigue that comes while chasing success on several fronts for club and, in some cases, country.

It would be folly to ignore the hardiness in Guardiola's ranks. The manager achieved a gritty win at Mallorca on Saturday. Lionel Messi was not brought off the bench until the 49th minute when he took over from Andrés Iniesta, who is ruled out of tonight's match with a hamstring injury.

The victory did not come through ravishing football. Instead the goal arrived when Zlatan Ibrahimovic thrashed the ball high into the net from close range following a corner kick.

There was nothing whatsoever elegant about it. The Swede, in fact, is precisely the man to score ugly. Criticisms of him abound and the deal that took him from Internazionale was outrageously expensive, but whatever he lacks in mobility is offset by power, height, technique and a predatory instinct.

The pursuit of Ibrahimovic was further proof that Guardiola wishes the polish of Barcelona to be accompanied by heft. While the side safeguard themselves by retaining the ball, they are efficient when making challenges in midfield as well as defence.

Arsenal share some of the smoothness of these visitors, but it may be the grit that counts. There are five clubs in the Premier League at present with a better defensive record than Wenger's side.

Injury to a centre-back such as William Gallas has had its bearing on that, but Arsenal, in general, are too little of a hindrance to opponents. Alex Song has been a leading performer and he will need to make himself an obstacle when Barcelona have the ball if he is in action as a defensive midfielder. Wenger's team cannot afford to be too expansive against rivals who are an upgraded version of themselves.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger knows that his players face a monumental task trying to stop Barcelona superstar Leo Messi ahead of their crucial Champions League clash.

The Argentinian World Player of the Year poses a big threat to the Gunners’ Champions League dream.

European Champions Barcelona comes to the Emirates tomorrow with Messi in explosive form ahead of the quarterfinal. And Wenger readily reveals he is in awe of the Argentina genius.

“You go to football to watch players like Messi. What he does is so beautiful it becomes art. What he does at his age, has never been seen before,” The Sun quoted Wenger, as saying.

“To take the ball in the middle of the pitch and go score goals like he was in the school playground, it is just incredible. I was thinking a couple of years ago he couldn’t go any higher, but I am conscious that today, he’s on another planet,” he said.

Messi was crowned European and World Player of the Year after leading Barcelona to an historic Treble last year.

He scored 38 goals, including the clincher in the 2-0 Champions League final triumph over holders Manchester United in Rome.

This year he is again favourite to retain the World Player of the Year title - with United’s Wayne Rooney his main rival.

Messi already has 32 goals this term, including back-to-back La Liga hat tricks and a Champions League brace against Stuttgart in recent weeks.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s second-half goal gave Barcelona a 1-0 win at Mallorca on Saturday and a three-point lead over Real Madrid atop the Spanish League.

Ibrahimovic’s 15th league goal put Barcelona ahead in the 63rd minute. Barcelona prepared for its midweek Champions League match at Arsenal by putting the pressure on Madrid, which will need to win the derby against Atletico Madrid on Sunday to keep pace with the defending champions.

Lionel Messi, the league’s leading scorer with 25 goals, was held scoreless for the second consecutive game after coming on for Andres Iniesta in the 51st minute.

Barcelona defender Dani Alves hopes team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic's goals against Real Zaragoza and Osasuna over the last few days will help the striker resume his early season form.

Ibrahimovic started the campaign in fine form following his big-money move from Inter Milan, netting in each of his opening five Primera Division games and boasting a tally of 12 goals from his first 18 appearances in La Liga and the Champions League.

However, he then scored just one goal in nine appearances either side of the Christmas break, the solitary strike coming in the Copa del Rey defeat against Sevilla.

Goals in successive matches against Atletico Madrid and Stuttgart in February seemed to have brought that barren spell to an end, but he then went four more games without a goal and found himself back under the spotlight.

The 28-year-old got his name on the score-sheet in Sunday's clash with Real Zaragoza, though, netting a late penalty in a 4-2 win, and he enjoyed more success last night with the opening goal in the 2-0 triumph over Osasuna.

"When Ibra scores we're happy. We're very pleased for him," Alves said. "With this goal I'm sure he will regain confidence. He's a striker who thrives on scoring goals. I'm sure that from now on he will help us even more with his goals.

"We hope that he continues with this form and scores the goals that make him so happy."

Unlike against Zaragoza when his side were already leading, Ibrahimovic's 73rd-minute strike against Osasuna was crucial as Barca were struggling to break down the Pamplona-based outfit.

Ibrahimovic said: "I'm happy. I played well, I scored and we've won the three points. The most important thing is that the team won. It was a difficult game but we played well.

"It's not been the best game of the season but we won."

Talking of his recent scoring drought, Ibrahimovic added: "I've not gone through any difficult moments, but it has been a little tough."

Barca coach Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, admitted he had made a mistake with his tactics at the start of the game as he tried to experiment with a new idea.

"I wanted to try out something, I wanted more mobility from the front two, and it didn't go well," he said. "We didn't have the fluidity that I thought we could have.

"We played very badly in the first half, but in the second we corrected the problems and were ourselves again."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Bojan Krkic scored as Barcelona beat Osasuna 2-0 to provisionally go three points clear at the top of the Spanish league Wednesday.

The Sweden striker stretched to tap Maxwell's cross in from close range in the 72nd minute, his first goal in open play since February 14. Krkic, who replaced Ibrahimovic for the last 20 minutes, met Andres Iniesta's cross in the 88th to make sure of the win.

Barcelona have 71 points, with Real Madrid on 68 ahead of their visit to Getafe on Thursday.

"We have to make sure we get three points each game," said Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta. "We have to win whichever way we can because right next to us is a team that is playing very well."

Also Wednesday, David Villa scored his 18th goal of the season as Valencia beat Malaga 1-0. Valencia stayed third on 53 points.

Lionel Messi started alongside Ibrahimovic and Thierry Henry at the Camp Nou, despite reports that the Argentina striker might be rested after scoring 10 goals in four games.

Ibrahimovic came close in the second minute when he fooled his marker and curled a shot toward goal that Ricardo Lopez saved. However, Barcelona struggled to find their usual passing game and the visitors had the best chances early on.

In the fourth, Victor Valdes had to pull off a fine save to deny the unmarked Krisztian Vadocz. Barcelona's defence was then nearly caught out again when Masoud Soleimani crossed unmarked from inside the area and Carles Puyol intercepted.

Barcelona eventually started to take control of possession and Ibrahimovic was unlucky when his goalbound shot bounced off a defender and over the bar in the 30th.

However, a well-organized Osasuna managed to keep Messi unusually quiet for much of the game as well as frustrating Henry, who was replaced by Pedro Rodriguez at halftime.

The substitution nearly broke the deadlock immediately, when Messi just failed to connect with Pedro's pass over the Osasuna defence.

The hosts started to threaten more often and Yaya Toure was well placed to shoot when he failed to control a wall pass off Ibrahimovic.

Twenty minutes from the end Seydou Keita came on for Sergio Busquets, who was on a yellow card. The Mali midfielder drew a save from Lopez within seconds of coming on, when he headed Andres Iniesta's cross.

Messi's best chance of the game came when he cut inside and struck the post with his curling left-foot shot.

Villa put Valencia ahead at the Mestalla Stadium in the 13th, from Juan Manuel Mata's assist.

Valencia enjoyed more possession than a lackluster Malaga and looked dangerous in attack throughout the game.

In the 29th, David Silva had a shot from inside the area saved and the energetic Villa brushed the post in the 33rd. Shortly before halftime, Malaga goalkeeper Gustavo Munua did well to push Jordi Alba's right-footed shot over the bar.

Nabil Baha had a rare chance for Malaga in the first half, shooting high after Cesar Sanchez's poor clearance.

In the second half Malaga nearly scored against the run of play when Salvador Caicedo was put through by Valmiro Lopes, but his shot let him down.

Also, Tenerife drew 2-2 with Villarreal, Almeria beat Zaragoza 1-0, Valladolid drew 0-0 with Espanyol and Racing Santander drew 0-0 with Mallorca.

At Tenerife's Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez, Nilmar headed Villarreal ahead at the end of the first half before Juan Francisco "Nino" Martinez equalized in the 60th. Jose Antonio Culebras gave Tenerife the lead in the 76th before Giuseppe Rossi pulled the visitors level two minutes from the end.

On Tuesday, Sporting Gijon beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-1 and Sevilla drew 1-1 with Xerez.

On Thursday it's: Atletico Madrid vs. Athletic Bilbao.

Barca phenomenon keeping feet on the ground amid hype

In-form Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has ordered a reality check amid hype suggesting he could be the best player of all time.

The modest Argentine has hit the headlines with two hat-tricks in consecutive Primera Liga games, taking his recent tally to 11 goals in just five games.

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney has also hit the headlines with his prolific form of late, but the incredible quality of Messi's goals has excited critics.

The 22-year-old is now being touted as not only the best player in the world but one of the best of all time, a tag he is reluctant to accept just yet.

Messi insists to be considered a true legend of the game you must own a World Cup winning medal and is trying to remain composed in the midst of the propaganda.

"To become a legend, to be great, you also have to win a World Cup," said the Argentina international, who will compete on the biggest stage in South Africa this summer.

"I have only just turned 22," he added. "It's all happening very quickly and you have to stay calm."

All-time greats

Despite his claims, Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and George Best are among those widely considered to be all-time greats, without having won the World Cup with their respective nations.

Messi is instead being compared to 1986 World Cup winning compatriot Diego Maradona, who also played for Barcelona and is now in charge of the Argentina national team.

Others have likened the 5ft 7in forward to Brazilian legend Pele, a three-time winner of the Jules Rimet trophy, but Messi feels such comparisons so soon is disrespectful to the established greats of the game.

"I never intend to disrespect anyone," Messi told El Mundo. "I just play football in my own way."

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola is also keen to shelve the limelight on his player and insists Maradona remains the greatest player he has ever seen.

"The comparison with the best players of all time can only be made when he retires," he said. "For my generation, Maradona is the greatest that we have seen and I don't think that will change."

However, the Barca coach believes Messi will continue to shine at club level and has pleaded for his prized asset to be allowed breathing space to develop.

"We have to let Leo get on with his career because he is very young and we need to give him continuity, for the good of the game," added Guardiola.

Lionel Messi's second hat-trick in eight days took his season's tally to 34 goals as Barcelona won 4-2 at Zaragoza in the La Liga football on Sunday to remain second behind Real Madrid.

The Argentina forward, who also scored a hat-trick last weekend against Valencia, now has a league-leading 25 goals after tormenting Zaragoza's defence with a combination of close dribbling, strength and accurate finishing.

“He's the best player in the history of football,” the Barcelona President, Joan Laporta, said. Messi headed home Pedro Rodriguez's cross in the fifth minute, but it was his 66th-minute strike that will be added to his lengthening list of great goals.

He stole possession near halfway, bursting past one player before his quick feet left defender Matteo Contini on the turf. Contini could only clutch at his opponent's shorts as Messi beat goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez with a low shot that brought a standing ovation from most fans at La Romareda Stadium.

Defensive lapses

Zaragoza's Adrian Colunga took advantage of defensive lapses to score twice in the closing moments. But Messi's dazzling skills led Contini to drag him down for a 90th-minute penalty that Zlatan Ibrahimovic converted for his first goal in March.

Madrid and Barcelona both have 68 points, but Madrid leads on goal difference.

Mallorca moved into the Spanish league's Champions League places with a 4-1 victory over Atletico Madrid, while David Silva guided third-placed Valencia to a 2-0 win over Almeria. Valencia has 50 points, Mallorca 46, Sevilla 44 and Athletic Bilbao and Deportivo La Coruna both have 42. Also, Racing Santander came from behind to win 3-1 at Osasuna and Nabil Baha scored two second-half goals as Malaga beat Villarreal 2-0.

Missing injured midfielder Xavi Hernandez and with Andres Iniesta on the bench, Barcelona still enjoyed the best first-half chances — Ibrahimovic headed a clear chance wide in the 30th and struggled on his return to the starting line-up.

Ibrahimovic then shot wide from two clear chances with only Jimenez to beat. Soon after, Colunga scored twice on the break. But Messi again drove into the area, eluding several players, before Contini dragged him down for the penalty.

At the Mestalla Stadium, Almeria held out until the 63rd minute when Silva steered a precise ball into the box for Juanma Mata, who sent his shot inside the near post. Silva showed his athleticism in the 70th as the Spain international was tripped up inside the box after reaching David Villa's pass, but still managed to swipe a shot from the ground past goalkeeper Diego Alves and inside the far post.

Champions League titleholder Barcelona and last year's runner-up Manchester United carry the tag of favourites into the quarterfinals draw on Friday.

No surprise there, as the Spanish and English champions have star strikers Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney playing at the peak of their goal-scoring form.

Less likely was that six nations would be represented in the last eight of a competition dominated by Europe's two powerhouse leagues in recent seasons. Spain and England had six teams in the quarterfinals a year ago and supplied all four semifinalists for the past two editions.

CSKA Moscow is the first Russian team at this stage since 1996, while Bordeaux and Lyon are the first French quarterfinalists for four years.

Inter Milan, seeking its first European title since 1965, is the only Italian representative, and four-time winner Bayern Munich flies the flag for Germany.

Arsenal joins Manchester United in a two-strong challenge from England — the Premier League's smallest showing since 2006.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said he had no preferred opponent in Friday's draw, which is unrestricted by seeding or nationality.

The quarterfinals first-leg matches are scheduled for March 30-31 and the return matches for April 6-7.

The semifinals bracket also will be drawn, with matches on April 20-21 and 27-28.

Barcelona will rely on the magical skills of Lionel Messi to lead them to the Champions League final in Madrid and become the first team to defend the title since the competition's inception in 1993.

With Real Madrid and Sevilla both eliminated at the last 16 stage, Barcelona were left to fly the Spanish flag in Europe and they showed their class with a 4-0 destruction of Stuttgart on Wednesday.

It gave them a 5-1 win on aggregate and booked their place in Friday's quarterfinal draw.

Messi, who scored in the Champions League final win last season, followed up his hat-trick against Valencia on Sunday by scoring twice to make it eight goals in his last four games and 29 for the season in all competitions.

"He (Messi) is in excellent form. We've got the best player in the world," said Brazilian teammate Dani Alves.

"He pulls the team forward, takes charge and we are the keys that help the commander work."

Messi and Barcelona will certainly be a tough draw in the last eight but coach Pep Guardiola insists his side will not get overconfident whoever they get in the next round.

"We can lose games but we never underestimate our rivals," said Guardiola. "We can't be thinking too far ahead because the Bernabeu (the home of bitter rivals Real Madrid where the final will be held) is a long way away."

Reaching the Bernabeu final on May 22 and retaining the trophy may be a dream for Barca players but it is a nightmare for Real Madrid who are hoping someone eliminates their arch rivals.

"It is always difficult talking about a competition we are not in," said Real defender Marcelo. "It is better if Barcelona are not in the final."

Previous winners Manchester United, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich provide stiff competition along with Arsenal who Barcelona defeated in the 2006 final and president Joan Laporta admits there is still a lot of hurdles still to overcome.

"We have complicated rivals to come and we shouldn't think about the final," said Laporta.

"We will see who we get Friday. The French sides have shown their quality, Bayern are on form, Inter eliminated Chelsea and Arsenal always play good football."

Barcelona are potent going forward with the creative talents of Messi, Andres Iniesta, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic but they are also solid in defence and goalkeeper Victor Valdes saluted another clean sheet against Stuttgart.

"This is another sweet night for us to savour and the fans give us a lot of confidence," said Valdes.

"One of our biggest weapons is our defence and it functioned well again tonight to ensure they didn't cause us problems."

Barcelona have one of the meanest defences in this season's Champions League conceding four goals in eight games so far.

Lionel Messi's Barcelona team mates lavished extravagant praise on the Argentina forward after his sublime hat-trick fired the champions to a 3-0 win over third-placed Valencia in La Liga on Sunday.

Real Madrid battled back from 2-0 down to beat Sevilla 3-2 on Saturday and go top of the Spanish League with Rafael Van der Vaart grabbing a dramatic stoppage time winner.

