₦airaland Forum

Chelseafan1:
Same way they had Ozil, Di maria, Alonso, Carvajal when they still acquired other players, these big clubs know Hazard can't be sold now.... No way!!!

If he gets to be transfer-listed today, a lot of top clubs will try to sign him.

As a Madrid coach, I'll ship out Benzema, Ronaldo does his job these days, Bale and Hazard to flank Ronaldo.

James at the centre, Kroos and Modrid behind James.

What do you think about this kinda attack?

Great attack on paper but it's not as good as the BBC attack they have now. Good team management goes a long way in helping teams achieve success. Star names alone don't always cut it

Sergi
Roberto lauds Leo Messi

Closed door training session on Monday
After the win at the Vicente Calderón Luis Enrique
has given his team off until Monday 14 September.
Barça will then begin preparing for Wednesday's
debut in the 2015/16 Champions League at AS Roma.
Sergi Roberto spoke to the media after playing a
great match at the Vicente Calderón and didn't spare
any praise for Leo Messi, author of the winning goal.
"There is nobody like Leo. He's a father again, he
could not train with us, but today he decided the
game. We are proud to have him on the team," said
Roberto, stressing Messi's importance in the triumph.
"The team played very well the whole match and Leo
was decisive when he came in."
With Dani Alves still out Saturday was Sergi Roberto's
second consecutive start. He praised his team and
talked about his new position. "I am very happy. I
think I played well and I was able to help the team
both on attack and defence. Adding the three points
is the most important. I hope to continue helping the
team," he said.
The Catalonia native explained the importance of the
victory at the Vicente Calderon following the two-
week hiatus. "Atlético Madrid's field is very
complicated especially when coming from an
international break. The team was perfect and we
were able to take home the three points ... We now
have three victories and we hope to continue on like
this," he explained.
On Wednesday Luis Enrique's men begin the 2015/16
Champions League in Rome. Of Barça's debut in
European competition, Sergi Roberto said: "It's true
we have two tough away games but now we only have
one. We're thinking about Roma and the Champions
League because it is always important to start off
with a win."


Neymar
"I'm pleased with my goal, but above all with how the
game went and with the victory."
"The goal was important because we were able to
quickly erase the difference and, luckily, go on to win
the game."
"It's too early to talk about but it is true that we have
started the league very well. We have worked well
and we have won three big teams. "

Support from both clubs for
the Syrian refugees

Before the game in the Vicente Calderón, the
Atlético Madrid and FC Barcelona signed a shirt worn
in support of the Syrian refugees which they have
donated to ACNUR for use in charity auctions and
events.


Involving the Barça fans
Faced with the emergency refugee situation, FC
Barcelona, aside from their gesture at the Calderón,
want to involve their members and supporters and
take advantage of the media influence to help the
refugees. The Foundation is preparing an important
campaign to raise money via various events,
channeling their help through the Red Cross. Next
week the Foundation will explain more details about
their campaign to help the refugees.

A shirt signed by the Atlético and Barça players will
be donated to ACNUR with the aim of raising money

Thomas Vermaelen has a
calf injury

The Barça first team player Thomas Vermaelen has
a calf problem in his left leg and his recovery will
dictate his presence in the coming training sessions.
The Belgian defender suffered the injury in the first
half of Saturday’s game in the Vicente Calderón
against Atlético Madrid. Vermaelen was replaced in
the 27 minute of the game by Jérémy Mathieu.

Chelseafan1:
Thank you, U just made my day, btw, I doubt he can leave 4 Bayern, ONLY Madrid and Barca can afford and give him European trophies, he should go to Madrid, the rivalry go hot.

Barca and Madrid already have players that play his position

Debroslink:
I'll rather wait for Pique's defense later today before I place my judgement, because Pique fuuks up sometimes. Is he the only Catalunya player in the NT? Why so much controversies surrounding him?

Hmmm this is another angle to look at it from

dmcdad:
I would take your last sentense as the case here. Else, why would he be so bitter?

Maybe. Just maybe

homesteady:
This part just caught my attention!
We don't use to discuss about spain NT on this thread again!

