Sliding out of the Champions League with two goals scored shows the scale of a relentless decline and a long road lies aheadThere were a little under eight hours until kick-off and Joan Laporta had come from Munich cathedral. “You have to have faith,” he said, heading into the Käfer restaurant and out of the snow, but faith is not enough. And although they had always suspected as much, it still hurt when the inevitable happened. Barcelona’s president had asked his players to show “pride” and “dignity”, to demonstrate “who they are”. As it turned out, who they are is a team no longer able to compete with the best. “That’s our reality and it really pisses me off,” Xavi...
Camp Nou manager faces tough job when a faster, more robust and physical game can overwhelm technique and possessionXavi is back. With him as coach, Barcelona want to revive a great era. Thanks to his technique and overview, he was a world-class footballer who played strategically and with the team in mind. He supported his teammates as a play-off station, he set the scene for them precisely, he always found solutions. It seemed impossible to separate him from the ball, even when he was surrounded.In Xavi’s heyday, Spain were practically unbeatable, becoming European champions, world champions, European champions in successive tournaments. In the Euro finals, in 2008 and 2012, he assisted four goals. For a period he dominated the Champions...
Club legend twice rejected offers but finally he is coming back as a defender of the faith and symbol of hope for the futureOn Xavi Hernández’s last night as a Barcelona player, he walked out of the Olimpiastadion in Berlin carrying the European Cup in his right hand. It was the 25th trophy he had won with the club and it was over, but only for a little while. He had arrived aged 12 from Terrassa, where the square he played in now has a sign up banning football, and although he was leaving 23 years on he was already planning his return, eventually made on Friday.At Xavi’s farewell, Andrés Iniesta gave a speech in which he thanked him for...
President Laporta had been trying since the summer to replace his head coach and has overcome initial reluctance over XaviRayo Vallecano scored and The Final Countdown began. The last goal Barcelona conceded under Ronald Koeman was met by Europe booming round Vallecas. “I made a mistake,” Sergio Busquets said. “I slept and they robbed my wallet. It’s my fault.”But on Wednesday it wasn’t just him and he wasn’t the one who paid. He had been caught out, Gerard Piqué was beaten, Jordi Alba absent and Lionel Messi in Paris. Radamel Falcao scored, someone hit play, 14,297 fans joined in, scarves twirling, and Rayo were on their way to victory. Koeman was just on his way. Continue reading...
Real Madrid and Barcelona meet in the league without either Sergio Ramos or Lionel Messi involved for first time since 2005Eduardo Iturralde González could see it coming. “I saw Sergio Ramos running towards Leo Messi and I thought: ‘He’s going to whack him,’” the referee recalled – and he was right. It was late on a Monday night in November 2010, Messi was left on the floor, a fight started and Ramos was sent off. On Saturday afternoon they should have been preparing for the latest chapter in a seemingly never-ending story. Instead, though neither had exactly planned it this way, they found themselves at Camp de Loges, north of Paris. Together.No one has played more clásicos than Ramos or...