After 10-man Barcelona were held 2-2 by Almeria, the incentive was on Real who had the chance to go ahead of the Catalans on goal difference, and they managed it in dramatic fashion at the Bernabeu. They slumped two-goals down an own-goal from Xabi Alonso and a Ivica Dragutinovic free-kick which caught out Real keeper Iker Casillas. But Real piled on the pressure with Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos drawing their side level. It appeared as though Real would have to settle for a draw before a grandstand finish saw Van der Vaart slot home from close range.

A brace from Leo Messi rescued a point for Barcelona at Almeria. Domingo Cisma put the home side in front after he beat Carles Puyol in the air to head past keeper Victor Valdes. Messi equalised, though, after a contentious free-kick was awarded for a foul on Zlatan Ibrahimovic. An own-goal from Puyol and then the expulsion of Ibrahimovic for kicking out put Almeria firmly in the driving seat but Messi was Barca's saviour, scoring his second from close range mid-way through the second half.

Earlier, a fine strike from Jose Guardado helped Deportivo la Coruna come from behind to beat Tenerife 3-1. Deportivo had plenty of early possession but poor defending saw Juanlu Hens give Tenerife the lead. Juan Rodriguez headed Deportivo level and while they continued to press forward it was Tenerife that went nearer to scoring again when Juan Nino saw a close-range shot saved by keeper Daniel Aranzubia shortly before half time. A powerful left-footed drive from Guardado found the corner after 55 minutes and from there Deportivo never looked back with Diego Colotto adding to their lead.

Defender says his side must stop Xavi this weekend…

Almeria defender Chico has insisted that his side must contain Xavi if they wish to contain Barcelona this weekend.

The Andalusians host the Blaugrana on Saturday and Chico took the time to reminisce about the man marking job he attempted on Xavi when the two sides met earlier this season at Camp Nou, insisting some Catalonians may have gotten the wrong impression of him.

“I usually prefer to play the ball,” he told Barca TV. “That was the story of just one game. Everybody knows I like to be in contact with the ball, bring it out of defence and enjoy the game.”

Chico’s side went down 1-0 that night and the former Barca B man went on to reveal he felt controlling Xavi would be the key to his side avoiding defeat this weekend.

“We all know how good Barca are at holding onto possession and that the game works through Xavi. If we could control him, then the others around him would be affected and they’d struggle to hold onto the ball.”

President reminds fans there’s a lot of football to be played before El Clasico…

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has insisted the league title is unlikely to be decided in El Clasico when his side travel to the Bernabeu to take on Real Madrid next month.

“We’ll see how important the match is,” he told FCBarcelona.com.

Barca currently sit just two points ahead of Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish Primera Division and many are already talking up the match as a championship deciding fixture. Laporta however, has reminded supporters that there is a lot of football to play before then.

“If both teams keep up their current rhythm we might arrive at the Bernabeu with the same lead and it could be an important match. But something might happen before then and the Bernabeu match won’t be decisive."

The clubs are scheduled to meet on April 11th and Laporta admitted that Spanish football fans are enjoying a real competitiveness this season with both clubs in excellent form.

“La Liga is very competitive. Both teams are at a great level and the competition is really entertaining," he concluded.

El Guaje could play on the left wing and also as an eventual replacement for Ibrahimovic...

According to Barcelona-based daily Sport, Barcelona are set to take another stab at signing David Villa this summer after failing to do so last year. As outlined in a report released by the publication, the Valencia striker is highly rated by both coach Pep Guardiola and Txiki Begiristain.

Sport speculates that Barca are looking to sign a left-sided attacker who can also serve as an alternative to Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the central role, thus opening the doors to El Guaje. Whilst not Barca's ideal replacement on the left wing, with Sport reporting that Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery, Valencia's Juan Mata, Valencia's David Silva, and Benfica's Angel Di Maria are all possible additions ahead of Villa, the Spanish striker could make a fairly seamless replacement for Thierry Henry. The Frenchman is not billed to be at the Camp Nou next season and Villa would also be able to interchange with Ibrahimovic in the central role.

Villa already plays in the flank position when partnering Fernando Torres in the Spanish national side or when Nikola Zigic is fielded at Valencia. Villa is currently on 17 goals in La Liga and, despite his 28 years, is one of Europe's most coveted prospects. His transfer fee is anticipated to be in the €50 million range.

Real Madrid and Barcelona are again the biggest moneymakers in world football.

The Spanish rivals took first and second place in Deloitte's annual study of the sport's finances, with English champion Manchester United slipping a place to third because of the weakness of the British pound rather than its 716.5 million pound ($1.07 billion) debt.

Madrid generated 401.4 million euros ($567.3 million) in the 12 months ending June 30, according to the report released Tuesday by British accountancy firm Deloitte.

European champion Barcelona was ranked second in the list of 20 biggest clubs according to revenue with 365.9 million euros ($517.2 million), moving up a place to return to the position it occupied two years ago.

Although the economic downturn meant that nine clubs showed a decrease in revenue in local currency, the combined income of the top 20 clubs was up about 26 million euros ($36.7 million) from the previous year at 3.9 billion euros ($5.5 billion).

"We continue to assert that the game's top clubs are well-placed to meet the challenges presented by the difficult economic environment," said Dan Jones of Deloitte's sports business group. "Their large and loyal supporter bases, ability to drive broadcast audiences and continuing attraction to corporate partners provide a strong base to underpin revenues."

Despite a disappointing season in which it finished runner-up in Spain to Barcelona and again failed to progress beyond the second round round of the Champions League, Madrid kept first place in Deloitte's list for a fifth straight year.

Madrid's contract with Mediapro helped push up income from broadcast 18 percent to 160.8 million euros ($227.3 million). Manchester United generated 43.7 million euros ($61.8 million) less from broadcasting than Madrid despite receiving 18.1 million euros ($25.6 million) more from Champions League distributions.

"The ability of Spanish clubs to sell their broadcast rights on an individual basis gives the country's larger clubs a substantial competitive advantage compared with their English, French, German and, from 2010-11, Italian peers," Deloitte said.

Manchester United generated 327 million euros ($462.2 million), including 127.7 million euros ($180.5 million) in match-day revenue.

The club's success in retaining the Premier League title and again reaching the Champions League final meant it would have stayed in second place had the pound's value against the euro not dropped by 7 percent over the year.

"It is still likely to be Real Madrid and FC Barcelona that contest the top two positions in the Money League for the immediate future, particularly if English clubs continue to suffer from a weak exchange rate," Jones said.

Even so, England was the most strongly represented club in the list with seven clubs.

Boosted by income from a property development on the site of its former stadium, Arsenal moved up a spot to fifth behind Bayern Munich and swapped positions with Chelsea.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola felt his side were back to near their best during their 2-1 home win over Malaga, even though they needed a late strike from Lionel Messi to seal the points.

Guardiola admitted earlier this week that his sextuple winners were struggling to find top gear but he was far happier following last night's victory which kept the Catalan giants two points clear of Real Madrid at the Primera Division summit.

Madrid had briefly taken over top spot with their 5-1 defeat of Tenerife earlier in the evening but Barca reclaimed pole position thanks to Messi's 84th-minute winner.

That goal came three minutes after Malaga had stunned their hosts by drawing level, but the three points were no more than Barca deserved after spending the majority of the match on the attack.

"We had probably one of our best games at home. We can say we've done well. We've been much better than in recent games,'' said Guardiola following the win.

"We didn't deserve to be 1-1. We've returned to being ourselves, we played a very good football match and this is the path to follow.''

Barca captain Carles Puyol echoed the thoughts of his coach, saying: "We've gone out strongly and with a lot of intensity, it was a shame that they got level but the important thing is the three points.

"We're back to playing our game, which is what we were looking for. We suffered when they equalised, but the team reacted well and we've won.

Barcelona seeks to bounce back from an unconvincing midweek display in the Champions League when it hosts Malaga, while Real Madrid attempts to close a two-point gap on the leader when it visits Tenerife in the Spanish league on Saturday.

Barcelona salvaged a 1-1 draw from its visit to Stuttgart in the round of 16 first-leg game although it was a sub-par performance by the champion.

"If you're not quite right things are hard," said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola. "The result isn't bad but we know we have to do better if we want to push for titles."

A recent concern for the Catalans has been the form of striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede has scored 12 league goals in his first season in Spain and he equalized against Stuttgart. However, since Christmas his scoring has slowed and Guardiola said his movement off the ball needs to improve.

"He moves, but sometimes it's hard to find him," said the coach. "I want him to score goals because a No. 9 is judged on that basis."

Although Barcelona beat Racing Santander 4-0 in the league last weekend it was an uninspired showing which prompted former Barcelona player and coach Johan Cruyff to call it the "worst game of the Guardiola era."

Saturday's opponent Malaga struggled near the bottom of the table early in the season but is now 12th after a four-game unbeaten run.

With 56 points, two less than Barca, Real Madrid knows it could go top this weekend if the champion slips up.

With Tenerife in the relegation zone, Madrid should be confident of winning in the Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez Stadium. However, in the corresponding fixture in 1992 and 1993, losses to Tenerife in the final game of the season handed Barcelona the league title and Madrid will be wary of dropping points.

A 1-0 loss against Lyon in the Champions League on Feb. 16 was a rare blip in a run in which Madrid has won five league games in a row.

Jose Maria "Guti" Gutierrez appears to have recovered from an injury although he is still a doubt for Saturday. If Guti does not play, coach Manuel Pellegrini could replace him with Lassana Diarra. However, the France midfielder's ability to combine with Xabi Alonso was questioned earlier in the season.

"I don't have any problem with Xabi Alonso," Diarra said. "I think we can both play in the team. We're all Real Madrid players and we're available to the coach, who is the one to decide."

Also, third-place Valencia visits Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Valencia is on 46 points, 12 off the lead, and is aiming to stay in the Champions League spots, while 13th-place Atletico is aiming to find some consistency in an erratic league season.

One of Atletico's problems has been in goal, with first-choice goalkeeper David de Gea injured and Sergio Asenjo enduring a crisis of confidence which has at times sparked the ire of his own fans.

"The Calderon has more than enough reasons to boo me but I'm trying to turn the situation around," said Asenjo. "I need to improve my performances to change the boos to applause."

A string of fine saves during Atletico's 1-0 defeat to Almeria last weekend will have doubtless helped change the fans' opinion.

Also Saturday it's: Getafe vs. Zaragoza.

On Sunday, it's: Xerez vs. Espanyol; Villarreal vs. Deportivo La Coruna; Valladolid vs. Mallorca; Racing Santander vs. Almeria; Sporting Gijon vs. Osasuna; and Sevilla vs. Athletic Bilbao.

European champions Barcelona have been savaged by critics in their past two matches, without losing either of them, prompting coach Pep Guardiola to try and dispel the perception that his team just have to turn up to win.

On Saturday, Barcelona thumped Racing Santander 4-0 in La Liga, only to have it dubbed one of their worst performances of the last 18 months.

Their 1-1 draw at VfB Stuttgart in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Tuesday would have delighted most teams, yet Guardiola was again grilled on why his team had played so poorly.

Having won every title possible in 2009 - the Champions League, Spanish league and cup, and the Club World Championship - traditionally high expectations seem to have been blown completely out of proportion.

"People just assume it's all over and done with," Guardiola said. "People think we are just going to win the game whatever happens, because we are reigning champions. But that's not the case. Everything is hard work. The other teams are very well prepared."

Guardiola spent most of his analysis after Tuesday's match trying to explain that Barcelona had to do more than just simply turn up to win a match.

"There are times when things flow and times when they don't. The team always try to do the right thing; sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't," he added.

The coach did admit, however, that his team can play better.

"The result was relatively positive but we have to improve to win any titles. We know what we have to do and I have no doubt that we will do it."

Barcelona, who lead La Liga by two points from arch-rivals Real Madrid, fell behind to a 25th-minute goal by Brazilian-born German international Cacau. A perfectly delivered cross from Timo Gebhart found Cacau on the far post, who headed the ball powerfully beyond Victor Valdes's outstretched arm.

And Barcelona could have been in even more trouble if Stuttgart had taken their chances.

However, the visitors were a different team after Zlatan Ibrahimovic equalised shortly after half-time, heading the ball past veteran goalkeeper Jens Lehmann at close range after the German managed to block his first attempt

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has demanded his side improve if they want to retain their Champions League title after being held to a 1-1 draw by Germany's Stuttgart in the last 16 clash.

"We had to fight, it was a hard game," Guardiola said after Tuesday night's match at Stuttgart's Mercedes-Benz Arena.

"In the second half we were able to free ourselves up and it was a good result. But if we want to go for the title in this competition, we are going to have to work hard and get better."

Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, scorer of Barca's crucial second-half equaliser, agreed that it was a hard game, but predicted an improved performance in the second leg at their Camp Nou fortress on March 17.

"Stuttgart is a good team, they showed that today," he said.

"We next play at home, we are good at home and I think it will be a different game."

Stuttgart goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, who was famously sent off in Arsenal's ill-fated 2006 Champions League final against Barca, said there might be an upset.

"Maybe we'll score a goal. And then they will have to come back, and then it will be a hectic English style game. That would be nice," the ex-Germany star said.

But Stuttgart's coach Christian Gross, who has turned his side's fortunes around after taking over from the sacked Markus Babbel in December, was under no illusions.

"Now we have to go and get a result in Barcelona. We can't be too optimistic," he said.

The German side gave all they had on Tuesday night, particularly in a high-tempo first half, but they managed to convert only one of their many chances when Brazilian-born striker Cacau struck in the 25th minute.

Stuttgart's goal came when a perfectly delivered cross from Timo Gebhart found Cacau on the far post, fresh from scoring four goals against Cologne on Saturday, who headed past Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes.

A string of other chances followed as the home side ran rings around the ragged-looking Spanish league leaders, but the German underdogs were unable to capitalise.

The tide turned as Barca's class came through in the second half when Stuttgart began to tire.

Swedish striker Ibrahimovic broke Stuttgart's resistance on 52 minutes, equalising by slotting the ball underneath Lehmann at close range after the German managed to block his first attempt.

Stuttgart only really looked dangerous again on 63 minutes when Sami Khedira, like Cacau a member of the Germany squad, had a chance to put his side ahead, but his shot went wide.

Barca never looked like losing as their all-important away goal knocked the stuffing out of Stuttgart who became increasingly desperate.

In the last 10 minutes, Barca closed the game down and the tired Germans hardly got a look-in.

"Hats off to Stuttgart, they played a very good match," said Barca's French star Thierry Henry.

Holders Barcelona visit VfB Stuttgart on Tuesday in a Champions League last-16 tie which may have looked easy when the draw was made but has since taken on a completely different complexion. When Stuttgart came out of the hat on December 19 they were 15th in the Bundesliga, with two league wins, and only goal difference stood between them and the relegation playoff spot. Since then the Germans have jumped to ninth in the table after seven wins in eight games under coach Christian Gross and they go into the first leg against Barca full of confidence.

Another warning

Stuttgart sounded another warning on Saturday when they won 5-1 at Cologne, helped by four goals from Brazilian-born striker Cacau who returned after a month out through injury. “Now we are looking forward to Barcelona. We need to focus our energy for that one then we can cause an upset,” said Cacau, who played four matches for Germany last year and is still nurturing hopes of a World Cup call-up.

Spanish league leaders Barcelona put their injury concerns to one side as they cruised to a 4-0 win over Racing Santander on Saturday.

The Catalan side had seen their lead at the top reduced to two points following their first league defeat last weekend against Atletico Madrid but they were comfortably in charge from the start against Racing.

Despite missing several key players including Dani Alves, Xavi Hernandez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Barca went ahead after seven minutes through Andres Iniesta who latched onto a loose ball in the penalty area.

Racing went further behind through a tame goal when a Thierry Henry free-kick went straight through their wall, but then minutes later another from almost exactly the same spot was struck perfectly by veteran Mexican international defender Rafa Marquez and went in off the post.

Racing offered few moments of danger on the counter-attack and their newly discovered prodigy Sergio Canales had a quiet game.

There were fewer clear-cut chances in the second half but substitute Thiago Alcantara made Barca’s win more emphatic with a deflected goal six minutes from the end.

Later on Saturday Sevilla condemned Mallorca to their first home defeat of the season as they ran out 3-1 winners and took a crucial advantage in the fight for a Champions League place.

The result means that Sevilla have now gone four points clear of fifth placed Deportivo la Coruna while Mallorca, who have been enjoying one of the best seasons in their history, suffered their second successive defeat.

Mallorca went ahead through Mario Suarez but Sevilla were well worth their equaliser when Jesus Navas beat the Mallorca defence to the ball and then slotted home.

The referee then took centre stage sending off Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo – his second red card in as many matches – followed by Mallorca defender Ivan Ramis in what appeared to be very harsh decisions.

After the break Ivica Dragutinovic put Sevilla ahead and Diego Perotti slid home a cross from Navas for their third.

In the final minute, Sevilla were reduced to nine men when Didier Zokora was dismissed after a second yellow card for dissent.

A couple of goals within the first seven minutes saw Deportivo La Coruna beat Spanish league bottom side Xerez 2-1 and move up to fifth in the table.

The home side made a quick fire start scoring from the penalty spot after just two minutes when Vicente Moreno was punished for holding Diego Colotto.

Mexican Jose Guardado made no mistake to put Deportivo ahead and soon Xerez, in disarray, were further behind.

Ivan Riki latched onto a through ball and kept his composure before shooting past keeper Renan Brito.

Xerez had a mountain to climb but did come back into the game as Deportivo took their foot off the pedal and Mario Bermejo pulled a goal back with a header.

In the second half, Deportivo tightened up at the back and Xerez were unable to find an equaliser. In fact, it was Deportivo who went closest to scoring again with a long range effort from Juan Rodriguez which came back off the crossbar.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said on Thursday he is confident that Arsenal captain and fellow Spanish international Cesc Fabregas will rejoin him at the Catalan giants in the future.

Fabregas has been linked to a return to La Liga with a move to either Real Madrid or to his boyhood club Barcelona, who he left to join the Gunners in September 2003.

But Pique, who spent several years with Fabregas in Barca's youth team, said he did not believe Fabregas would ever join Barcelona's arch-rivals and it is only a matter of time before he returns to the Catalan side.

"I still think he?ll be wearing the Barca shirt one day, he is a fan and I know he?d love to come back. When? That?s another matter entirely," he told a news conference after a training session.

Last week Barcelona issued a statement to deny reports that Fabregas had reached a "verbal agreement" to join the club at the end of the season.

The midfielder is under contract with Arsenal until 2014. He was part of the Spanish side that won the Euro 2008 title.

Britain's Daily Mirror reported last week that the London club have written to Nou Camp officials warning them not to publicly express their interest in securing the player's signature.

Fabregas has also recently downplayed talk of a move away from the Premier League.

"I have a cool head, I am very happy at Arsenal and in England there is still a lot for me to do," he told Spanish sports daily Marca in December.

The former coach full of praise for the present boss...

Galatasaray coach Frank Rijkaard has heaed praise on Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola and central midfielder Xavi.

Guardiola took over from Rijkaard as Barca coach at the end of the 2007/08 season and the Dutchman has acknowledged that his successor has since proved himself to be the best in the business.

"He's the best. He has shown it, right? It's no surprise, with the progress Barca is making, he is doing a great job, great. In light of the results, Pep has done better and deserves it," he said at a press conference ahead of his sides Europa League tie against Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon.

Rijkaard also praised Barca midfield playmaker Xavi and said that he has improved under Guardiola's tutelage.

"He also deserves everything that is happening. He is one of the best players in the world. He is very talented and I don't think he is where he is from working with me, but for what he is achieving with Guardiola," he noted.

Barcelona injuries leave La Liga wide open

Barcelona's injury concerns have worsened after two key first-team players picked up problems during their 2-1 La Liga defeat at Atletico Madrid on Sunday night.

It was the Spanish giants' first league setback this term and the news that Xavi and Seydou Keita are to be ruled out through injury has only added to their woes.

Keita limped out of action in the opening exchanges and a muscle tear will see him missing for around a month.

Influential midfielder Xavi has a thigh strain in his right leg and will miss the domestic fixtures against Racing Santander and Malaga, along with the Champions League fixture against Stuttgart in Germany.

They will join Eric Abidal, Yaya Toure, Dani Alves and Dmytro Chygrynskiy in the Barca treatment room.

Meanwhile, Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano believes Barcelona will struggle in La Liga as their injury problems continue to grow.

His side have suffered with problems of their own throughout the current campaign, but with many of their prized assets returning to the fold, he is predicting a brighter future.

The Brazilian headed home in the 1-0 win against Osasuna on Sunday but the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan outfit remain a huge 16 points off Barca, who sit atop the table.

Speaking to reporters, he said: "The Liga race is open because Barcelona will suffer from their injuries.

"I think that with the recovery of our important players, one will see Sevilla return to our winning ways.

"We suffered a lot from injuries and we are going to get back to winning our important matches.

"We played well yesterday and surely we will play even better in the next few matches."

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Further injury blow for Barca

Barcelona have been dealt another blow with the news that Xavi is set to be sidelined for a fortnight

The influential midfielder was forced off towards the end of Barca's 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

Tests have since revealed that the Spain international has suffered a thigh injury and is likely to be out of action for up to 15 days.

"I noticed a problem during the match and after speaking to the doctor I decided to go off to avoid making the problem worse," said Xavi.

"We are experiencing a difficult time with injuries at present but the squad has the character and quality to cope."

Options

Xavi's absence will be keenly felt by Barca, though, as they have seen their options in the middle of the park take a battering.

Seydou Keita also limped out of the Atletico defeat at Vicente Calderon, while Yaya Toure missed the game through injury.

Sergio Busquets picked up a yellow card in the shock weekend setback, Barca's first league defeat of the season, and he must now serve a suspension.

All of this means Pep Guardiola is set to be missing key men heading into a crucial stage of the season.

Barca are due to face Racing Santander, Malaga and Almeria in the Primera Liga over the next three weeks, while also taking on German outfit Stuttgart in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

Atletico Madrid blew the Spanish championship race wide open by defeating previously unbeaten leaders Barcelona 2-1 in an enthralling game here on Sunday.

Barca's lead over title rivals Real Madrid was reduced to two points after Pep Guardiola's defensively depleted side crashed to defeat in the Spanish capital.

Missing the injured Eric Abidal, Dani Alves, Dmytro Chygrynskiy and Yaya Toure, along with Rafa Marquez and Gerard Pique suspended, Barca struggled from the start while Seydou Keita soon limped off to add to their problems.

Diego Forlan coolly put Atletico ahead from an excellent Jose Antonio Reyes pass that sliced the defence wide open before Sergio Aguero missed an excellent chance to add to the lead.

A well-placed Simao free-kick did extend the home side's advantage before Barca began to find their feet.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled a goal back with a close-range volley but while Barca pressed throughout the second half they could not find the equaliser and succumbed to their first defeat of the season.

"I would like to congratulate Atletico on a good game. They were very well organised while we were not at our best and did not get our passing rhythm going," said Barca coach Guardiola.

"I say nothing against our players because they did their best but we were not on our game. When we lost the ball we did not position ourselves well.

"The league now depends on Real Madrid and us, there is a long way to go and the pressure we put on ourselves is important so that we do things well."

Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores was delighted with his side's performance.

"This is a moment we should really savour and we ought to be really pleased with the way we played," he said.

"We tried to play a compact game and keep it tight so that they did not have the chance to break and we succeeded in that. To beat Barcelona is really a difficult feat."

Earlier, a Luis Fabiano goal gave Sevilla a 1-0 win over Osasuna and lifted them into a Champions League place.

Sevilla leapfrogged Mallorca, who play tomorrow night, into fourth place after a workmanlike performance.

The visitors took the game to Sevilla and had the chance to go ahead but a Javier Calleja shot was blocked by Andres Palop.

Brazil international Luis Fabiano also had a good opportunity before he scored the only goal of the game with a bullet header from an excellent cross by Diego Capel.

Deportivo La Coruna's European hopes were dealt a blow as they were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Espanyol.

Espanyol went ahead through Joan Verdu after 38 minutes but it was the expulsion of Antonio Tomas that really turned the game in the favour of the home side.

He was shown a red card for elbowing Francisco Chica after the break and Jose Callejon soon added a crucial second goal.

Getafe lost the chance to move to within a point of Deportivo in sixth when they drew 2-2 after conceding an injury-time equaliser against Almeria.

Pablo Piatti put Almeria ahead but Getafe turned the game on its head through Francisco Casquero and Roberto Soldado before Fernando Soriano's goal ensured a grandstand finish.

Honours were even as Valladolid drew 1-1 against Zaragoza in a crucial relegation battle.

Zaragoza were looking for their third successive win but were pegged back by a Diego Costa goal.

Against the run of play Humberto Suazo equalised for Zaragoza and they hung on in the second half despite the sending off of Ander Herrera.

Malaga gave their own survival hopes a boost with a comprehensive 3-0 win away at Racing Santander with Weligton, Salvador Caicedo and Victor Obinna scoring the goals.

Mallorca are enjoying one of the best seasons in their history and they meet Tenerife in a new, controversial Monday night slot which has caused plenty of controversy.

The Canary Island side are particularly unhappy as the match coincides with their famous carnival festivities.

Real Madrid had piled the pressure on Barca on Saturday with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice in a 3-0 win over bottom side Xerez.

Third-placed Valencia earned a 1-1 draw at Sporting Gijon, while Villarreal saw off Athletic Bilbao 2-1 in a stormy game that culminated in three red cards.

A late penalty save from Villarreal's Diego Lopez led to a heated finale with Javier Martinez and Pablo Orbaiz dismissed for Bilbao and Diego Godin for the home side.

Fans at Wembley last summer thought Barcelona had sent a second-rate side. In fact they witnessed the arrival of a new star

Back in the sunny days of pre-season, Barcelona dropped in at Wembley Stadium to take part in a friendly tournament designed to get the muscles working again and rake in a considerable sum for the organisers. A healthy and diverse crowd showed up, keen to catch a glance of the Champions League winners, whose goalscoring escapades throughout 2008-09 had captured the imagination of anyone who likes football.

But when Barça cantered on to the pitch, Yaya Touré was the sole representative of their iconic treble-winners on show. Pep Guardiola sent out a gang of understudies, the next hopefuls churning along their outstanding production line. Any disappointment in the audience soon turned to intrigue. Who were these exceptional kids? "There are three, four, five, six players who are top class," noted Guardiola.

One of them in particular caught the eye with magnetic force. Pedro Rodríguez Ledesma, a little winger from the Canary Islands with an artistic left foot and not a bad right one either, seized the opportunity to prove that he was not one for the future, but for the right now.

Naturally much was made of the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic over the summer and the tactical and technical shift it would bring to the Barcelona front line for this season. But what few realised then was that Samuel Eto'o would not be the only player to make way. Pedro has become part of the establishment, and has shone dazzlingly enough to elbow Thierry Henry out of the way. You have to hand it to Guardiola. Last season he polishes an attacking trident that scores well over a century of goals between them and breaks all manner of scoring records. This season he replaces two of the three cogs, and his team is going just as well. Extraordinary.

Pedro is nowhere near as famous as the other 22-year-old, 5ft 7in bundle of attacking weaponry at Barca, but he does balance Lionel Messi. And his knack for scoring valuable goals is particularly helpful now that Ibrahimovic is going through a dry spell.

Pedro has 14 goals from 29 appearances this season, an exceptional return from his first full season. Henry, who is increasingly distant from the starting line-up, has five goals from 26 appearances.

It has all come as a beautiful surprise for Pedro. "It's so difficult to get a look-in with the fantastic players we have," he says. "To play even a few minutes is an absolute privilege and you have to take advantage of every single moment on the field. Things have happened so quickly for me, but I'm taking it all in my stride."

Pedro is a true Guardiola prodigy. The coach had a strong feeling for the boy's development because they had worked together for Barcelona B before both were promoted. Guardiola is not shy about rewarding promising youngsters, and he did so in the most perfect way imaginable when he gave Pedro a substitute's run-out in stoppage time of last season's Champions League final. "I was so thrilled," Pedro says. "I think that was his way of saying thank you for the hard work put in by all of the youth-team players during the year. I won the lottery and was the one who got the chance and I am so grateful, even though I didn't quite manage to touch the ball." The club wasted little time tying him to a five-year contract with a release clause of €75m (£66m).

Naturally, Barcelona are chuffed that another of their graduates is making waves. The club were almost beside themselves after their recent win in Gijón (when Pedro scored the only goal of the game) because eight of the starting line-up were graduates from their academy, La Masia.

There is another reason for the self-congratulation. It has something do with somebody else's emotions rather than just their own. The second coming of Real Madrid's galácticos has upped the stakes in the sniping department, and the chest-beating is part of a revived game of one-upmanship. As was to be expected after their squad was so expensively renovated, Real have improved, and are growing stronger.

Not only do we have a genuine two-horse race for La Liga, it is not stretching the imagination too much to wonder if – draw permitting – these two Spanish heavyweights will be slugging it out in the Champions League final. With the trophy being defended by Barça, and contested in the Santiago Bernebéu, they both feel an extra frisson about this edition of the competition.

Real have the harder task in the last 16 – a stage they are determined to hurdle for the first time in five years – as they take on Lyon. Barça will surely not be losing any sleep about Stuttgart. Not that Guardiola will let his team get carried away with themselves.

Tempting as it is to daydream about a glorious return to the Bernebéu, where their last visit delivered a memorable 6-2 win which virtually wrapped up last season's La Liga title in the faces of their foe, there are three clubs in particular who are desperate for the chance to get one back at Barcelona. Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid want their say between now and May.

Catalan giants dismiss reports Arsenal captain has agreed five-year contract

Barcelona "flatly deny" they have reached an agreement with Cesc Fabregas that would see the Arsenal captain return to the Nou Camp at the end of the season. Reports in Spain suggest Fabregas, who has always said he would love to play for Barca, has come to a verbal agreement with the Catalan giants and will sign a five-year contract in the summer.

However, Barca have released a statement dismissing such reports. It read: "Given the exceptional repercussions created by the stories that have appeared in different media with respect to an agreement with Arsenal FC player Cesc Fabregas, Barca flatly deny that there have been any negotiations or agreements with the player.

"In accordance with Fifa regulations, FC Barcelona's contract policy has always made it a priority to negotiate with the club of origin before making any particular agreement with the player.

"FC Barcelona wishes to stress that it has always maintained excellent institutional relations with Arsenal FC."

Fabregas has long been linked with a move back to Barca, where he spent six years as a youth-team player before joining Arsenal in 2003. The 22-year-old is enjoying his best campaign yet and has scored 11 goals in 20 Premier League appearances this season.

Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh insists he has not agreed a deal to move to Arsenal but admits he is unlikely to remain at the Stade Chaban Delmas once his contract expires at the end of the season.

Chamakh has long been linked with a move away from the Ligue One giants and has always professed his desire to move to the Premier League.

Reports this week suggested the Moroccan international had signed a pre-contract agreement with Arsenal, who were one of the clubs that had a bid for the forward turned down last summer.

Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, maintained yesterday that no deal has yet been done and Chamakh has reiterated that stance.

"I haven't yet signed at Arsenal," he told French reporters. "But as the days pass I feel less and less a Bordeaux player."

Chamakh, 26, was Bordeaux's leading scorer last season when he fired them to the league title; he has scored nine goals so far this season.

Meanwhile, Fifa has no plans to review the controversial transfer window system despite vociferous criticism from a plethora of senior footballing figures. Numerous managers and players have hit out at the current set-up, which only allows clubs to purchase players between July and the end of August, and then in January. The recent January transfer window saw overall spending by Premier League clubs nosedive to £30m from £170m last year – the lowest total since the system was introduced in 2003.

"For the time being, FIFA is not considering reviewing the principles of the regulations on the status and transfer of players which includes the registration periods," a Fifa spokesperson said.