Spanish league has taken full dominance now, even better than the 2009-2011 period, and this dominance is not really reflecting on the NT! they are not even among the favorites to defend their Europe cup!
I don't just grab what's happening, is it time for a new coach or what?

It's only normal that Spain aren't seen as favorites for euro '16. They had an abysmal WC, veterans like Xavi and alonso are retired and then Germany are rightly favorites but spain's dominance between 2008 and 2012 coincided with Pep guardiola's barca's dominance too. And barca's starting to dominate Europe again just like it happened then. This pique issue will just kill the vibe. A new manager is not a bad idea IMO

dmcdad:
You don see na. Some even claimed he is aready on-par with Messi. The next stage of the process is surpassing Messi.

Noobs. Smh.

They r indirectly killing his career. He's actually a wonderful player and he might leave Chelsea soon to a bigger club to achieve greater things

homesteady:
I was just about to write about it! The booing fans don't have sense! The team is still trying to get over their worldcup nightmare and all they can do is to boo a player because of some silly reasons!
Ramos is also a foool, he is throwing his defense partner under the bus! how does he expect their partnership to prosper when they can't be there for each other! If Piqué mocked his club, he should also do the same by mocking his club back!

They obviously don't want him in the NT anymore and if that happens, then it's the beginning of the end for the Spanish NT and this is the right time for them to benefit from Spanish clubs' good performance in Europe in the last 3yrs to banish their WC memories and build a greater team. If pique is dropped from the NT, I see important barca players dropping out too to support him. Booing him won't help his confidence @ all and it might affect his performances for barca

dmcdad:
Ramos na person?

We have to face the facts ourselves, and to be factual, we know Pique has a very big mouth. Yet, that is not to justify the fans in whatever way. Its really unfair to say the least.

Well, since he will have his presser today in light of this same issue, we would here what he has to say.

But, you need not go far with your thoughts. Its mainly if not entirely Madrid fans at work here. The thing is, no one can say for sure the reasons behind this. There are speculations that it was because of the pro-catalan comments he made, and some others because of the mockery against Real Madrid after the treble celebration and also the European Super Cup celebration. Some more are even because of his ordeals with the police and all.

Its really a shame.

Big shame tbH. The barca-madrid rivalry isn't helping matters either. Competitions and rivalry are supposed to make the team stronger not the opposite. And fans aren't supposed to boo a player wearing the NT jersey, a player fighting for their cause oh. Even if pique made support statements towards catalonia being realized, as long as he still has the Spanish jersey on (a jersey he wore when he helped them win the WC and euro), then it's just talk; his opinion which shouldn't be used against him when he's on NT duty; I'd understand if madrid fans boo him during a clasico but not this. Maybe Ramos doesn't want him in the NT anymore cos his statement is shameful. Or maybe he's jealous of Pique's much larger trophy cabinet

dmcdad:
Is that not even better so-to-say? How about many of them especially on Twitter comparing Hidden Ikedia to Messi and Ronaldo. Infact, most agreed that he already surpassed Ronaldo. Them say na this year him go surpass Messi. I still dey wait for the guy to surpass Messi and him don dey flop already.

Hazard surpass Ronaldo? the same cR7? That's football blasphemy

Btw why isn't anyone talking about the Pique controversy?

Me thinks it's rather unfair that fans boo someone who has given a lot to the NT. Are they jealous of his success or what, or does he not have a right to his opinion about his pro-catalan stance? Even Ramos' comment isn't helping

Eden hazard better than Neymar Jnr.? Hahahaha very funny. Even after Neymar's exploits last season, Chelsea fans still have the balls to compare him with hazard, or worse still say hazard is better?


Comical I must say

Winning the Champions League, La Liga and
the Copa del Rey ensured the Catalans were
rewarded with the accolade in Monday's
ceremony


Barcelona have been crowned Club of the Year for
their treble-winning efforts in 2014-15 by the
European Club Association (ECA).
Luis Enrique's debut season was practically perfect
as the Catalans waltzed to the Champions League,
La Liga and Copa del Rey clean sweep, following a
phenomenal second half of the season.

