A desperate Frank Rijkaard storms El Madrigal in search of first victory against Villarreal.


Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the Dutchman admits the yellow submarines were the better side before, but things will definitely change this time around. Although Barca have lost in two successive encounters in Villarreal's home ground, the Catalan giants defeated the hosts right in their home ground in the 2005/06 season. Frank Rijkaard wants to lead Barca to repeat this feat, as that time, the man on the bench was Hen Ten Cate after Rijkaard was sidelined himself due to an illness on that day. Now the Barca helmsman wants to prove all his critics wrong that he can secure victory for Barca when he's on the bench at the El Madrigal. Rijkaard demonstrates clear knowledge of the Villarreal side:

They were better in the last league game. They came out very strongly and scored early on. We were unable to turn things around and Villarreal justifiably won. They are a team that can wait for to play in their half before launching counter-attacks or can come out and attack you from the first minute. We know what to expect and we will have to go out and start strongly ourselves.

Read the full interview below:


FC Barcelona's Rijkaard: Villarreal Were Better In The Last Game.

Abidal has been ruled out due to injury as Edmilson returns.


The brilliant French defender took a blow to his left foot and will be out of the Villarreal game, while Edmilson has been certified fully fit to play against the yellow submarines who have had a very good record against Barca, having defeated the Blaugrana in the last two matches both teams have played at the El Madrigal. FC barcelona want to put an end to this trend, and this is the best time to do it as the semi-final ticket of the Cop del Rey is at stake. The men to do it for Barca include:


Valdés, Pinto, Milito, Márquez, Puyol, Xavi, Gudjohnsen, Iniesta, Zambrotta, Henry, Edmilson, Giovani, Messi, Deco, Thuram, Oleguer, Bojan, