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

If Barca are to get rid of Ronaldinho, i think they should make a bid for either Lulinha or Kerlon, the two youthful wonderful Brazilians. Recent history, over the 14 to 15 years, that barca tends to perform better with the inclusion of a skillful Brazilian on the team.

For instance the year after Rivaldo left, barca had Motta, Rochemback (the worst of them all), and Geovanni, on the team. None of these players being skillful enough to help Barca. The year afterward "we" aquired Ronaldo de Assis Moreira Gaucho aka Ronaldinho, who did wonders for bara.

This is why i personlally think barca can get rid of Ronaldinho but they need to bring back a brazilian wonder kid to the team, so as to assist, Bojan and Dos Santos, the future of Barcelona's football.

By Joseph Pierre
(posted by a reader)

Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck has thrown in the towel as The Blues lose steam on Ronaldinho Chase.

The official at Stamford Bridge was frank and truthful about his team's chances of signing Ronaldinho next season, and his response showed that not much hope was being entertained by the English side, after a hail of rumours and counter-rumors greeted the news of transfer surrounding the Brazilian in recent times. In latest reaction to the possibility of Ronnie moving to Chelsea FC, Bruce said:

I don't see it being likely that Ronaldinho will be here next year. Anything was a possibility and certainly there had been rumours and discussions of that, but I don't see it happening.

The main reason the Chairman gave was that:

We are looking to balance some losses at the club, and a player like Ronaldinho will blow up the already huge money spent in recent years on buying new players. We have to focus on less expensive players and hope they will become of great value to us in the future when we want to sell them.

However, the real reason Chelsea may not be continuing their chase for the Barca star is believed to be the outright refusal of FC Barcelona to sit down on the negotiation table with Chelsea FC for talks on a possible transfer of the Brazilian super star.

Mecurial player, Lionel Messi has been crowned the best Latin player in Spain.

Lionel Messi is on the news yet again as the Argentine forward has become the sixth FC Barcelona player in the 17 year history of the EFE Awards to be crowned best player. The youthful wonder-kid has been in spectacular form, and scored an average of 6.5 points per match in all games last season, making him the clear favourite for the award. Messi was presented with the trophy by EFE president Alex Grijelmo and was joined by his parents, brothers and other family members at the ceremony. In his acceptance speech, Messi said:

I am very happy to receive this award. I want to thank the Agency EFE and all the people who are present, to my family and my captain, Carles Puyol. It is beautiful to be able to receive this prize and it gives me extra motivation to continue grow as a player.

Messi beat off competition from Daniel Alves and his Barça teammate Ronaldinho to scoop the award, voted for by the members of EFE.
Six FC Barcelona players have now received the award, and they include four Brazilians and two Argentines. The winners are Brazilian Romario who was the first in the 1993-1994 season, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Saviola and Ronaldinho, before Messi made it number six. Having won 6 of the 17 awards, Barça tops the ranking of clubs in terms of winners until now.
While presenting the award to Messi, EFE president, Alex Grijelmo said:

Messi is one of those players that I enjoy watching. Today he receives an important prize. They say that he is the new Maradona; he is not very tall, like Butragueño or Aimar, and that is one of the great things about football, that anyone can dream about being a star regardless of their physique.

In a related press conference, FC Barcelona president, Joan laporta paid tribute to lionel Messi, saying:

It is a privilege to have Messi at this club, if Barcelona are more than a club then Messi is more than a player. It’s an honour for us to have him, this club was made for Messi and he was made for this club. It would be great to have him here for the rest of his career. Messi is a player who entertains the fans and he makes everyone enjoy football, it’s a pleasure to have players like him.

Super show at Glasgow as FC Barcelona produce 11-star performance.

Match Report: Wednesday 20/02/2008 19:45 hours , Champions League, Second Round
CELTIC GLASGOW - FC BARCELONA 2-3 ( 2-1 )

Stadium: Celtic Park, Glasgow
Capacity : 60,506
Attendance : 58,345
Referee: Peter Frojdtfeldt

Goals:

1-0 V. of Hesselink ( 15' )
1-1 Messi ( 18' )
2-1 Robson ( 38' )
2-2 Henry ( 52' )
2-3 Messi ( 79' )


Cautions:

Yellow Card:

Celtic Glasgow: Robson ( 20' ), Hartley ( 60' )

FC Barcelona: Deco ( 30' )

Corners:

FC Barcelona 8 - Celtic Glasgow 1

Shots on Goal ( On Target ):