Blowing their chance of claiming a much-vaunted
sextet by losing the Spanish Super Cup to Athletic
Bilbao didn't affect Barca's chances of claiming the
accolade at Monday's ECA award ceremony in
Geneva.
Europa League runners up Dnipro were also
rewarded with the Best Sporting Progress award
for reaching the final of the second-tier
continental competition against all odds and
expectations.

The Best Community and Social Responsibility
Programme reward went to Arsenal for their
efforts in working with the local London
community to tackle the growing level of youth
employment in the area.


The fourth and final ECA award for 2015, Best
Achievement, went to Estonian side Levadia
Tallinn for their “Together we move” scheme
aimed at improving stadium accessibility for fans
who require assistance dogs.

Recognize these players?

pelvicky:
a draw will be okay.... I think

It will…considering that it's still early days in the league. But a victory (which I predict) will be a boost for our upcoming European games

pelvicky:
Barcablood......3-1 win ke.... Atletico has been on top form since their 1st match and also thrash sevila 3-0..........and we all new our boys are yet 2 gel togeda

predictions
atlectico 2 vs barca 0

dis one wey verminator dey rescue us

Nonetheless we should still be able to beat them like we did last season. It's going to be tough tho.

@ your prediction. So you don't even see us scoring @ all? And Vermaelen "rescued" us cos the opponents are always a tough nut to crack. Remember we didn't score against them at all last season

FC Barcelona first team to
play seven games in 22 days


Once the current international break is over, the FC
Barcelona first team will start preparing for an
extraordinarily packed schedule. Over the next three
weeks, from September 12 to October 3, they have a
game every three or four days, both in the Liga and
in the Champions League.


Five in Liga, two in UCL
It all starts with the tricky trip to 2014 Liga
champions Atlético Madrid on Saturday 12
September (8.30pm). After the game at the Vicente
Calderón, the next stop is Italy for the first game in
the Champions League group stage. On September
16, Barça are away to AS Roma. Back in Catalonia, the
team then has a trio of league games in the space of
a week. First they entertain Levante (20/09), before
a midweek visit to Celta Vigo (23/09) and another
game at the Camp Nou, this time against newly
promoted Las Palmas (26/09).


Three days later their European campaign resumes at
home to Bayer Leverkusen (29/09), and after that
comes one of the most difficult road trips of the Liga
season, the game at the Sánchez Pizjuán against
Sevilla (October 3).

Once all that is over, some of the players will be able
to get some well-earned rest. But for the majority,
there will be more hard work to come, this time in
the final round of international matches of 2015.
These games include the final two matches of the
Euro 2016 qualification groups, as well as the first
games in the South American zone of World Cup
2018 qualifiers.

With games in la Liga and in Europe, the next three
weeks are going to be a busy time for Luis Enrique
and his squad

Atlético Madrid v FC
Barcelona: The last ten years
at the Vicente Calderón


FC Barcelona return to Liga action on Saturday with
what tends to be one of the toughest games of the
season. They’re off to the Vicente Calderón, home
of Atlético Madrid, the same place where a 1-0 win
in the second-to-last game of last season secured the
title in manager Luis Enrique’s first year in charge.
Despite the traditional difficulty of the fixture, the
Catalans have managed to win half of their league
games at the Calderón in the last decade, the other
five matches resulting in four home wins and a draw.
In fact, Barça are unbeaten in league encounters
away to Atlético since 2009/10, when they lost 2-1,
although they did go on to win the title that season.


Six goals for Messi
The most common result of the last decade has been
a 2-1 victory for Barça, which happened three times
in row from 2010/11 to 2012/13. And the biggest win
was a stunning 6-0 for the visitors in 2007. With
Frank Rijkaard on the bench, the goals that day
were scored by Messi (2), Zambrotta, Eto’o,
Ronaldinho and Iniesta.
In the last ten years, Barça have scored 20 goals and
conceded 15 in league games away to the ‘mattress-
makers’, and have kept clean sheets on both of their
last two visits. Barça’s highest goalscorer in the last
ten Liga games at Atlético has been Lionel Messi,
with six.