Fifa refused to comment on the legality of the transfer window system, while the Football Association confirmed that it is unable to change the transfer system as it is a member association of the world governing body.

Many believe the current system drives up prices of players and contracts and therefore does not encourage financial responsibility, particularly from buying clubs.

Last week Sunderland's Steve Bruce became the latest high-profile critic of the system by predicting it would only be a matter of time until the transfer windows were challenged in the courts by footballers.

Arsenal's star midfielder and captain, Cesc Fabregas, has struck a verbal agreement with Champions League holders Barcelona to return to the club next season, Cadena Ser radio reported on Tuesday.

"There is a firm agreement between Barca and Cesc Fabregas even if it is only verbal," the Spanish station reported without citing its sources.

"Several meetings have taken place and, following those meetings, Cesc told Barca that he wanted to rejoin them from next season," it added.

Cadena Ser said the deal would be subject to agreeing a fee with Arsenal.

The reigning Spanish champions have neither confirmed nor denied the report.

Fabregas, a 22-year-old Spanish international, is Arsenal's top scorer with 14 goals in all competitions this season and is under contract with the Gunners until 2014.

But his future has once again been the subject of much speculation this season and media reports have consistently linked him with a return to La Liga.

Those reports said Fabregas will move to either Real Madrid or his boyhood club Barcelona, who he left to join the Gunners in September 2003.

Arsenal have been keen to ward off potential suitors from their prized asset.

Britain's Daily Mirror reported on Tuesday the London club have written to Nou Camp officials warning them not to publicly express their interest in securing the player's signature.

Fabregas, who was part of the Spanish side that won the Euro 2008 title, has also recently downplayed talk of a move away from the Premier League.

"I have a cool head, I am very happy at Arsenal and in England there is still a lot for me to do," he told Spanish sports daily Marca in December.

Swedish striker claims he is still contributing to Barca's success

Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic claims he is unfazed by his lack of goals since the turn of the year and claims assisting a team-mate is as important as scoring.

The technically-gifted centre-forward has suffered a barren spell in front of goal in 2010 after a scintillating start to his Barca career following his mega-money summer switch from Inter Milan.

Ibrahimovic flew out of the traps in the first half of the season, scoring 11 goals in La Liga to help the Spanish treble winners soar to top spot, but the Swedish international has not scored in the league since 12th December.

But the former Juventus and Ajax man insists there is no need to be concerned and that it will be just a matter of time before he hits the goal trail once again.

"I'm not worried, this has happened to me other times," Ibrahimovic told El Periodico de Catalunya.

Rollercoaster

"In my first year at Ajax I started very well, then things went bad, then well again... a rollercoaster.

"It's normal, because you have to adapt to many things and in very little time. The same thing happened when I arrived at Juventus and at Inter, a season with ups and downs."

Ibrahimovic believes he is still contributing to Barca's success after supplying seven assists this term and the Catalans remain at the Spanish summit, five points clear of Real Madrid.

And the 28-year-old, whose side scored have netted 16 goals in a six-match winning streak, reckons setting up a team-mate is as important as scoring himself.

"Obviously, being the number nine and a centre-forward in a team like Barcelona, it's important to score goals, but that's not everything - at least not for me.

"If you participate in the play and set up team-mates, I feel just as good,"

"An assist is like a goal, because you are making a team-mate happy. And this is as important for me as scoring.

"I'm not worried about this poor run because the goals will end up coming. If you play well, you help the team. If you create chances, you score."

With Barcelona's Gerard Piqué sent off for a wild and late challenge on Getafe defender Rafa midway through the first half, this looked like being the day Real, who hammered Espanyol 3-0, closed the five-point gap at the top of La Liga, but Lionel Messi, Xavi, and Andres Iniesta played second-half keep-ball and so Barça made it 21 games unbeaten this season, prevailing 2-1.

Messi had already put them ahead after eight minutes with another ridiculously good goal – a shot that seemed to curl its way around the entire Getafe defence before swerving just inside goalkeeper Jordi Codina's near post. Messi made the second on 67 minutes, breaking away, drawing in the enemy and then releasing team-mate Xavi to score.

Henry 'promoted' at Barça

The France captain Thierry Henry can be thankful his national team coach Raymond Domenech does not share Fabio Capello's obsession with his players playing week-in, week-out. Henry, who watched last week's 1-0 win over Sporting Gijon from the bench was all set to watch Barcelona's victory over Gefafe from the stands before an injury in the warm-up to defender Dani Alves meant Henry was "promoted" to the bench as one of Barça's seven subs

Barcelona have played down Zlatan Ibrahimovic's goal drought as they continue their drive towards the title against La Liga bogey team Getafe on Saturday

The Sweden striker hit the ground running after moving from Inter Milan in the close season, quickly notching 11 league goals.

Ibrahimovic, though, has only found the net once in their last nine matches in all competitions.

"He's already scored a load of goals in the league so it's no problem if he goes a few games without scoring," team mate Seydou Keita told reporters.

"If he doesn't score there are others who will because we are a team so we aren't worried."

Ibrahimovic has said he expects more from himself but coach Pep Guardiola and his squad have praised the towering frontman for his contribution and the way he brings others into the game.

Visitors Getafe have proved awkward opponents for Barca, drawing their last two visits to the Nou Camp, but arrive distracted by a King's Cup semi-final.

La Liga's seventh-placed side lost the first leg 2-0 at Sevilla on Wednesday and have promised to go all out for their third final appearance in four years, in next week's return leg.

"It won't be easy but we aren't calling it quits," coach Michel told reporters. "We are at home and this should help us to try and turn it round."

Unbeaten Barca lead Real Madrid by five points, with Manuel Pellegrini's side welcoming struggling Espanyol to the Bernabeu on Saturday (2100).

Real defend their 100% home record without the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo unless a second appeal against the ban is successful.

Valencia are eight points adrift of Real in third spot and host Real Valladolid on Saturday (1700).

Two new coaches take the stage after sackings early in the week with Onesimo Sanchez stepping up at 17th-placed Valladolid and Juan Carlos Garrido replacing Ernesto Valverde at Villarreal (10th).

Onesimo has a tough task to fire Valladolid's climb away from the relegation places at the Mestalla. His club have taken only two points from five games.

Garrido has his eyes fixed on a place in Europe next season and leads Villarreal to fifth-placed Real Mallorca on Sunday (1600).

Mallorca have won nine from nine at the Ono Estadi.

'Titi' returns to training with Barca...

After training before the clamour of 5,000 fans yesterday in Palafrugell, Barcelona returned to a more serene training session today, with Thierry Henry the notable addition after having recovered from the stomach flu that kept him out of yesterday's session.

As reported by Sport, the Frenchman returned to normal training with his team-mates whilst Dani Avles and Eric Abidal continued their respective recoveries from knocks away from the rest of the squad. Both are anticipated to be available for this Saturday's match against Getafe.

Guardiola also called up Albert Daimau and Marc Muniesa from the reserve squad, both of whom are candidates for a spot in the Barca defence this weekend as captain Carles Puyol will be unable to take the pitch, forced to serve out a suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.

Barca continue to set records, this time in a simple training session, as the Blaugrana prepare for another weekend Liga fixture...

A throng of fans, a number that topped 5,000 as reported by the club's official website, attended Barcelona's training session held in the Catalunyan municipalitiy of Palafrugell today. Barca held their training in the neighboring city in celebration of the local club's 100-year anniversary.

In their first training session of the week, the team pose,d for photographs with the Palagrufell players, along with some of the 5,000 fans who came to watch their idols train.

Coach Pep Guardiola's training session today was an animated one, with the fans cheering every clever touch by the players. Thierry Henry was the only absentee from the session, as he continues to recover from a bout of stomach flu.

Xavi has dismissed suggestions from Madrid newspapers that Barcelona are given special treatment by referees.

Barcelona are currently five points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga after a Pedro goal secured a 1-0 victory over Sporting Gijon on Saturday, but there was controversy as Marca and AS both felt the goal should have been ruled out for offside.

The newspapers, both based in Madrid, have written about Villarato - their feeling that Angel Maria Villar, the head of the Spanish football federation, encourages referees to make decisions in favour of Barcelona because Barca had voted for Villar in the elections for the post while Real Madrid had not.

However, Xavi believes that Pedro's goal was legitimate and that the campaign is simply a means of increasing the papers' sales.

"Pedro's goal was not offside and there was a penalty on Zlatan Ibrahimovic that wasn't called, but no one speaks about that," he told TV3. "They need to sell newspapers and they haven't finished digesting the fact that we went five points clear."

Xavi did acknowledge, however, that Madrid are a force to be reckoned with in the title race this season.

"I think Madrid are strong," he said. "They have made good signings and spent masses of money. They don't have so many players coming through the academy as we do, but they have great players with a lot of quality. They will fight until the end."

Barca striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has come in for criticism of late after scoring just one goal in his last eight games, but Xavi feels he remains a key part of the side.

"He is contributing to the team, just as he was before when he was scoring goals," he said. "I don't believe that he is nervous."

Meanwhile, Xavi again hailed Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas. Fabregas, who came up through the Barcelona academy, is expected to be at the centre of the election campaigns as Barca prepare to elect a new president this summer.

"He has everything," Xavi said. "He has Barca DNA as well as commitment and he is decisive in his club, like [David] Silva and [David] Villa."

There was no change at the top of La Liga as Barcelona and Real Madrid both won away from home on Saturday.

Leaders and champions Barca stayed five points ahead of second-placed Real after Pedro's first-half goal gave them an unconvincing 1-0 win at Sporting Gijon.

Manuel Pellegrini's side impressed without the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo as a Karim Benzema brace helped them beat Deportivo la Coruna 3-1 - their first win at the Riazor in 18 years.

In the day's other Liga match, Luis Garcia struck on 58 minutes as Espanyol beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 to move three points clear of the relegation zone.

Spain U21 winger Pedro's 15th goal of the season was enough for Barcelona as they toiled to fend off their battling hosts Sporting in poor conditions.

He drilled home a low finish after a quickly-taken free-kick on the half hour as Barca, well below their high standards, even lost track of their passing game in the second half, with Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic particularly disappointing.

Sporting, however, lacked the cutting edge to truly test them and, despite a late rally, were unable to snatch an equaliser.

Initially Barcelona passed rings around Sporting, who looked for the occasional break with a degree of success, although striker Mate Bilic had left his shooting boots at home.

The Croatian scuffed one finish wide while, three minutes after Barca took the lead, he headed straight at Victor Valdes after a right-wing cross from Luis Moran.

Otherwise it was all Barcelona, with Andres Iniesta denied by two defenders sliding in, Ibrahimovic heading against the post Lionel Messi drilling just wide.

Messi's usually sublime first touch was letting him down - that low effort across goal came about after his mis-control inadvertently put him past Gregory Arnolin, while on two more occasions the ball came heavy off his foot when played in.

Fortunately for Los Cules, rising star Pedro was in typically ruthless form, drilling low into the bottom left after a quickly-taken free-kick allowed Iniesta to release him with a majestic slide-rule pass.

From that point on the metronomic Barcelona pass-and-move machine was in full flow, although - a criticism coach Pep Guardiola recently made of his charges - they failed to create any more clear-cut chances before the break.

The second half was mostly poor, not helped by the driving rain as Barca struggled to maintain the same rhythm and pressure on the ball.

Neither side created anything until the 74th minute, when Pedro missed twice in quick succession, putting one finish over an open net and seeing another blocked by Alberto Lora.

Sporting keeper Juan Pablo was in good form, snuffing out the danger on two occasions when Ibrahimovic was played in, and tipping a late drive by Pedro round the bar.

Injury time saw Barcelona holding on, giving away a succession of free-kicks and defending desperately, but Sporting failed to capitalise and the visitors took the three points.

Real Madrid were more convincing, dominating a Deportivo still reeling from a horrific broken leg suffered by left-back Filipe last week.

With Ronaldo suspended for two games following his sending off against Malaga last weekend, Raul stepped in and he worked well with Benzema, who forced a superb save from Daniel Aranzubia with one effort before Esteban Granero headed home following a mix-up in the Depor defence.

Benzema almost set up his veteran strike partner with a low ball that was somehow missed by the Madrid club captain, while Aranzubia was again at his acrobatic best to deny Raul from close range.

France striker Benzema spooned the ball over after a great low ball from Kaka as Madrid turned the screw, doubling their lead on 40 minutes after a superb break.

Deportivo had gone close after a decent spell of pressure was snuffed out by Marcelo. Iker Casillas launched Kaka down the left, who slipped the ball inside to Guti.

Confronted with the onrushing Aranzubia and two defenders, the veteran midfielder back-heeled the ball first-time to Benzema, who rifled his finish into an empty net.

Aranzubia saved from Kaka early in the second half but Real stepped off and allowed Deportivo to keep the ball.

The hosts were toiling though, until moment of madness from Marcelo allowed sub Riki to rob the Brazilian and draw a foul from Sergio Ramos just inside the penalty area.

The ex-Real reserve drilled the spot-kick past Casillas into the bottom right to set up a nervy finish.

But Madrid stepped it up and restored their two-goal advantage when Benzema got his second on the night and seventh in La Liga this season, drilling home from 12 yards after a good run from Alvaro Arbeloa.

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The week when Barcelona thrashed Real Madrid and sealed their place in the Champions League final has prompted a surge in births in the Catalan capital of almost 50 percent, according to a survey by a local radio station.

Barcelona midfielder Xavi has stood up for his team mate Lionel Messi after Real Madrid used video of the Argentine forward to try and get a Cristiano Ronaldo red card rescinded.

Ronaldo was shown a straight red during Sunday's 2-0 win over Malaga after catching defender Patrick Mtiliga with a flailing arm and breaking his nose.

As part of their appeal against the card, Real presented evidence to the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) which included video of an incident when Messi used his arms to shake off a Sevilla opponent who was holding him back.

Messi was awarded a free kick and the RFEF ruled that as the referee had not mentioned the incident in his match report it was not relevant and, in any case, no injury had been caused.

"You have to assess the intention of each player," Xavi told reporters on Wednesday.

"Leo wants to carry on playing and Cristiano wants to break free of the defender with a swipe of his arm," added the Spain international, who is one of Barca's club captains.

"Leo is the number one and you can't damage his image in any way. He's humble, hard-working and always thinks about the group. Not like other footballers."

The RFEF's disciplinary committee decided Ronaldo's actions were not wilful or reckless, which would have meant a longer suspension, but that he had been guilty of dangerous play.

Real have said that if their appeal was unsuccessful they would take the case to Spain's Sporting Disciplinary Committee (CEDD), a body overseen by the government sports council (CSD).

"For me, the (Ronaldo) incident is very clear," Xavi said. "It's a red and the two-match ban is extremely fair."

It's the halfway stage in La Liga and Revista has assembled an expert panel to give their reports on the big two, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The arch rivals are of course first and second in the table respectively and look set to battle it out down the stretch again.

Guillem Balague is in the studio and Graham Hunter live from Barcelona to assess what we have seen from the first half of the season, but we will also be getting the inside track from four men who know all about the qualities of the big two and who are best-equipped for the title race.

We will be asking Villarreal coach Ernesto Valverde, his Valencia counterpart Unai Emery, Getafe coach and ex-Real midfielder Michel and Atletico Madrid number one Quique Sanchez Flores on the differences they noticed in their clashes with the titans so far.

Both sides won at the weekend again, but the major talking point was a second red card for Cristiano Ronaldo in Real Madrid colours - after scoring both goals in their 2-0 win over Malaga. With the gap at five points, what will his forthcoming absence mean to their hopes of catching Barca?

There will also be a look back at all the other goals and talking points from Week 19 in Spain while, if you are a fan of Ronaldo, why not enter our competition to win a signed print of the man himself?

1958: Antonio Jesus Lopez Nieto: A Primera Liga referee since 1988, Lopez retired in 2003 due to the age restrictions enforced by the Spanish football federation. He was named winner of the Don Balon refereeing award for being the leagues top official on four occasions. On the international stage he set the record for most bookings in a World Cup game, showing 16 yellow cards and 2 red cards in the Germany - Cameroon game in 2002.