FC Barcelona 24 ( 8 )- Celtic Glasgow 5 ( 3 )

Possession:

FC Barcelona 71% - Celtic Glasgow 29%

Line Up:

FC Barcelona (4-4-2): Valdes, Puyol, Marquez, Milito, Abidal, Toure, Deco ( Xavi, 65' ), Iniesta, Messi, Ronaldinho ( Eto'o, 73' ), Henry ( Gudjohnsen, 88' )
Manager: Frank Rijkaard ( Johan Neeskens )

Celtic Glasgow(4-3-3): Boruc, Naylor, Caldwell, V. of Hesselink ( Samaras, 55' ), Hartley ( Donati, 65' ), Robson, Nakamura, McDonald, McNamus, McGeady, Caddis ( Wilson, 60' )
Manager: Gordon Strachan

Match Report:

FC Barcelona brought the entire Scotland to its feet with spectacular football against Scottish hosts, Celtic in Glasgow. The Blaugrana were in total dominance of the encounter, having 71% of total ball possession compared to Celtic's 29% and out-shooting the hosts with 24 shots at goal compared to Celtic's 5. Celtic had only one corner-kick through out the match. Beyond doubt, Barca deserved to be winners for the night, and win they did, with a 3-2 scoreline. Even though the Catalan giants had their coach Frank Rijkaard on the stands as he served his suspension for being sent off against Lyon, the superstars boosted their confidence by having Johan Neeskens on the bench in Rijkaard's place.

Celtic looked impressive at the beginning of the encounter but it was Barca who got the ball to obey its pace, as the Catalan giants seized control of the game and dazzled Celtic. The build up from Barca was
almost rewarded in the 13th minute when Iniesta forced a great save from Celtic's keeper Boruc, and Henry curled the rebound towards the gaping corner of the net, only for Paul Curdis to save the moment by heading off the line.

In quick response, Celtic launched their own attack two minutes later and with some questionable positioning, Venegoor of Hesselink headed in the ball into Valdes' net for the opening goal of the day.

Trailing 1-0, Barca came out in full force and tore the Celtic defence apart. Their venom was effective just three minutes after the Celtic goal, when Lionel Messi made a beautiful one-two interchange with Deco and finished off the display with a beautiful goal to level things at 1-1.

But Rangers were not to be taken for granted, even though the hosts entered the match as underdogs. The team quickly reorganized itself and absorbed much of Barca's deadly attacks, as the Blaugrana were superior in all departments. However, it was Celtic again, who moved ahead by drawing second blood, this time through a goal from Robson in the 38th minute. Aiden McGeady's lob was effectively dodged by V. of Hesselink and Mc Donald, who made to draw away from the ball, leaving McGeady with a chance to send the ball over Barca's keeper Victor Valdes with a great header. It was 2-1 to Celtic and the home fans went wild and remained in that state through out the half-time period.

The second half resumed with FC Barcelona controling the pace like they did at the beginning of the first half. Just seven minutes into the half, Thierry henry showed why he was the undisputed French goal king , when the Frenchman received a great pass from Ronaldinho who had benefited from a gift of a pass from Caldwell. Henry sailed into the corner of the area and unleashed a stunning strike that curled itself into the far corner of the net. The goal was truly a beauty to behold.

With scores level once again at 2-2, Celtic seemed to concede to the fact that they may not be able to overcome the stronger and more talented hosts right on their home soil. Lionel Messi was let lose in the 62nd minute and the Argentine gave a warning of what was to come, when he released a shot that keeper Boruc saved. Thierry henry could have made it three goals for Barca, but the Frenchman's effort went narrowly off.

Lionel Messi, sensing Celtic never took his earlier warning seriously, reappeared in the 79th minute to punish the battling Celtic by burying the hopes of the Scottish team with his second goal of the night. The Argentine received a ball that had bounced off Celtic's defenders from a swift Eto'o pass, and Messi shook off a bedazzled Caldwell before placing the ball neatly into Boruc's net.

The deed was done.

My Comments:

With a 3-2 win over Celtic, FC Barcelona will go into the second leg of the Champions League encounter as almost certain victors, especially as the match will be played in Camp Nou. Celtic must be preparing for next season's Champions League event, as this will be the most advisable thing to do after the 3-2 loss to Barca right in Scotland. It will be easier to walk from the north-pole to the south-pole than to salvage the scoreline in Camp Nou.