Other meetings
Barça have also travelled to the Calderón four times
in the last decade in other competitions, where the
results have also generally been positive. In the
Copa del Rey they won 3-1 in 2009 and 3-2 in 2015,
and both times progressed to the next round on
aggregate. In the 2013 Spanish Super Cup, a 1-1
draw was enough for Barça to win the trophy on away
goals, and the only reverse came in the 2014
Champions League, Atlético winning 1-0 at home
and going on to qualify for the next round with a 1-1
draw at the Camp Nou.

Season Result Barça goalscorers

2005/06 2-1 Eto'o

2006/07 0-6 Messi (x2), Zambrotta, Eto'o, Ronaldinho & Iniesta

2007/08 4-2 Ronaldinho & Eto'o

2008/09 4-3 Henry, Messi & Alves

2009/10 2-1 Ibrahimovic

2010/11 1-2 Messi & Piqué

2011/12 1-2 Alves & Messi

2012/13 1-2 Alexis & Gabi (og)

2013/14 0-0

2014/15 0-1 Messi



Five wins, four defeats and one draw for the Catalans
at a ground where they have not lost a league match
since 2009/10




Guys what are your predictions for this weekend's cracker? For me 3-1 in our favor. Expecting to see some MSN magic

Jordi Alba and Andrés
Iniesta score as Spain beat
Slovakia


FC Barcelona’s Jordi Alba and Andrés Iniesta scored
the goals in Oviedo on Saturday evening as Spain
defeated Slovakia 2-0. The result means that the
home side now join their guests on 18 points at the
top of Euro 2016 qualifying Group C. It also
guarantees the 2008 and 2012 champions at least a
place in the playoffs, but with Ukraine beating
Belarus 3-1 and just three points behind the top two,
there is still some work to be done in order to secure
direct passage to the finals in France.
Vicente del Bosque opted to start the game with
Alba and Gerard Piqué in his back four, and with
Iniesta and Sergio Busquets teaming up with former
colleague Cesc Fabregàs in a tremendously effective
three-man midfield. The other Barça player in the
squad, Marc Bartra, was an unused substitute.


Alba and Iniesta score
The match got off to the perfect start for ‘La Roja’,
with a piece of magic from David Silva after just five
minutes. A wonderful left-footed assist was met by
Jordi Alba running in from nowhere to head Spain
into an early lead.
The home side were in full control of the
proceedings, and Alba had come very close to scoring
his second header of the night shortly before their
lead was extended. On the half hour, Slovak keeper
Kozacic brought Diego Costa down in the area and a
composed Iniesta stepped up to take, and coolly
convert, from the penalty spot.
The visitors looked considerably more dangerous
after the break, and Mak really should have scored in
the 50th minute. But despite Slovakia’s best efforts,
Spain never really looked in danger of losing their
lead. They can now prepare for a trip to Skopje to
play Macedonia on September 8 (8.45pm CET). At
the same time, Slovakia will be hosting Ukraine, and
that’s good news for the Spanish because it means
that at least one of their two direct rivals will
inevitably be dropping points.

Rafinha: It's the happiest day
of my life

There were just ten minutes to go in the game
between Brazil and Costa Rica when coach Dunga
decided to make his last two substitutions in the
friendly game, bringing on Neymar and Rafinha. The
striker made his first appearance for his country
since the recent Copa América and the midfielder
made his first ever appearance for the country of his
birth. “It is the happiest day of my life,” said Rafinha.
“I imagined this day on innumerable occasions but
the reality was much better,” he said talking to the
Brazilian Football Federation’s website.
Rafinha, like any other Brazilian kid interested in
football, grew up imitating his heroes in the street, in
his case the side who won the World Cup in 2002. In
that side were figures such former Barça players
Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Edmilson, now
assistant coach to Dunga. “When I was a kid I played
with my brother Thiago in Vivendas de Barra (a
neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro) and I liked to
imagine I was one of the players from that team.
Thanks to them I have always wanted to wear this
shirt,” he revealed.

djembadjemba:
This is Ney!

dmcdad:
Ney against PSG in the group stage game at the Camp Nuo.

