Leo Messi has been left out of the squad for tomorrow evening’s game against Osasuna in Pamplona. With a Champions League game at home to Lyon on Wednesday it has been decided that it is not worth risking an aggravation to the calf strain that Messi picked up playing for Argentina this week. Keep reading →

FC Barcelona doctors have announced that Leo Messi is doudtful for Sunday evening’s game against Osasuna. Messi picked up a calf strain in his right leg in Argentina to a 1-0 victory over Australia in Melbourne. Keep reading →

I’m pleased to announced that we have now started a player statistics page. You can either click on “Player Statistics 07/08″ at the top of the page or click here - http://fcbnews.com/player-statistics/

It is a new feature and we will be hoping to improve on it in the future. Any comments would be welcome.

After two league games and an annoying break for international games, Barça now face the big test of seven games in three weeks after which we should have a much clearer idea of how things are going to be this season. The first game is this Sunday at 9pm against Osasuna in the Reyno de Navarra stadium. Keep reading →

I’ve been walking everywhere for the last few weeks as I need to lose a couple of kilos, but this morning I took a taxi home from Badalona cos it’s miles away. The taxi driver, who incidentally bore an uncanny resemblance to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, told me a remarkable story about Samuel Eto’o. Keep reading →

There were mixed fortunes for Barça players in the latest international matches. Ronaldinho came out better than Rafa Marquez as Brazil beat Mexico 3-1 in Boston, Giovani dos Santos came on as sub for the last 16 minutes. Keep reading →

In a game played in the Nou Municipal stadium in Palamos, FC Barcelona last night lost the Copa Catalunya final 2-1 to Gimnastic. Victor Vazquez gave Barça the lead, but Nastic’s Pinilla and Maldonado scored to take the trophy back to Tarragona. Keep reading →

Thanks to Nick Lloyd for bringing my attention to this. Rivaldo’s hat trick against Valencia in 2001 has been named one of the best six hat tricks of all time on the Guardian blog - http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/09/11/the_joy_of_six_great_hattricks.html

Keep reading →

Ronaldinho Gaucho capped a fine performance with a goal in Brazil’s 4-2 win over USA in yesterday’s friendly match. Ronnie also played a part in Brazil’s first two goals. First he set up Kaka to shoot and the goalkeeper’s save rebounded off a defender for an own goal. Lucio then headed home a Ronaldinho corner to put Brazil 2-1 up early in the second half. Ronnie’s goal came in the 75th minute when he converted a free kick. Keep reading →

Soccerlens, in partnership with TicketsFC.com, is running a contest to award two free tickets to the Barcelona v Real Zaragoza game on 26th Sep 2007 at Camp Nou.

If you want to watch Barcelona in full flow, this is your chance.

The rules are simple - the contest will run for one week (Monday 10th Sep 07 to Sunday 16th Sep 07) and on the next Monday, I’ll run a random number generator to pick one winner out of all submissions.

How do you win the tickets to the Barcelona v Zaragoza game? Just send in the answer to the following question to contests(@)soccerlens(dot)com:

Who scored Barcelona’s goals in last season’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea in the Champions League at Camp Nou?

Please make sure to enter your name and use an email address that you check regularly.