1970: Roberto Fernandez Alvarellos: Osasuna goal Roberto started his career at Celta Vigo but failed to breakthrough to the first team. He joined Sporting Gijon where he won the Zamora Trophy in 2005/06, once unbeaten for 825 minutes but left in 2006 to join the Navarran side.

1980: Xavi Hernandez: Now in his 12th season in the Barcelona first team, Xavi has graduated through the ranks at the Catalan club to become one of the most influential figures in the team's history. A visionary playmaker, he has won both Don Balon awards for best breakthrough player and best player in Spanish football. Including last seasons sextuplet of trophies, he has won four league titles, a Copa del Rey, two UEFA Champions Leagues and more and was also instrumental in Spain capturing the European Championship in 2008, being named as the tournament's best player. To date he has played 562 times for Barca and has 83 international caps.

1984: Robinho: Brazilian striker Robinho joined Real Madrid as a highly rated teenager in 2005. Despite 132 appearances in his three seasons at Madrid and two Primera Liga trophies, Robinho departed in 2008 in a surprise move to Manchester City. He has been rumoured to be making a return to Spain with Real's greatest rivals and current champions Barcelona however speculation has failed to materialise. For Brazil, Robinho has 20 goals in 71 games.

Barcelona swept aside Real Valladolid 3-0 away to move eight points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday, reaching the mid-point of the season unbeaten for the first time.

Xavi, Daniel Alves and Lionel Messi scored to round off a positive week for the champions, in which coach Pep Guardiola ended speculation over his future by agreeing to a one-year contract extension.

Barca have 49 points from 19 games. Second-placed Real Madrid can cut their lead back to five when they host Malaga at the Bernabeu on Sunday.

In the late game, Deportivo Coruna overcame Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at home to climb to fourth on 34 points.

Earlier, Sevilla beat Almeria 1-0 with an Alvaro Negredo to go sixth with 33 points.

Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has agreed a one-year extension which will keep him at the Nou Camp until the end of next season.

The 39-year-old is set to sign his contract on 1 July after elections for a new club president have concluded.

Guardiola led Barca to six trophies in 2009, including the Spanish league and the Champions League.

"Guardiola told me he was committed to staying for at least one more season," said Barcelona president Joan Laporta.

The Catalan giants are undefeated in the league this season and top La Liga by five points from rivals Real Madrid.

The Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola should agree a contract extension that would keep him with the Spanish and European champions beyond this season, midfielder Xavi said yesterday.

Guardiola has yet to commit to a new deal and president Joan Laporta said on Monday the La Liga club were resigned to rivals trying to lure away the 39-year-old, who led Barça to an unprecedented six trophies in 2009.

"I can't imagine Barça without Guardiola," said Spain international Xavi. "He is a fundamental cog in this machine and I think his contract renewal is imminent," he added.

Laporta has said Guardiola should decide by the beginning of April whether he plans to stay on and that he also wants the sporting director Txiki Begiristain to agree a new deal.

"I believe [Guardiola] wants to continue and that he is content here, that he feels important within the club," Xavi said. "To me he looks like he is enjoying the work with the same enthusiasm as the first day," he added.

Seville midfielder Aldo Duscher believes his side now have the "responsibility" of going all the way in the Spanish Cup after eliminating Barcelona in the last round. Duscher travels to former team Deportivo la Coruña in the first leg of the quarter-finals tonight. "After knocking out a great team like Barça, it's clear that now we have the responsibility to go as far as possible," said Duscher. "We have to fight to the death against Deportivo, believing in ourselves."

Barcelona are resigned to rival clubs' interest in luring away coach Pep Guardiola but want to persuade him to extend his contract, president Joan Laporta said on Monday.

FIVE POINTS CLEAR: Lionel Messi scored his 100th goal as Barca won 4-0 at the Camp Nou, while Athletic Bilbao battled to a 1-0 win over title challengers Real Madrid

Lionel Messi scored his 100th Barcelona goal on Saturday as the Spanish champions thumped Sevilla 4-0 at the Camp Nou to go five points clear of Real Madrid.

Messi, 22, scored twice in the final five minutes to make it five goals in his last two matches and take his career total to 101, becoming the youngest player in the club’s illustrious history to reach the landmark.

An own-goal from Julien Escude and a Pedro Rodriguez strike capped a miserable second half for Sevilla, who paid a heavy price for knocking Barcelona out of the Kings Cup in midweek.

Real had crashed to their third defeat of the season with a 1-0 loss at Athletic Bilbao earlier on Saturday and Barca made them pay for the slip-up, notching their first home win of the year to open up a five-point cushion.

“There is the whole second half of the season to go, so we shouldn’t get too complacent,” said Messi, who leads the goalscoring charts with 14.

It was the third meeting between Barca and Sevilla in 11 days and after losing out in the Kings Cup, Barcelona set the score straight as Sevilla fell to a fourth consecutive league defeat and now languish down in sixth.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned from suspension for Barcelona and should have scored in the sixth minute, but arrived too early to convert Thierry Henry’s cross.

Henry almost scored himself on 12 minutes, but Andres Palop rushed out to block the French striker’s poked effort. Palop also tipped over a Lionel Messi deflected shot before halftime.

Barca got the early breakthrough in the second half with Gerard Pique’s shot deflected in off Escude.

For the subsequent quarter hour, Barca put their foot down as Palop made three saves to deny Messi and Henry, while Ibrahimovic had a header ruled out for offside.

A second goal was coming and it arrived 20 minutes from time with Xavi threading an incredible pass to subtitute Pedro, who lobbed Palop and the goal had the whole crowd on their feet applauding.

Messi scored five minutes from time and added his second in stoppage-time.

Athletic Bilbao are now level on points with Sevilla after their battling 1-0 win over Real Madrid at the San Mames.

Spanish international forward Fernando Llorente headed the decisive goal after just two minutes and Bilbao survived an onslaught — with Karim Benzema, Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo all going close — to hold on for an historic win.

“We created the chances to get a better result and there was almost only one team on the pitch,” Real coach Manuel Pellegrini said. “However, you have to have some luck to convert these chances. When you lose you have obviously not done something right. There is a long way to go in the league with more than half of it remaining. Now it is important we beat Malaga at home [in the next league match].”

Bilbao hit the woodwork twice in the first minute. Carlos Gurpegi thumped the left hand post and the ball came out to Gaizka Toquero, who then crashed his shot against the other upright from inside the penalty area.

It was a warning, but Real didn’t take enough notice as they conceded a minute later.

A corner from the left took a slight deflection and Llorente powered a header past international teammate Iker Casillas.

Real had kept three consecutive clean sheets, so the goal was a shock and they responded in the best fashion with Benzema forcing a save from Gorka Iraizoz.

Real thought they had equalized when Kaka’s threaded pass found Benzema, but the Frenchman’s shot came back off the post into Iraizoz’s grateful arms.

Ronaldo, constantly jeered by the home fans, almost equalized on the hour mark, but Iraizoz thwarted him and it was the same story in stoppage-time with the goalkeeper keeping out a low drive from the Portuguese star.

In Saturday’s other game, Osasuna defeated Espanyol 2-0, with both goals from Juanfran Torres and Walter Pandiani coming in the first 10 minutes of the match.

Guardiola not to blame for defeat says skipper

Carles Puyol has dismissed Pep Guardiola's statement that he let the Barcelona players down at Sevilla and revealed the Catalan team's renewed determination to win the Spanish title and UEFA Champions League.

The Blaugrana trainer said that he felt responsible for the away goal defeat by Sevilla in the Copa del Rey as he tried to take the pressure of his squad.

Club captain Puyol did not agree, however, and instead preferred to look at the positives after Barca saw the defence of the first trophy from their historic treble-winning season end.

"[Guardiola] didn't let us down at all. He prepared the game really well and we only just lost," the defender told a press conference on Thursday.

"I've always said that it's the players who win or lose games. We are very proud of the boss.

"We're not happy about being knocked out, but we have to use it to make us stronger. Now we have to fight even harder for the league and Champions League titles."

Barcelona won the game in midweek thanks to a goal from Xavi, but Sevilla's 2-1 win in Camp Nou last week meant that the Andalucian outfit sneaked through on aggregate.

"Nobody likes to be eliminated from a knock-out competition and it doesn't make me feel any better knowing we lost to a good team like Sevilla," Puyol added.

"Nobody can accuse us of anything about last night's game. We gave a good account of ourselves and we kept fighting till the end."

Holders Barcelona were knocked out of the Copa del Rey when they won a thrilling last-16 second-leg clash at Sevilla 1-0 but were eliminated on the away goals rule after the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate

The Andalusians beat Barca 2-1 at the Camp Nou in the first leg and goalkeeper and captain Andres Palop was the hero in the return, producing a string of superb saves to deny Pep Guardiola and his players a repeat of their 2009 triumph.

Barca can no longer match last year's feat of winning an unprecedented six titles and it was the first time they have been eliminated from a competition since April 2008 when they lost to Manchester United in the Champions League semis.

Sevilla, the 2007 winners, will play Liga rivals Deportivo Coruna in the quarter-finals after the Galicians came from two down at home to draw 2-2 with Valencia for a 4-3 aggregate victory.

Getafe overturned a 2-1 first-leg deficit to come through 6-3 against visiting Malaga, and Osasuna progressed on away goals against second-division leaders Hercules to set up a last-eight tie against Racing Santander.

Racing were held to a 0-0 home draw by lowly third-tier Alcorcon, conquerors of Real Madrid in the last round, but advanced 3-2 on aggregate.

Barca came under early pressure on a sodden pitch at the Sanchez Pizjuan and Ndri Romaric tested goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto with a firm downward header after three minutes.

Barca found it hard to keep the ball on the slippery surface but Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a chance just before the half hour which he sliced well wide.

The visitors stepped up the pressure at the start of the second half and Palop saved superbly from an Ibrahimovic header and denied Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry with equally impressive stops.

A fine strike from Spain midfielder Xavi in the 64th minute gave Barca hope and the rampant Messi fired a shot against a post in the 69th.

Guardiola brought on forwards Bojan Krkic and Pedro with five minutes of regular time remaining and Barca pressed for the goal that would send them through but Sevilla held firm, with Palop producing another brilliant save from Messi at the death.

After claiming a surprise win at Camp Nou, los Rojiblancos travel back home to defend their advantage...

One Of The Three

Sevilla and Barcelona are scheduled to go head-to-head three times during January. Already the Rojiblancos have sprung something of a surprise on the Blaugrana, claiming the advantage in their Copa del Rey encounter against the Catalan giants, with goals at Camp Nou coming from Renato and Alvaro Negredo.

Part two of the trilogy takes place at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Wednesday evening, with the Andalusians needing only to avoid defeat to progress in the Copa del Rey and approach the concluding episode of this mini-series on Sunday in a fine psychological state.

Despite their terrific win in Catalunya, Manolo Jimenez’s side have not made a bright start to 2010 overall. A last minute defeat against Atletico Madrid on the opening weekend after the winter recess was painful to take, but a 2-1 loss against Racing Santander on Saturday was equally frustrating.

“Rather than others losing respect for us at home, we have lost respect for ourselves," lamented the coach after Sevilla’s latest set-back. "There are no excuses, we played a disastrous first half.”

Looking impotent in attack and febrile at the back, there can be little doubt that Sevilla need to raise their level once again if they are to cling to their 2-1 advantage.

Five Star Showing?

For the opening half hour of Saturday’s Liga match against Tenerife, Barcelona were made to look distinctly second rate by their opponents, who carved open the Blaugrana back four with alarming ease on several occasions.

This was an exaggeration of Barca’s previously under par showings in 2010. A home draw was the very most they deserved when Villarreal visited Camp Nou a week past on Saturday, while their first leg Copa defeat against Sevilla did not see the Catalan side at their champagne best.

Victor Valdes and the framework of his goal, in addition to some lamentable finishing, came to Barca’s aid in the Canary Islands, allowing them to conjure up a stunning spell of football in the minutes immediately approaching half-time. Led by Andres Iniesta, Bojan Krkic and Lionel Messi, Pep Guardiola’s side would have a match that they seemed intent on losing won by half-time.

The second half was something of a formality, with Messi’s hat-trick goal, a chip of unquestionable brilliance, an undoubted highlight.

Guardiola will not have forgotten the opening half hour, when his side could easily have lost two or three goals, and will certainly demand better of his defenders on Wednesday.

FORM GUIDE

Sevilla

LOST 2-1 (h) Racing Santander (Liga, January 9)

WON 2-1 (a) Barcelona (Copa del Rey, January 5)

LOST 2-1 (a) Atletico Madrid (Liga, January 2)

LOST 2-1 (h) Getafe (Liga, December 19)

WON 1-0 (a) Sporting Gijon (Liga, December 13)

Barcelona

WON 5-0 (a) Tenerife (Liga, January 10)

LOST 2-1 (h) Sevilla (Copa del Rey, January 5)
 
DREW 1-1 (h) Villarreal (Liga, January 2)

WON 2-1 aet (n) Estudiantes (Club World Cup, December 19)

WON 3-1 (n) Atlante (Club World Cup, December 16)

TEAM NEWS

Sevilla

Sebastien Squillaci will be sidelined after undergoing an ankle arthroscopy in Paris with the aim of curing his discomfort. Luis Fabiano is still missing too.

Didier Zokora, Arouna Kone and Frederic Kanoute are on international duty.

Otherwise there are no players ruled out, though neither Diego Perotti nor Abdoulay Konko trained on Monday.

There is better news regarding Jesus Navas and Fernando Navarro, both of whom took part in regular training earlier in the week.

Probable Starting XI: Palop; Konko, Escude, Dragutinovic, Navarro; Romaric, Duscher; Jesus Navas, Renato, Diego Capel; Negredo

Barcelona

Both Yaya Toure and Seydou Keita are on African Cup of Nations duty but there are no serious injury problems to concern the coach, with the standard bumps and bruises being attended to.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns from suspension and, as the scorer of their consolation in the first leg, may well be employed from the outset at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Gerard Pique was rested over the weekend and is another man who is available.

Probable Starting XI: Pinto; Dani Alves, Milito, Pique, Abidal; Xavi, Thiago, Iniesta; Bojan, Ibrahimovic, Pedro

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Sevilla

Veteran goalkeeper Andres Palop’s goal is likely to come under a barrage of shots on Wednesday night, with Barca intent on turning around their first leg deficit. While he undoubtedly needs plenty of cover from his defence, the 36-year-old, who has been with Sevilla since 2005, will likely see his rearguard breached on a few occasions by the Catalans and will therefore need to be near his best to repel their advances.

Barcelona

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been starved of action over the course of the last week, reduced to a bench role in the first leg of this Copa del Rey tie and suspended at the weekend. Expect the Swede to come out firing on all cylinders, eager to strike down a Sevilla team who hold a narrow advantage over his team-mates. He found the net against them during his cameo last Tuesday, and it would be a brave punter who decided to back against him doing likewise this time around.

PREDICTION

Sevilla’s squad has been stretched by injuries and suspensions, and Wednesday night may well be the time it finally breaks. They’ve been unconvincing at home at the best of times this season, while Barca will be riding high on a wave of confidence following their stunning weekend success. Expect Pep Guardiola’s men to get the goals they need not only to win this game, but also this tie.

Sevilla 1-3 Barcelona

The midfielder is named Catalan Sports Person of the Year...

Barcelona midfielder Xavi has insisted that his side can overcome Sevilla in the second leg of their fifth round Copa del Rey tie on Wednesday night.

The current cup holders trail the Andalusian outfit 2-1 from the first leg and must score at least two goals at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville in they are to progress to the quarter finals and keep their title defence in tact.

"We know we're at a good stage and in position to win all the titles," he said, as reported by Sport, after collecting the award for Catalan Sports Person of the Year for 2009.

"We believe we can overcome Sevilla. The first 90 minutes of the tie we were good, but there are 90 more to play and this team is capable of winning at any venue.

"We will give everything. We will not stop. Come what may all we think about is winning. Here we are not allowed to draw. We are Barca."