Correct

BARCELONA - THE BEST LA LIGA TEAM FOR THE PAST
10 YEARS!
Turns out, Barcelona has earned the highest total
number of points over the last 10 seasons, 18 more
than Real Madrid.
See full top 20 below:
1. Barcelona - 879 p
2. Real Madrid - 861 p
3. Atletico Madrid - 648 p
4. Valencia - 642 p
5. Sevilla - 633 p
6. Villarreal - 539 p
7. Athletic Bilbao - 510 p
8. Getafe - 470 p
9. Espanyol - 459 p
10. Osasuna - 422 p
11. Mallorca - 396 p
12. Deportivo La Coruna - 372 p
13. Malaga - 372 p
14. Real Sociedad - 338 p
15. Zaragoza - 311 p
16. Racing Santander - 308 p
17. Betis - 299 p
18. Levante - 299 p
19. Almeria - 242 p
20. Celta de Vigo - 240 p

Whose boots are these?

#FCBarcelona

hensben:
How about this neymar's miss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZdIIm4q3zc

What's your point exactly, that hazard is better than neymar?

dmcdad:
We have a noob bugging us.

Lol I can see that

Fellow cúles. Any punter in da house?

FC Barcelona numbers released for Champions League 2015/16

The registration period over, these are the numbers
that the players will be wearing in Europe this season

At midnight on August 31, the period for registering
players for the 2015/16 Champions League came to a
close. This means that the FC Barcelona squad and
their shirt numbers are now definitive – a shirt that
features two important changes to the sleeves in
honour of the fact that the Catalans are the current
champions of Europe. Apart from the first team
players, shirt numbers have also been allocated to
Barça B’s Juan Cámara and Gerard Gumbau. In a
second list, there are a further four members of the
reserve team: Sergi Samper, David Babunski,
Alejandro Grimaldo and goalkeeper José Suárez.
This is the complete list of shirt numbers for a
competition that gets under way on September 16:


1. Ter Stegen
2. Douglas
3. Piqué
4. Rakitic
5. Sergio
6. Dani Alves
8. A. Iniesta
9. Suárez
10. Messi
11. Neymar Jr
12. Rafinha
13. C. Bravo
14. Mascherano
15. Bartra
17. Munir
18. Jordi Alba
19. Sandro
20. Sergi Roberto
21. Adriano
23. Vermaelen
24. Mathieu
25. Masip
27. Cámara
28. Gumbau

Barça B List:
26. Samper
29. Babunski
30. Grimaldo
31. J. Suárez

Barça players out on loan


At the moment there are five FC Barcelona players
who are out on loan and are using that experience
with other Spanish clubs and clubs across Europe to
continue to develop as footballers. Denis Suárez and
Gerard Deulofeu are both at Sevilla, Cristian Tello is
at Portuguese club Porto, Ibrahim Afellay is at Greek
side Olympiakos and finally Alex Song is with Premier
League outfit West Ham. Here we have a look at how
they have been getting on in their respective teams
since the last break for international matches.

Denis Suárez and Gerard Deulofeu
The Galician midfielder Suárez is a fixture in Unai
Emery’s starting 11 at Sevilla. Since the last break
he has started every game and of all the players at
Barça out on loan, he is the one who has played the
most. The former Celta and Manchester City man has
also scored his first goal for the Andalusians, finding
the net against Villarreal at home in the Sánchez
Pizjuán to clinch a comeback win for Sevilla. In
Europe Suárez has played 120 minutes in both games
against Belgian side Standard Liege.
Gerard Deulofeu for his part is gradually
becoming more and more important for coach
Emery as he has started three of their last four
matches . The current UEFA Europa League
champions are having an excellent start to the season
and currently sit in fifth place in the league, four
points behind leaders Real Madrid and two behind
Barça.
Deulofeu has played in both Europa League games
against Standard in competition in which last season’s
winners are already through the next stage. Suárez
and Deulofeu both started in the recent Spanish Cup
win over Sabadell, Sevilla claiming a 6-1 away victory
over the Catalans in the first leg of their last 32 clash.

