Toure Yaya is suffering from flu and could miss Sunday’s game with Deportivo. The Ivory Coast midfielder has missed the last two days of training and may not recover in time for the match. He is said to have fever, migraine and an inflammation of the sinuses. The return of Deco is also under question; despite training normally at the same level as his teammates he has still not received medical clearance. Whether this is just a mix-up with the team doctors is unclear, hopefully he will be given the OK in time. I imagine he will start the game as a substitute along with Samuel Eto’o.

The rumours about Ronaldinho’s future continue to fill the sports pages. Chelsea magnate Roman Abramovich is once again cited as being keen on signing the Brazilian star. Meanwhile Ronaldinho’s brother and agent Roberto de Assis denied any contact with Chelsea. Keep reading →

Despite being four points behind rivals Real Madrid, Barça are still the bookmakers favourite to win this season’s league title. The latest odds for Barça are a miserly 11/10 while you can still get 13/10 on Madrid winning. While I would never question the wisdom of the bookmaker I must say I am slightly surprised at the odds. Keep reading →

Samuel Eto’o today received medical clearance to return to action against Deportivo this Sunday (kick off 9pm). Eto’o was injured on the 29th August in the Joan Gamper match against Inter Milan. All reports say that he has been training at an excellent level and if needed he could play 90 minutes this weekend. Keep reading →

Thierry Henry’s back problems could mean he misses the big clash with Real Madrid the weekend before christmas. According to the club webpage, Henry is suffering from discopathy in his spine in the vertebrae L5-S1. This is a dehydration of the intervertebral disc which is apparently linked to a genetic problem. Keep reading →

Yes, I know it’s yesterday’s news but I’ve been very busy. There were no big surprises in the final results of France Football’s Golden Ball Award. Kaka was the obvious winner for being the best player in last season’s edition of the Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo just pipped Messi to second place as he won the Premiership with Manchester United. Barça fans of course know that Messi is the best player but to win these awards it seems to count for a lot what you have won at a team level. Keep reading →

Honours were shared tonight on Montjuic as Barça drew 1-1 with Espanyol in a thrilling derby which could have gone either way. Barça now find themselves four points behind Real Madrid but they will be heartened by a good performance away from home. They will surely win more away games if they continue to play like they did tonight. Keep reading →

The injury that Giovani dos Santos picked up in the cup game at Alcoyano is proving to be more complicated than at first thought. Doctors originally estimated that he would need one week to return to action and he has now been 18 days on the sidelines. Today the news is that he will need another ten days to fully recover, it seems he was noticing pain when he tried shooting in training. Keep reading →

Barça go into tomorrow night’s game at Espanyol (kick off 10pm) without eight first team players. Lilian Thuram today joined Deco, Edmilson, Eto’o, Giovani, Sylvinho, Oleguer and Thierry Henry on the injured list. Frank Rijkaard has been forced to call up two untried youngsters, 18-year-old defender Alberto Botia and 20-year-old midfielder Victor Sanchez. Keep reading →

Thierry Henry’s lower back problems continue and he was today ruled out of Saturday’s derby with Espanyol. Sylvinho who has problems with his left knee, will also miss the game, joining Edmilson, Oleguer, Deco and Eto’o on the injured list. Messi and Gudjohnsen both have minor muscle strains but should be OK for Saturday. Keep reading →