Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard gave a rare display of emotion after his side's 3-2 loss to Real Mallorca on Sunday, admitting he was upset that his last match at the Nou Camp had ended in defeat.

Barca surrendered a two-goal lead and ended up slumping to their third defeat in four league games when La Liga leading scorer Dani Guiza struck his 26th goal of the season for the islanders four minutes into stoppage time.

The defeat, which followed Barca's 4-1 thrashing by arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, sparked angry protests from the home fans who jeered the players and called for club president Joan Laporta's resignation.

"It was a very sad night,"

the Dutchman said.

"We expected this sort of reaction, but as coach I'm sad that we had to play in an atmosphere like that.

"I didn't expect the end of the season to be so difficult. It hasn't been easy and we haven't been able to change the dynamics of the team. It is very difficult to play when things are like that."

The defeat came just three days after the club announced that Rijkaard would not complete the remaining year on his contract and would be replaced by former captain Pep Guardiola as coach at the end of the season.

Rijkaard, who has been largely exempt from the recent criticism and has been praised for the way he has conducted himself during his five years as Barca coach, was cheered by fans every time he got out of the dugout during Sunday's match.

Sporting director Txiki Begiristain said the fans' reaction was a measure of their respect for the Dutchman who steered the club to back-to-back league titles and victory in the Champions League in his first three seasons at the Nou Camp.

"The people who came to the match paid tribute to a good and successful coach and also to his behaviour and the respect he has shown for the club,"

Reuters

Has Barcelona's season fallen apart completely as they drop two more places to seventh.

European Power Rankings

1 (1) Manchester United - 23.95

2 (3) Arsenal - 20.92

3 (2) Chelsea - 20.77

4 (4) Internazionale - 20.46

5 (5) Sevilla - 20.24

6 (7) Liverpool - 20.00

7 (5) Barcelona - 19.90

8 (9) Roma - 19.45

9 (6) Porto - 19.10

10 (11) Everton - 18.55

11 (10) Fenerbahce - 18.17

12 (12) Real Madrid - 17.96

13 (13) Milan - 16.99

14 (17) Werder Bremen - 16.84

15 (14) Olympiacos - 16.83

16 (16) Bayern Munich - 16.81

17 (15) Hamburg - 16.15

18 (16) Lyon - 16.12

19 (19) Fiorentina - 15.66

20 (20) Rangers - 15.56

Link: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/09052008/3/barcelona-members-request-censure-motion-against-board.html

The crisis at Barcelona over its poor season deepened Friday as two club members launched a censure motion against the management of the Spanish club that seeks the ouster of is president, Joan Laporta, and his board of directors.

Oriol Giralt Gili and Christian Castellvi Clement delivered a written warning to the board informing them that they had begun the process to request a censure motion, essentially a vote of no confidence, against the board, the club said on its website.

The move comes one day after Laporta announced that reserve team coach Pep Guardiola, a former player, will take over from Frank Rijkaard at the end of the season, the club's second without any silverware.

Barcelona were eliminated in the Champions League semi-final by Manchester United and trail Real Madrid in the Spanish league by 17 points in third place with two games remaining after losing 4-1 to the new champions on Wednesday.

The defeat means the Catalan side will miss out on automatic qualification for the Champions League since they will not be able to finish any higher than third in the Spanish league which has just two rounds remaining.

"More than ever, a censure motion is necessary," Gili told reporters as he went into Barcelona's headquarters, the Internet edition of El Mundo reported.

Barcelona's club statutes allow for a motion of censure to be officially put in place if five percent of the club's members who qualify as voters -- adults who have been members for more than one year -- sign a petition.

The club has roughly 117,000 members with voting rights, meaning the petition will need to gather the signatures of around 6,000 members.

Barcelona in 3rd Place

		PL	W	D	L	+/-	Points
1	Real Madrid	36	26	3	7	45	81
2	Villarreal	36	22	5	9	19	71
3	Barcelona	36	18	10	8	32	64
4	Atletico de Madrid	36	18	7	11	20	61
5	Sevilla	36	18	4	14	21	58
6	Racing Santander	36	16	8	12	0	56
7	Mallorca	36	13	14	9	13	53
8	Deportivo de la Coruña	36	15	7	14	2	52
9	Athletic Club	36	13	10	13	0	49
10	U.D Almeria	36	13	10	13	-3	49
11	Espanyol	36	13	9	14	-6	48
12	Real Betis Balompié	36	12	10	14	-4	46
13	Getafe C.F	36	12	9	15	-4	45
14	Valencia	36	13	6	17	-20	45
15	Valladolid	36	11	10	15	-15	43
16	Zaragoza	36	10	11	15	-10	41
17	Osasuna	36	11	7	18	-7	40
18	Recreativo de Huelva	36	10	10	16	-22	40
19	Real Murcia	36	7	9	20	-26	30
20	Levante U.D	36	7	5	24	-35	26

Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho Tricks – Ronaldinho teaches kids how to do football tricks – Some of these kids are pretty good!

Ronaldinho Gaucho – Simply the Best

Joy (Nike Commercial) - 4th in the 'Jago' Series

Ronaldinho will fool you - Here splitting 2 defenders

Just Too Good – Absolutely breathtaking – good music too

The Impossible Pass - (in Arabic, I think)

Nike Freestyle - Who Do You Think You Are?

Zidane vs. Ronaldinho - When Zidane was at Juventus andRonnie was at PSG

The Best of Ronaldinho – The PSG Years

Ronaldinho’s Best Goal Ever - Says this guy

Ronaldinho & Christian Ronaldo – Freestyle -Don't think Chris is quite in the same league, but still...

Great Pass - Just a great pass

Ronaldinho Magia - 2005 Highlights

He Shoots, He Scores - mostly PSG goals

Just Another Goal - So simple

World’s Greatest Player - 2005

Nike Shoe Trick Revealed - Funny

The Magician - Nothing else needs to be said

The Lays Chips Commercial - Is that his mum?


Other Stuff

‘El Clasico’ - 20 November, 2004

Maradona’s Barcelona Goals

The Diving Fan - Funny