Cristian Tello
The winger at Porto has been in the starting 11 in the
last two league matches for Julen Lopetegui’s side. In
total he has played in 8 of their 10 league fixtures
so far this season. In his last match in the team they
dispatched Arouca away from home with a
comfortable 5-0 win. Porto are currently in third
place in the league, three points behind leaders
Benfica.
In Europe the Sabadell born forward played in both
his team’s Champions League clashes with Athletic
Bilbao, adding some 142 minutes to his total playing
time. The Portuguese club lead Group H with 10
points.


Ibrahim Afellay
The Dutchman has featured prominently for
Olympiakos in recent weeks. He started in both
important league victories over big rivals
Panathinaikos at home and away at Panthrakikos. The
Greek side are going well domestically where they
are just two points behind leaders PAOK. Afellay
started both recent Champions League
encounters with Juventus . The team coached by
former Real Madrid player Michel are still in with a
chance of claiming second place in their group with
two games still to play.


Alex Song
Finally Alex Song is making the most of his time at
West Ham. He has been in the starting 11 in every
match for the London club since the beginning of
October and has played all but 20 minutes of those
games. Recent highlights include a 2-1 win over
Premier League champions Manchester City which
has helped them fight their way up to the table to a
Champions League position.






Which do you guys think deserve a return and/or a starting shirt?

Agreement with West Ham
for the loan of Alex Song


FC Barcelona and West Ham United have agreed a
deal for the Cameroonian midfielder to rejoin the
Premier League club on loan for the 2015/16 season.
Alex Song arrived at Camp Nou in the summer of
2012 from Arsenal to bolster the team’s options in
midfield. He joined Tito Vilanova’s squad and played
a total of 34 official matches, 20 of which came in the
record-breaking league title campaign. His first and
only goal for the blaugrana came on 17 November
2012 in a 3-1 win over Zaragoza at Camp Nou.
In his second season at the club, under Gerardo
Martino, Song played a total of 31 matches. The
arrival of Luis Enrique saw the midfielder move on
loan to the Hammers, where he will remain for
another season, after having played 65 times in
official competition for Barça.

Nobody can stop Luis Enrique. Of the 26 teams he
has faced in official matches since taking over as first
team manager, Málaga was the only one he had
never beaten. All that has changed following the 1-0
win at the Camp Nou on Saturday.


26 TEAMS BEATEN. Barça have beaten a total 26
teams at least once under the current coach. That’s
19 different Liga opponents and a further six in the
Champions League (APOEL, Ajax, PSG, Man City,
Bayern and Juventus), not forgetting Huesca in the
Copa del Rey. That’s 65 games in all.


ELCHE ROUTED. The team that has been on the
receiving end of the most goals is Elche, a massive 18
to no reply. Barça beat them 3-0 and 6-0 in La Liga
and then 5-0 and 4-0 in the Copa del Rey. Córdoba
are second in that list after conceding 13 goals to
Barça, but that was in just two games. At the other
end of the spectrum, Celta and Málaga have only
leaked a single goal in games played against Luis
Enrique’s Barça.


SEVEN GOAL-LESS OPPONENTS. No fewer than
seven of those 26 teams failed to find the target
once against Barça. Those sides are Elche, Córdoba,
Levante, Getafe, Eibar, Valencia and APOEL. The
highest scoring team against Barça has been Athletic
Club, with eight goals in five matches.


MESSI, THE STATS KING. The Argentinian leads a
number of statistical categories under Luis Enrique.
Not only is he the highest goalscorer, but he’s also
top for assists, passes received, shots and minutes
played. And he is joint top with Neymar Jr for fouls
received, 152 each.


MORE TO COME. Over the next few months, Luis
Enrique will be looking to add to his list of victims.
There are three fresh Liga opponents in the waiting
(Betis, Sporting and Las Palmas) and another three in
the Champions League (Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma
(who he’s already beaten in a friendly)and BATE). And
there will also be teams to play in this season’s Copa
del Rey and Club World Cup.