Lionel Messi scored a sensational hat-trick as champions Barcelona nudged Real Madrid off the top of the table crushing Tenerife 5-0 away for their first victory of 2010

Barca scored three times yesterday in a destructive nine minutes with Ballon D'Or winner Messi scoring two of them (36, 45) before clinching his hat-trick with a nonchalant curler late in the second half to join Valencia's David Villa on 12 goals at the top of the goalscoring charts.

"It was complicated for us at the beginning but we scored some quick goals and that changed things," said Messi. "I am delighted with my three goals and more importantly the team won, however, it is a bit unfair on Tenerife."

Real Madrid had leapfrogged Barca with a 2-0 home win over Real Mallorca earlier on Sunday but Pep Guardiola's side responded to move back to the summit two points ahead of Real.

Barcelona's next challenge is at Sevilla in the second leg of the last 16 Kings Cup tie in which they trail 2-1 from the first leg.

Madrid had moved top of the Spanish league for the first time since the end of November with goals from Esteban Granero and Gonzalo Higuain overcoming Mallorca as they maintained their flawless home record with a ninth consecutive win.

"When Real Madrid are on song we are difficult to stop," said Granero, nicknamed 'The Pirate'. "I am happy to get on the scoresheet and that we beat a difficult rival in testing conditions.

"We just have to carry on like we are doing and Barcelona will have to slip up at some stage," said Granero.

However, Real's stay at the top was brief as Barca recovered from a shaky start to put Tenerife to the sword with Messi so inspirational that even the home Tenerife fans were applauding him at the end.

Carles Puyol was also on target with an Ezequiel Luna own goal completing the scoring after great footwork from Pedro Rodriguez.

It was tough on Tenerife who lost 6-0 the last time they hosted Barcelona in the top-flight back in 2001.

Tenerife's Alejandro Alfaro could have had a hat-trick in the opening quarter hour hitting the crossbar and forcing Victor Valdes into action.

Barca had been quiet but Bojan Krkic ghosted past his man in the 36th minute and cut back for Messi to score.

Tenerife were aggrieved and it got worse for them as Barca scored twice in two minutes.
A minute before the break Messi curled in a devilish free-kick and Puyol used the pace of the ball to glance in a header.

On the chime of half-time Andres Iniesta's sublime pass released the effective Bojan who set up a tap-in for Messi and a 3-0 lead they didn't deserve.
Thierry Henry smacked the post early in the second half before Messi showed why he is the best player on the planet curling in brilliantly from 20 yards as if he were still in a training session.

Freezing temperatures and snow in the Spanish capital saw some Real fans at home but for the players gloves and undergarments were the order of the day.

Kaka returned for Real in his first appearance since injuring his groin at the end of November and almost scored on his return.

Mallorca had won 3-1 at Real last season but got off to a nightmare start conceding after just seven minutes.

Higuain cut inside and curled a beautiful shot into the top corner with his left foot that gave the goalkeeper no chance. Substitute Granero volleyed in expertly minutes after the break to clinch the points.

Valencia lie six points behind Real in third after making it seven wins from nine on the road defeating bottom side Xerez 3-1 yesterday.

"Barcelona and Real Madrid have a high number of points and in past seasons we would be top or close to them with the points tally we have," said Valencia coach Unai Emery.
Spanish internationals Juan Mata, David Silva and Carlos Marchena were all on target to clinch victory at Xerez and boost confidence for Thursday's last 16 King's Cup match at Deportivo La Coruna.

Deportivo are four points behind Valencia in fourth after a 1-0 home victory over Osasuna on Sunday thanks to a Juan Rodriguez goal.

Barca's training facility was inundated by over 6,000 fans this morning...

There was much publicity made of the 2,300 fans that came out to Real Madrid's world-class training facility to watch the team train, but such a number was just a fraction of the amount of fans that came out in droves to watch Barcelona today.

In the cold and in the rain, more than 6,000 fans celebrated a morning of training with the Blaugrana first team on Thursday, as reported by Sport.

The fans cheered their idols as Pep Guardiola counted on his entire squad, save Seydou Keita and Yaya Toure who are taking part in the African Cup of Nations, and Jeffren and Eric Abidal who are out with respective injuries.

The highlight of the morning training session was a practice match in which the thousands of fans cheered each and every goal as if it were an official game.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has backed Dmytro Chygrynskiy after a poor performance by the Ukraine defender in Tuesday's 2-1 King's Cup defeat by Sevilla provoked whistles from the home fans at the Nou Camp.

"Dima is a fantastic player and the more he gets whistled the more support we will give him because he has many years ahead of him here," Guardiola told a news conference.

The 23-year-old, who joined Barca from Shakhtar Donetsk at the end of August for 25 million euros ($36 million), gave the ball away several times and conceded the penalty that led to Sevilla's winner in the first-leg match.

"It will cost him more than others (to settle in) because of where he has come from and the price we paid but if anyone is responsible it's me not him," Guardiola added.

The Barcelona boss also assumed full responsibility for Barcelona's Copa del Rey defeat to Sevilla, but remains confident the defence of their crown is still salvageable.

''We've lost and therefore I was wrong,'' said Guardiola, who also pointed out that he had made mistakes before but ''as we were winning, there were no complaints''.

However, with Barca still chasing fresh honours on three fronts this season, Guardiola insists he will need to carry on utilising his whole squad if the Catalan giants are to continue their remarkable run of success.

''I'm the one who takes the decisions,'' he added. ''I make changes because I'm the one in charge, at least until the president gets rid of me.

''I make changes for the health of the changing room, because all the players deserve it and I want them to play. I need them all. The six titles were won by all of us, and not only 11 players.''

Despite the home loss, though, Guardiola has faith that his side can turn things around in next week's second leg at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and book their spot in the quarter-finals.

''There's no doubt that we are going to bounce back. What we need to do is attack and score goals,'' he said.

Barca boss ready to put faith in youngsters

Pep Guardiola has revealed that Barcelona are not planning to venture into the transfer market to cover for African duo Yaya Toure and Seydou Keita.

Ivory Coast midfielder Toure and Keita of Mali are both on international duty at the African Nations Cup and their absence will leave Barca short during January.

A host of names have been mentioned as possible new recruits but Guardiola maintains that he has no plans to look outside his squad.

The Barca boss has faith in the club's younger players and intends to give the likes of Jonathan dos Santos, Thiago Alcantara, Victor Vazquez and Gai Assulin the chance to shine.

"As far as I know we have nothing planned," said Guardiola when asked about the likelihood of new arrivals this month.

"It's not worth it to bring in a player for one month.

"In the centre of midfield I've got a lot of options. I have five central midfielders, plus the players in the reserves.

"For one month I'd prefer to give them an opportunity, I know them and I know they will do well."

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola could leave his job at the end of the season and take a break from football, according to his father. The 38-year-old, who won six trophies in his first season in charge, has not signed an extension to his contract which runs out at the end of the season and Valenti Guardiola has hinted his son is considering a sabbatical.

Guardiola snr said: "I don't know if [he] will stay at Barcelona [beyond the end of the season] or if he will take a break from football and relax. The dad is always the last to know about these things."

Guardiola broke Terry Venables' 25-year-old record of league matches unbeaten with a 1-1 draw against Villarreal. Venables' Barça squad went 15 games without losing in the league in the '84-85 season and this point made it 16 for Guardiola's team, although with Real Madrid now too close for comfort it was a draw that tasted like defeat.

Pedro scored on seven minutes from a rebound after Thierry Henry hooked a Dani Alves cross on to the bar. But after having two clear penalty claims turned down Villarreal equalised through David Fuster.

The marquee matchup in this tournament is finally upon us.  The two teams that were expected to be in the final of the Club World Cup are there.  Estudiantes and Barca are ready to go at it and there are two teams that fit the bill for a cahracteristis matchup-  history vs. hunger.  The only difference here is that Barcelona and Estudiantes could fall on either side of this discussion.  This is what makes this year's edition of the final so captivating. 

Not as easy as they might think

For Barcelona fans Estudiantes is a relatively unknown commodity with the exception of Juan Sebastián Verón.  ¨We have to take things step by step in order to prepare appropriately.  We might not know most of the players from Estudiantes but we will by tomorrow,¨said captain Carles Puyol in an interview with Argentine radio station La Red.  

Estudiantes captain Juan Sebastián Verón is looking to make some history of his own as he will emulate his father, the great Juan Ramón Verón, in beating  Europe's best.  The "Original Witch" was part of the great Estudiantes sides of the late 60's that dominated South American football.  Verón, alongisde then teammate and World Cup winning coach Carlos Bilardo, constantly talked about during those days that their rivals were no longer Boca and Gimnasia.  Their rivals were Manchester United and some of the other European sides that they faced during that incredible run.

The elder Verón was part of the 1968 side that defeated Manchester United in the Intercontinental Cup, which was played throughout two legs back then.  His son is now in a position, 41 years later, to repeat the same feat with the same club as his father.  Sebastián Verón mentioned in an interview earlier in the week that after returning to Argentina after being in Europe for well over a decade, his ultimate dream was to win this title. 

  The Argentine media have been very blatant in pointing out that Estudiantes are a battle-tested side that will not allow Barca to play.  It is part of their style to reduce spaces and mark Xavi really tight; suffocating any breakouts and not giving Barca the freedom to move around the way they did against Atlante.  The defense will have to solid stalwarts in the middle in Germán Ré and Leandro Desábato. 

 In the recent months, Mexican international Rafa Márquez has become a liability as injuries and lack of continuity have contributed to his regression. This poor run of form in addition to the problems that Dmytro Chygrynskiy has had adapting to life at the Nou Camp expose Barca in the event of an injury; even if Gabriel Milito is back in the mix after an 19-month absence. 

With all of this said, Barca are still steamrolling.  Their first step in disarming Estudiantes is to take the ball away from Verón.  There has been a tendency in tha past few games that the Argentine international has played in to be playing further back than he usually does.  To have a Verón handling the ball so deep in his own territory could signal bad news for the Argentines.  This would force Enzo Pérez to step into the spotlight a bit more as Boselli's attacking duo partner. 

Éric Abidal will also have to keep a close eye out on Clemente Rodríguez.  The former Spartak Moscow and Espanyol man is the Argentine version of Dani Alves but is a bit more responsible on defense.  His excursions could be trouble for the Barca backline especially if he can connect with Boselli inside the box with any crosses. Rodríguez gave Pohang a great deal of headaches on the right and his lethal crosses had air raid sirens sounding in the Steeler backline everytime.  That is why the former Boca Juniors man was arguably the best player on the pitch.

Guardiola's lineup is in Sharpie except for the left forward.  Common logic would say that Pedro would start especially after scoring his historic goal on Wednesday against Atlante.  Henry is not going through a good run of form while the youth side phenom is turning heads everywhere he goes.  Yet another start for Pedro could mean that Henry's days at the Nou Camp are definitely nearing the final months. 

Key Players

Mauro Boselli (Estudiantes):  The former Boca striker stepped out from behind the shadow of Martín Palermo and was unwisely dumped by the Xeneizes.  Now he has become his own man with El Pincha.  The injury to Marcelo Carrusca, the failed attempt to repatriate Bayern Munich man José Sosa, and the sudden retirement of José Luis Calderón hampered Estudiantes' attack as far as manpower is concerned; but there is a certain something about this team that finds a way to figure things out in the long run.  The one that really affected the team internally was the retirement of Calderón. 

The 39-year-old striker was still in great shape although he was seeing limited playing time under Sabella after coming back from Arsenal.  Calderón did not help his cause out too much by making comments to the local press talking about his desire of becoming the next coach of Estudiantes "in the very near future".

Depite all of this Boselli has been abel to generate space and clean up the area for his teammates.  He was a crossbar away from scoring the goal of the tournament and missed by an inch on Leandro Benítez first goal of the match, but he might not be as forgiving with the Blaugrana on Saturday. 

Benítez could also be a problem for Barca.  Fresh off his brace against Ponhang Steelers, "El Chino" can score from inside and from the outside.  This makes him a fresh option for El Pincha, especially on set pieces.

Lionel Messi (Barcelona):  If I really have to explain why, then we have a problem.  In this match he will be a big factor not when he has the ball but when he is moving around in space.  All eyes will be on him.  To play devil's advocate, Argentines know Messi and that they have two compact lines so recurring to fouls could be a realistic option for them. Look for the lines to be compact as usual and see

The big problem for Estudiantes is trying to matchup against Zlatan Ibrahimovic.  The big Swede can move back, go to the wings, push up and challenge the defenders.  His mobility is a tough factor to matchup against as well.  Also expect a big game from Touré Yaya.  His ability to play off of Messi and Dani Alves could be a field day on the right. 

Probables

Estudiantes:  Albil; Rodríguez, Desábato, Ré, Díaz; Núñez, Verón, Braña, Benítez; Pérez, Boselli

Barcelona:  Valdés; Alvés, Piqué, Puyol, Abidal;  Touré Yaya, Sergio Busquets, Xavi; Messi, Ibrahimovic, Henry (Pedro).

Lionel Messi scored within two minutes of coming on as a substitute to help Barcelona complete a 3-1 comeback win over Mexico's Atlante on Wednesday and reach the Club World Cup final against Estudiantes.

Forward Guillermo Rojas put the CONCACAF champions ahead in the fifth minute and midfielder Sergio Busquets equalised for Barcelona after 35.

Ballon d'Or winner Messi came off the bench to wild cheers from the near-capacity 40,952 crowd at the Zayed Sports City in the 53rd minute and put the European champions ahead almost immediately.

"When he (Messi) goes on to the pitch the dimension changes completely - he comes from a different galaxy," Atlante coach Jose Guadalupe Cruz told a news conference.

"You have to recognise that he's brilliant but also the team co-ordination helps a lot."

Barcelona increased their lead when a fine run down the left and into the box by Andres Iniesta ended with Pedro scoring from close in.

Barca meet Argentina's Estudiantes, the South American champions, in the final on Saturday.

Atlante went ahead after five minutes when their Argentine keeper Federico Vilar punted a free kick deep into the Barcelona half, defender Rafael Marquez missed the ball and Rojas darted through, lobbing keeper Victor Valdes and turning it into the net.

Vilar dived to his right to save a header by Busquets from a corner from the right taken by Xavi in the seventh minute.

The Mexican side could have had a second three minutes later when right back Navarro sprung the offside trap to run through on goal, but instead of shooting he elected to pass, failing to find his two team mates in the middle.

Busquets equalised 10 minutes before halftime with a low right-footed, first-time shot from the left after Yaya Toure had flicked on with his head a corner from the right by Xavi.

Messi, having been a doubt for the match with a right ankle injury, came on for midfielder Toure and within two minutes had put Barca ahead.

He made a diagonal run into the box from right to left, racing on to a fine through pass from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and rounded Vilar who managed to get a touch to Messi's shot but could not prevent it from going in.

"It's not the first time Messi gets on to the pitch and scores. He's very competitive and he always decides the final score, he goes on to the pitch and he is a fighter," said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.

"His physical state is good and his mind is in a perfect frame to go out and win."

Pedro added the third goal in the 67th minute when he hit the ball past Vilar after Iniesta had won it on the left and made a jinking run into the box.

The 22-year-old forward now has a remarkable record of having scored in all six competitions Barca have taken part in this year.

Atlante striker Rafael Marquez broke away on the right with a good chance to reduce the deficit but his shot was saved one-handed by the advancing Valdes.

Substitute Bojan Krkic fluffed an excellent chance right in front of goal to increase Barca's lead and they could have scored again from several late moves with Messi causing havoc in the Atlante defence.

The most spectacular was Ibrahimovic's effort from 35 metres out on the left that was pushed away for a corner by Vilar's diving save.

The Catalans' tilt at a clean sweep of trophies begins today in Abu Dhabi

Barcelona's quest for a sixth title in 2009 begins today when they take on Atlante in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.

Last season Barça became the first La Liga team to win the treble of league, cup and European Cup, and Pep Guardiola's team added two further trophies at the start of this campaign, winning the European and Spanish Super Cups.

Two more victories in the United Arab Emirates this week would give the Catalan club the set, with the Mexican side providing the first hurdle tomorrow, then their opponenst in the final will be the Copa Libertadores champions Estudiantes who beat AFC Champions League winners Pohang Steelers 2-1 on Monday.

Aside from completing an unforgettable year on a high note, Barça will also be desperate to do well in Abu Dhabi to make up for the disappointment of their appearance in the competition in 2006. Then, Barça lost to the Brazilian side Internacional de Porto Alegre in the final after going down to an 82nd-minute goal from Adriano.

The Barça midfielder Xavi Hernandez, who played in that match, told El Mundo Deportivo: "To close 2009 with the sixth title would be something fantastic. We are highly motivated and this time we are not going to let it escape."

Another Barça player who will be desperately hoping for successful trip to the UAE is their young winger Pedro Rodriguez, although for more personal reasons. Prior to August, Pedro had not struck a senior goal for the Catalans, but he could enter the record books this week as the first player to score in six different competitions in a season having already scored in La Liga, Champions League, Copa del Rey and the two Super Cups over the last five months.

"For me it would be a perfect year, as well as for the whole team," said the 22-year-old Canary Islander. "We are in the midst of a good period and hopefully our good run can continue and we can claim the title. We are looking forward to it and, if I can get a goal, then even better."

Barça go into the competition on the back of one of the best starts to a league season in their history, with Saturday's 1-0 derby success over Espanyol leaving them with 12 victories and three draws from their opening 15 games – equalling the unbeaten run set by the team in the 1984-85 season.

That success has also left Guardiola's team with a five-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid in La Liga, although Barça have played a game more due to their Club World Cup commitments this week.

The big doubt for Barça heading into today's game is the fitness of Ballon d'Or winner, the Argentine Lionel Messi, who has been struggling with injury and has been undergoing individual training this week.

Atlante are underdogs but go into the match on the back of a 3-0 defeat of Auckland City in the quarter-finals on Saturday. Atlante's Argentine winger Santiago Solari, the former Real and Atletico Madrid player, admits his side could be in for a tough time.

"There's a group of teams that stand out at the end of the decade. It's not just that they've been the best team over the past year and a half in performances and results; this FC Barcelona is one of the best teams in the history of the game," Solari told the official Barcelona website. "Obviously Barça hold all the trumps. But all the onus is on Barça as well. We know that.

"We'll try and play our football as we always do. Then, how far we get will depend on the problems Barça create for us."

Barcelona's bid to close a historic season with a sixth major trophy begins Wednesday when the European champions play Mexican club Atlante in the Club World Cup semifinals.

Barcelona is favorite to lift the former Intercontinental Cup after winning all five trophies available since May -- the Champions League, the Spanish league, the Copa del Rey, the Spanish Supercup and the European Supercup.

Pep Guardiola's team will go down in history if it can complete a clean sweep of titles.

"There's no need to obsess over it, but to be remembered as great you have to win the Club World Cup," sport director Txiki Begiristain said. "The truth is that we would like it very much because it's the only title that Barcelona is missing."

In its two previous appearances at the competition, Barcelona lost 2-1 to Sao Paulo in 1992 and 1-0 to Internacional -- also of Brazil -- in the final three years ago.

Coach Pep Guardiola was a member of that first losing team, and is keen to avoid the team's previous mistakes.

Barcelona, then led by Ronaldinho and coming off a league-Champions League double, went on a sharp decline from the final in Yokohama, Japan, that left the team without a trophy until Guardiola's arrival at the start of last season. Guardiola became the first coach to lead a Spanish club -- and only fifth in Europe -- to three trophies in one season.

"This year we've won every title that we've played for," midfielder Andres Iniesta said. "All that's left (is this)."

Golden Ball winner Lionel Messi is available, but a start does not look promising due to an ankle injury. The Argentina forward, who has scored 12 goals, should be on the team list for the match at the Zayed Sports City stadium despite missing Saturday's 1-0 win over Espanyol.

Although it's already likely, a sixth trophy would cement Messi's standing as the world's best player and likely herald a FIFA Player of the Year award.

"It's the last championship of an historic 2009 and we want to end it well," said Messi, who is the team's joint leading scorer with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Before the Catalans can look ahead to Saturday's final against either South Korean club Pohang Steelers or Estudiantes of Argentina -- who play Tuesday -- it will have to overcome some fatigue to first get past Atlante.

Former Real Madrid player Santiago Solari, now at Atlante, is fully aware of Barcelona's strengths.

"They're not only the best in the world the last year and a half for their play and results, but this Barcelona is also one of the best teams in the history of football," Solari said. "You have to take your sombrero off to them."

Atlante beat New Zealand's Auckland City 3-0 to reach the last four, but Solari and his teammates believe all of the pressure is on Barcelona.

"All of the responsibility falls on Barcelona. This we know," the Argentine midfielder said. "We'll go out and try to play our football."

Atlante could look to exploit an "exhausted" Barcelona, as Guardiola put it, which has faced a crowded December schedule due to the trip to Anu Dhabi.

European champions Barcelona must win the Club World Cup at the third attempt if they are to be considered truly great, sporting director Txiki Begiristain said on Sunday.

Lionel Messi’s ankle injury has ruled him out of Barcelona’s league derby with Espanyol on Saturday, and makes him doubtful for their opening game of the Club World Cup, the European champions said on Thursday.

The Argentina international twisted his right ankle in Barca’s 2-1 Champions League victory away to Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday.

After Saturday’s visit of Espanyol in La Liga, Barca travel to the United Arab Emirates for the semi-finals of the Club World Cup next Wednesday.

The final, if they reach it, is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 19 after which the Spanish league goes into its two-week winter break.

Lionel Messi scored with a free kick in the closing minutes to give visiting Barcelona a 2-1 win over Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday as the defending champions advanced to the knockout stage of the Champions League.

Barcelona only needed to avoid a large defeat to advance, but Artem Milevskiy gave the visitors a scare with an early goal for Dynamo. Xavi Hernandez then tied the game in the 33rd minute after sustained pressure from Barcelona. The second half saw few clear chances for either side, before Messi curled in a free kick in the 86th minute.

The loss means Dynamo finishes last in Group F and is eliminated from European play.

"It was an important game today and all our players put in maximum effort to get the win," Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola said. "It was important to win the group and we were playing with that in mind. It was a physically tough game, but it's going to get even tougher from here."

Dynamo needed a victory and showed its intent early on with a lively start, opening the scoring in the second minute. A free kick from the edge of the area on the left found Milevskiy clear in front of goal, and he slotted past the Barcelona goalkeeper.

That was as good as it got for Dynamo, as Barcelona began to find its rhythm and control possession. Messi should have put the Spanish champion level in the 13th minute, when Oleksandr Shovkovskiy in the Dynamo goal miscued a clearance straight to him.

Shovkovskiy redeemed himself, however, with an excellent reaction save diving to his left.

Barcelona kept attacking, and the equalizer finally came when Eric Abidal pulled the ball across the face of goal from the left and Xavi side-footed home.

The first chance of the second half came in the 54th minute, when Dynamo's Leandro Almeida met a free kick by Andriy Shevchenko at the back post but put his header just wide.

Barcelona had a chance to take the lead in the 73rd minute, when Messi beat two players before shooting from the edge of the box, but a defender blocked it.

And it was Messi who gave Barcelona a deserved victory in the 86th minute, curling a free kick into the top corner from 20 yards. He could have had another in the final minute when he raced through on goal, but Shovkovskiy got down sharply to save.

"We didn't concentrate in the last few minutes against Inter, and now we lost to Barcelona in the last few minutes," Dynamo coach Valeri Gazzaev said. "In all games, we have strived hard to win and get through the group, but we didn't have enough luck, skill or experience to gain qualification."

Holders Barcelona can secure a place in the Champions League knock-out stage even if they lose at Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday, but Inter Milan face a winner-takes-all home encounter with Rubin Kazan.

All four teams in Group F will go into their final group games with hopes of going through, but it is pool leaders Barcelona who hold the strongest hand.

Pep Guardiola’s side have slipped into top gear in recent weeks, defeating Inter 2-0 in their last Champions League assignment and edging domestic rivals Real Madrid in the first ‘Clasico’ of the season.

“This is the biggest game of our season so far and it will define the rest of our season,” said Guardiola after his side’s 3-1 win at Deportivo la Coruna on Saturday evening. “I’m confident that we will preform well. We cannot go out of Europe and we have to finish top of our group,” he added.

Barca can afford to lose by any two-goal scoreline other than 2-0 in Kiev, due to their 2-0 victory over the Ukrainians in the reverse fixture, while a 0-0 or 1-1 draw will be enough for Inter at home to freshly crowned Russian champions Kazan as long as Dynamo do not win.

Inter’s lead at the top of Serie A was cut to four points when they lost 2-1 at Juventus on Saturday but they will be bolstered by the return to fitness of Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder.

“We are disappointed because we wanted to win the big game against Juventus,” said Inter’s Brazilian international goalkeeper Julio Cesar.

Liverpool’s catastrophic exit from the competition made the headlines in Group E, with Fiorentina travelling to Anfield on Wednesday knowing that victory will secure top spot in the group ahead of Lyon.

With Liverpool already assured of a place in the Europa League, coach Rafael Benitez is likely to use the visit of the Viola to test the fitness of Fernando Torres and hand a first start to Italian summer signing Alberto Aquilani.

Should Fiorentina fail to beat Liverpool, Lyon must win by two goals at home to the group’s bottom side Debrecen to snatch top spot and secure a potentially favourable draw in the last 16.

Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar, who sacked coach Ronald Koeman at the weekend, cannot make the next round but will take the Europa League qualifying spot with victory at Standard Liege.

 Lionel Messi expressed his hope on Sunday that his winning of the coveted Ballon d'Or title would be the first of many more honours in his career.

After an exceptional year with Barcelona, winning the Champions League, La Liga and Spanish Cup titles, Messi received the biggest percentage of votes since the award for the European player of the year was created in 1956.

"I hope to win another after winning something with Argentina," said the 22-year-old winger.

"It would be great, but it's going to depend on the way things evolve with Barca and the World Cup."

And he agreed that the fact that there were six players from La Liga and four from Barcelona in the top ten proved that the Spanish first division was the best in the world.

"Yes I think so," he said.

"With the English league, they are the two strongest in the world. It's not by chance that they are the clubs and the championships who always go far in the Champions League."

Messi hoped that his success would be savoured by all Argentina.

"I'm very proud to be the first Argentine to win the the Ballon d'Or," he said. "I would love to relive a year like the one that has just finished and win titles with Argentina."

And he admitted his pride at being compared to Diego Maradona.

"For me he was the best player in history. There won't be others like him. So it's an honour to be compared to him."

Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored Wednesday to give Barcelona a 2-0 victory at Xerez to open up a five-point lead over second-place Real Madrid in the Spanish league.

On the same day that FIFA opened a disciplinary case against Henry for a blatant hand ball that helped put France into the World Cup, the Barcelona striker turned Maxwell's pass through the hands of goalkeeper Renan Soares in the 46th minute for his second league goal.

Ibrahimovic chipped over Renan in injury time to make up for missed chances by Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta. It was the Sweden striker's ninth league goal.

Barcelona, which played Wednesday to make up for a missed league round when it competes at the Club World Cup, has 33 points from 13 games. Madrid, which plays on Saturday against Almeria, has 28 from 12 games.

Sevilla is third with 26 points, one better than both Valencia and Deportivo La Coruna. Xerez remained in last place with seven points.

Messi, awarded the Golden Ball as Europe's best player on Tuesday, started the match from the bench alongside Ibrahimovic, fresh from his winning volley in Sunday's 1-0 win over Madrid.

Xerez showed intent early through Fabian Orellano, but Barcelona went on to take control with Bojan Krkic and Seydou Keita coming close to scoring within 15 minutes.

Yaya Toure was clear inside the box just before halftime, but headed straight into the hands of Renan.

Messi and Ibrahimovic came on in the second half as the Catalans looked to consolidate their lead, but Xerez remained defiant with speedy winger Orellano forcing Valdes to save a rising shot in the 71st minute.

Henry, who could be suspended for the first game of the World Cup for his hand ball in World Cup qualifying, was replaced by Iniesta in the 84th minute.

In injury time, Messi drove a low shot past Renan that came back off the far post moments before Iniesta sidefooted a centring pass from Ibrahimovic.

 Lionel Messi is now officially the best footballer in Europe after being announced as the winner of this year's Ballon D'Or, one of the most prestigious awards in the game. The Barcelona striker was quick to thank his teammates for his award.

"I want to thank my colleagues, as I always say, this is thanks to them too, they are what made me win this. I am happy to have won the award also because of the way I won it. The voting was overwhelmingly in my favour and that was very nice. I am very proud to be the first Argentinian to have won this award. Even though Diego (Maradona) didn't win it because at that time we couldn't enter the contest. Otherwise he would certainly have won it more than once for sure," said Messi.

For Messi, it doesn't matter if it is Manchester United in the Champions League final or Atletico Madrid in the Copa Del Ray.

The Argentine has summoned his magic all the same to leave his opponents mesmerised, stunned by a craft that has no parallel on the football field now.

Barcelona have won everything in sight with Messi leading the line and his selection for the Ballon D'Or couldn't be more justified.

The year 2009 started with one of the most stunning displays in the La Liga - a brilliant hat-trick grounded Atletico Madrid and with it started a magnificent seven-game winning streak for Barcelona.

After slaying all opponents, it was time for the big stage - the Champions League where Messi orchestrated one of the most compelling 43 minutes of total football ever seen as Bayern Munich was smashed.

Within days, the El Clasico was reduced to a Messi show as Barcelona blew away Real Madrid 6-2.

Stamford Bridge wailed in frustration as the impudent Argentine conjured a heart-breaker in the dying minutes for Andres Iniesta to find the leveller.

The Spanish giants never had it so good as Messi would go on to strike 38 times in the 51 games he would play last season, coupled with 18 assists.

After pocketing the La Liga and the Copa Del Ray came Messi's finest moment, tormenting Manchester United before eventually leaping high to power Xavi Alonso's cross past Edwin Van der Sar to cap a fine performance as Barcelona completed an unprecedented, glorious treble.

Touted to carry forward Maradona's legacy for Argentina, Messi is now well on his way to script an entirely new place for himself in football history.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's superb second-half volley secured 10-man Barcelona a 1-0 victory over fierce rivals Real Madrid in 'El Clasico' at the Nou Camp and saw the Catalans move back to the top of the Primera Division standings after 12 matches.

Ibrahimovic replaced Thierry Henry shortly into the second half and fired Barca in front less than five minutes later as he volleyed home Dani Alves' cross. Barca went down to 10 men with almost half an hour still left, when Sergio Busquets was sent off for a second bookable offence. However, Madrid later had Lassana Diarra sent off for a second yellow card.

Elsewhere, Roberto Soldado grabbed a hat-trick as Getafe blitzed 10-man Xerez with five goals in the space of 17 minutes either side of half-time to come from behind and hand out a 5-1 thrashing.

Artiles Aythami had headed Xerez in front in the 33rd minute, but the game turned dramatically in the space of two minutes just before half-time. Soldado scored his first in the 44th minute and moments later, David Prieto hauled down Daniel Parejo to earn a red card and give Soldado the chance to put Getafe ahead from the penalty spot. The assault continued in the second half as Parejo made it 3-1 in the 57th minute before Soldado sealed his treble moments later and Javi Casquero completed the scoring on the hour.

Tenerife came from 3-0 down with less than half an hour to go to claim a 3-3 draw at Real Valladolid and secure their first away point of the season. The Pucela had appeared to be on their way to a convincing victory - and only their second at home this season - when two goals from Diego Costa and a penalty by Fabian Canobbio saw them ease into a 3-0 lead with 27 minutes to go. However, two goals in eight minutes from Francisco Nino and Rodriguez Angel set up a nervy finish for Valladolid and Garcia Ayoze pounced four minutes from time to stun the hosts.

Athletic Bilbao continued their recent revival with a 4-1 thumping of Almeria at a rain-drenched Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos. Two goals in four minutes from Javi Martinez and Ustaritz Aldekoaotalora just prior to half-time set Athletic on their way and second-half strikes from Fernando Llorente and Oscar De Marcos made it four before Almeria pulled a late goal back through Kalu Uche's penalty.

