Barça entertain Villarreal tomorrow (kick off 9pm) with the need of a win and a good performance to restore belief that Barça can win without Leo Messi. Toure Yaya and Gabi Milito have both been named in the squad and both should make the starting lineup though Toure may need an injection before the game for his back pain. Some might argue that he shouldn’t play unless he is at 100% but that is another debate. Keep reading →

Frank Rijkaard has got a fair bit of thinking to do this weekend to decide who will make up the XI to play Villarreal, but no decision will be more difficult than deciding who plays in attack and more precisely who plays on the right side of attack in place of the injured Leo Messi. Keep reading →

Toure Yaya is doubtful for Sunday’s game against Villarreal after pulling out of today’s training session with back problems. Toure was left out of last week’s game at Atletico Madrid with similar problems but managed 67 minutes of the game against Celtic before being substituted. The club, however, have not ruled him out completely for the game. Keep reading →

There must be some party going on at the LFP today as they’ve taken the unprecedented move of announcing the kick off times for games that won’t be played for at least two weeks from now! Could they finally be thinking about making fans’ lives easier? Or perhaps they have all decided to book a holiday for next week. Whatever the case, Barça’s home game with Valladolid has been set for Sunday 23rd March at 5pm. Madrid are at home to Valencia on the same day at 7pm. To celebrate the LFP’s early announcement I have decided to make a new category for kick off times.

The LFP have announced the kick off times for next weekend’s Jornada 28. Barça’s game at Almeria has been set for Sunday 16th with a 7pm kick off. Real Madrid are away to Deportivo and that game is on Saturday 15th with an 8pm kick off time.

While we all mourn the injury to Leo Messi, Barça could face problems in defence for Sunday’s game with Villarreal. Carles Puyol will miss the game after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season against Atletico Madrid, while Rafa Marquez and Gabi Milito face a race against time to be fit. Keep reading →

The 20,000 Celtic fans who travelled to Barcelona deserve to give themselves a pat on the back for their exemplary behaviour in the city. The police have praised them as have the town council. The organization was helped by the collaboration of Celtic Football Club who did everything to make things run smoothly. The relationship between the two clubs has been strengthened even more by the two recent encounters. Many thanks to Celtic and to their fans. Here are some more photos taken from the press of their visit. Keep reading →

Barça’s medical team have confirmed Leo Messi’s injury to his left thigh (torn biceps femoris muscle), and have estimated the period of recuperation as “about six weeks”. This means Messi will miss the Champions League quarter finals but should be ok to play in the semi finals if Barça get through.

FC Barcelona reached the last eight of the Champions League with a 1-0 victory over Celtic, but the night was spoilt for Barça due to a muscle injury to Leo Messi which could see him out for at least a month. Messi pulled up in the 34th minute and immediately put his hands to his head in frustration. First reports say it is a torn biceps femoris muscle in the left leg which is the same injury that he suffered against Valencia. That time he was out for five weeks but it all depends on the size of the tear and we will have to wait until tomorrow’s scans to know the extent of the injury. Keep reading →

Gabi Milito has had to make a late withdrawal from the Barça squad for tonight’s Champions League match with Celtic due to suffering a fever. Edmilson has been brought into the squad as a replacement. Milito was expected to partner Carles Puyol in central defence but that role will now most likely go to Lilian Thuram.