Javad Nekounam's first-half header earned Osasuna only their second away win of the season and condemned Real Zaragoza to a rare home defeat.Nekounam got on the end of fellow Iranian Masoud Shojaei's 27th-minute free-kick to nod home what would prove to be the only goal of an entertaining game at La Romareda. Deportivo La Coruna ground out a hard-fought 1-0 win at Racing Santander .to move level on points with fourth-placed Valencia. With just 14 minutes remaining, Albert Lopo struck to give the Galicians their eighth league success in 12 matches.

Atletico Madrid moved out of the relegation zone by registering an emphatic 4-0 win over Espanyol. Much-coveted striker Sergio Aguero was the star of the show, scoring two and making two - for strike partner Diego Forlan and Maxi Rodriguez - as the hosts claimed just their second win of an underwhelming season so far.

Don't miss the next match at the Camp Nou Stadium: buy your tickets now at www.fcbarcelona.eatb.es

On Sunday, two of sport's fiercest rivals recommence battle in the cauldron atmosphere of the Camp Nou in Barcelona.

As the players representing Barca and Real Madrid fight to defend the honour of their club's shirt before nearly 100,000 maniacal fans, one man adored by both sets of supporters will watch as a neutral.

Michael Laudrup, one of the most gifted footballers of his or any generation and a man who brought success to both Barca and the Bernabeu, will be that rarest of observers during the clash that splits Spain in two - an impartial one.

And despite having played with such distinction for both clubs in his trophy-laden career and competed in the fixture on numerous occasions, Laudrup is almost salivating at the prospect of this El Clasico.

"I want to see a great game of football and I'm pretty confident that will happen," the 45-year-old told BBC Sport.

"This match, it has absolutely everything. Even if you are watching on television you can see it is something very, very special.

"The fans of both clubs treat most games like you would in England if you were going to the theatre - they expect to be entertained. But in this game, they behave differently. It is like the Champions League final, only more important and the noise they make is incredible."

Laudrup is one of the few footballers on Earth who knows what it means to play for both Barcelona and Real Madrid and is arguably the only one who is still loved in Spain's two biggest cities.

Usually, moving between the two - or even playing for both - is considered tant amount to treason by supporters of the jilted party, such is the intensity of their rivalry.

It is often said that Barca and Real, symbolising the essence of the areas of Catalonia and Castile where they are based, mean more to their respective cultures than most teams. When they meet, there is more at stake than just the bragging rights of two of the world's biggest clubs.

Bernd Schuster and Luis Figo are still vilified for swapping Barca's blue-and-red for the all-white of Real; Luis Enrique's reputation in Madrid was left in tatters when he left to join Barca in 1996; and Brazilian Ronaldo and Argentine Javier Saviola upset Catalans by then playing for Real.

Figo's switch from Barca to Real in 2000 caused so much anger that, when he returned to the Camp Nou the following season, he had a pig's head thrown at him as he went to take a corner.

Laudrup, in contrast, is still a hero to both Cules and Madridistas - no mean feat when you consider that, in the summer of 1994, he committed football's most unthinkable act: he left Barcelona to join Real Madrid. Given the animosity between them, why?

"I was at Barcelona for five years," said Laudrup. "When I arrived in 1989, Barca were winning La Liga on average every seven or eight years. It's hard to imagine, but they were comfortably the number two team behind Real Madrid, who had won four titles in a row.

"At Barca, we finished third at first and then won La Liga four times in a row, the European Cup in 1992 and enjoyed the most successful period in their history. They even called us the Dream Team, but after five years I felt it was time for a change.

"I'd tried everything and, under Johan Cruyff - the most important coach I ever played for - we won everything. I heard stories I'd fallen out with Cruyff, that other things happened, but none of it was true, none of it was behind my reason for leaving.

"There was another issue - the 1994 World Cup in USA. Barca had nine players in the Spanish squad plus Ronald Koeman, Hristo Stoichkov and Romario, all going to the US.

"I knew from experience that the season after can be difficult if you have a lot of players who have been to the World Cup, with injuries and so on. So I thought, this is the moment to leave.

"I didn't want to go back to Italy as I'd already played there for six years with Juventus and Lazio, I didn't want to go to Germany, France would have been a step down and none of the big teams in England made an offer.

"So I looked at Real Madrid. They had only a few players going to the World Cup, had a new manager in Jorge Valdano and everything was being readied in preparation for that 1994-95 season. Also, they were now the number two team and were desperate to be first again.

"In football terms, it was the only decision to make. But of course, it wasn't that simple..."

Laudrup knew he was making anything but a purely footballing decision and the 20,000-signature petition of Barca members begging him to stay did not make it easier.

Since Lucien Muller left Real to join Barca in 1965, only one high-profile player had switched between the two; German schemer Schuster inducing a red-and-blue mist that still lingers at the Camp Nou by leaving for the Spanish capital in 1988.

But despite acknowledging the delicate nature of the decision, Laudrup's resolve was firm: on 1 July, 1994, one of the world's best players crossed the ultimate footballing divide and - to the horror of the Catalans who had worshipped him - donned the famous white shirt of Los Merengues.

"Of course I knew it wouldn't be received so well in Catalonia," said Laudrup, without a hint of sarcasm. "That was my major cause for doubt about the whole move and I thought about it a lot.

"I wasn't overly worried about how people would react, but I had five great years at Barca and when they came with the petition, of course that had an affect on me.

"But there were no death threats, it never got too nasty and I convinced myself I had to make the decision based only on football."

Laudrup's last meeting with Real Madrid in a Barca shirt had ended with a thumping 5-0 win for Cruyff's side and his first two meetings with his old employers were equally electric.

"I won 5-0 in the Camp Nou and then signed for Real," he said. "Can you imagine that they weren't too pleased to see me arrive, the Madridistas? There I was, this guy who had helped to stop their team winning anything for four years, suddenly playing for them.

"But a year later, we beat Barca 5-0 in the Bernabeu. So in 12 months, in by far the most important fixture of the season, I had won 10-0!

"The second time we met in that first season, it was my first return to Barca as a Real player. Well, picture the scene: it's the third last game and if Real win, we are champions of Spain. Imagine them winning the title in the Camp Nou - it's a nightmare for every Catalan.

"It turned out to be a horrible experience for me. Nearly 100,000 people whistled every time I got the ball and it was the only time in my career when things outside football influenced me. I played very badly as a result.

"I knew a lot of people would be angry that I left, but I didn't realise it would be so bad that night. When you look back, it's logical - I was a hero, I crossed over to the other side and I went back.

"I will always remember the words of Valdano on the plane back to Madrid. He said: 'Well Michael, tonight I realised how much they loved you'. I was a little sad, of course, but I guess he was right."

Fifteen years on, most Barca fans have forgiven Laudrup for his betrayal, even though he did eventually win the title with Real in 1995, becoming the only man to win five La Liga titles in a row with two different clubs.

Should he decide to leave his home in Madrid to take in one of the world's greatest fixtures, there is no doubt he would be welcomed back with open arms in the city he once adorned.

"I went back to Barcelona for a testimonial game for the Dream Team in 1999, and it was absolutely fine," added Laudrup. "There will always be that 1% or 2% who will never forgive me, but today I can go back and the other 98-99% treat me very well.

"I'm Danish, after all. I'm not Catalan, I wasn't born in Madrid, I wasn't raised by either club and I didn't leave anyone on bad terms.

"It's not the same as if Lionel Messi or Andres Iniesta went to Real Madrid, or if Iker Casillas joined Barca, nothing like the same, because those guys have been at those clubs since they were just kids.

"In Madrid, I will never forget how magnificently I was treated when I arrived, even coming from the all-conquering Barcelona team as I did. The people were incredible and it will stay with me forever.

"The most asked question I've had since I retired in 1998 is 'who do you like most, Barcelona or Real?' Now what sort of question is that?

"I don't care who wins. They are my two teams, both of them."

It’s difficult to define the relationship between Barcelona and Real Madrid. The tempestuous and passionate rivalry on and off the field is world renowned, both enjoy boundless success over the decades, their fans and presidents are mercilessly demanding, and the players are expected to play only the finest brand of attacking football.

Yet, both clubs have vastly different tradition and history. One club runs like a business while the other is run for the people. Both have different ways of attaining success and like polar opposites, neither can be on top of the world or down in the dumps together.

A good case in point is the build up to El Clasico over the past few weeks. A fortnight ago, it seemed all doom and gloom in the Spanish capital when Cristiano Ronaldo looked unlikely to feature at the Camp Nou due to his injury while Barca could simply do no wrong. This week, however, CR9 has almost all but confirmed his return – barring a late setback – and it was the Catalans who suffered a blow with news that Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be sidelined.

Just to make things more interesting, Madrid reclaimed top spot of La Liga at the weekend and suddenly, the Blaugrana had gone from hot favourites to underdogs, at least in the eyes of the press. But now that they have negotiated Inter in the Champions League and Messi has been greenlit for a comeback, the tables have turned again.

But by far the most apparent difference between the two clubs is, ofcourse, their ideologies. The contrast has been highlighted even more glaringly over the past year as the Camp Nou outfit go from strength to strength and more and more prodigious young talents emerge from their cantera, while over at the Santiago Bernabeu, the capital giants can barely get a single promising youth player to surface from the shadows of the superstars.

There’s also a wide divide in transfer policies. Madrid’s exploits need no further introduction, or another accounting lesson, and their decision to splash absurd amounts of money in a single summer has drawn acerbic criticism. Barcelona, however, refused to jump on the bandwagon and club president, Joan Laporta emphasised repeatedly that he will not spend beyond what the organisation can afford.

He did dish out €69 million to recruit Ibrahimovic from Inter, but he made it sound just that less outrageous an expenditure by explaining that he only had to cough up €49m (presumably well within their means) as the other €20m came from Eto’o’s exchange.   

The truth is that there is no right or wrong philosophy. Each club have their own way of running the show, just like how each athlete has his or her own way of training, each business have their own organisation and structure.

Madrid could spend €250 million investing in youth development, there would still be no more of a guarantee for success than Perez’s current galactic project. The ‘Quinta del Buitre’ era in the 80’s, for instance, boasted five home-grown players who utterly dominated Spanish football, but they never had a sniff of the European Cup, although they did win back-to-back UEFA Cup crowns, which if you recall, wasn’t such a Mickey Mouse competition back then.

At the moment, Barcelona could have up to six or seven players who grew up at the famous La Masia youth academy in the first XI and they would still steamroll past any opponent. But remember, they were equally just as successful and captivating during the Frank Rijkaard dynasty when the likes of Ronaldinho, Deco, Samuel Eto’o, Ludovic Giuly and Mark van Bommel were stealing the headlines week in, week out. In fact, in the 2006 Champions League final against Arsenal, Rijkaard only had three Spanish players – albeit all Catalan – in the starting line-up: Victor Valdes, Carles Puyol and Oleguer.

The truth is that grooming young players doesn’t work for every team. Arsenal, for instance, are a club who purchase fairly unknown footballers at a young age and slowly blood them into big stars. They are, perhaps, the second most attractive side to watch after Barcelona but they haven’t had much success in recent years. Chelsea and Manchester United, on the other hand, aren’t afraid to spend, either for established stars or young starlets, and they have had considerably more silverware to show off. For Madrid, youth just simply doesn’t work at the Bernabeu.

The key difference between Los Blancos and the Blaugrana’s fortunes is that the Catalans have a specific style and identity. Regardless of who is in charge of the bench and who is sitting on the president’s chair, Barca will always turn to Johan Cruyff’s footballing model as a blueprint.

Not only that, the wide-eyed youngsters who are brought up through the ranks are taught how to play like Cruyff. They polish their basic skills, their technique, ball control, and they are encouraged to embrace the Total Football philosophy. That’s why players like Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Pedro can all play in various positions or take on different roles, while others like Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique can attack as well as they can defend.

Madrid’s style, on the other hand, is all about showmanship. It doesn’t matter how they go about it, what structure, or what system is deployed. As long as there are enough flicks, tricks and dribbles, the fans and the president will be happy.

The constant coaching and administration changes at the ‘White House’ doesn’t help matters either. Players are unable to familiarise themselves with one specific style of play for any more than a couple of seasons. If and when they do, a new president takes power, hires a new coach, clears out the dressing room and everything goes back to square one.

With no template to follow, each trainer and his coaching staff will introduce a completely different set of ideas. That could explain why Raul has gone on a steady decline. Ever since Vicente del Bosque’s departure, Madrid have changed coaches every two seasons on average, and poor old Raul has been left with no choice but to adapt to a new style and integrate with a new squad each time. It’s as if he’s had to move to a different club every two years.

But Madrid’s philosophy has always been to spend big, right or wrong, love it or loathe it, successful or not. It’s not something that Florentino Perez pioneered during his first reign. It has always been the way the ‘Casa Blanca’ has functioned ever since Don Santiago Bernabeu rebuilt the club from scratch after the Spanish Civil War.

The Merengues do have as many aspiring youngsters as Barca fighting to get their hands on that elusive first-team contract, but unlike the Catalans, Madrid normally tend to wait for that one true gem – the next Raul or the new Casillas – to emerge by pure chance, rather than bide their time and spend a few years waiting for the player to blossom.

There is no way to determine categorically which philosophy works best. One formula will succeed during one particular cycle, the other will fail, then the tables will turn. Barca’s reign, like it or not, will eventually end. Messi, Pedro, Busquets, Pique, et al. may be young and may seem like they will be around forever and ever, but that's what everyone thought about Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, about Cristiano Ronaldo staying at Manchester United or Kaka at Milan, or about an eternally youthful Raul going on and on and on. Yet, look how each and everyone has turned out.  

Diversity in football is what makes the game fascinating. After all, wouldn’t it be more satisfying when your club and their unique principles trump the arch nemesis?

‘Mourinho, go to the theatre,’ sang the Barcelona fans as normal service was resumed at the Nou Camp.

The holders outclassed Jose’s Inter Milan side and his comment about Leo Messi’s supposed ‘play-acting’ in a 2006 tie against Chelsea came back to haunt him.

This was Mourinho’s big chance to push Barca towards the Champions League exit, but instead the Catalans recaptured some of the form that saw them beat Manchester United in last season’s final. They will now go through if they avoid defeat in Kiev.

Mourinho cocked his ear to the 98,000 Barca fans the second time they taunted him. It was an uncomfortable return for the coach who slid along the Nou Camp touchline to celebrate a Chelsea goal the last time he was in the visitors’ dug-out.

‘Barca were spectacular,’ he admitted afterwards. ‘Obviously Pedro is not Messi but he is a very good player. The story changed a little bit in the second half but in the end they were much better than us. They are so good at passing the ball around at pace.

‘But we can still win the tournament. Real Madrid think they are favourites, Chelsea think they are favourites, Barca think they are favourites. Being beaten by them doesn’t mean we can’t beat them in the later stages.’

Messi could afford a wry smile on the bench as the crowd wound up Mourinho. He was an unused substitute, along with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Their absence left Thierry Henry back in the role of central striker, flanked by Andres Iniesta and Pedro.

Inter’s Samuel Eto’o started against his old team and embraced former team-mates in the tunnel before being given an incredible reception by the home support. The niceties were soon forgotten as every Eto’o touch thereafter was whistled.

Henry looked especially motivated and on 10 minutes he flicked on Xavi’s corner for Gerard Pique to put Barca ahead.

Henry then had a shot beaten out by Julio Cesar and that was the cue for Barca’s second goal. Xavi spotted Dani Alves bombing down the right and found him with an exquisite pass inside Cristian Chivu.

The full-back’s first-time cross was bundled home by Pedro. In three touches, Barca had gone from the half-way line to 2-0 up.

There were more hugs for Eto’o as he came back on to the pitch after half time. His old club were killing him with kindness.

Mourinho brought on Sulley Muntari for Esteban Cambiasso but little changed. In a rare Inter foray, Eto’o had a weak penalty claim turned down as he was muscled off the ball by Alves after running on to a Milito pass.

Alves then reprised his part in the goal, surging down the right and plant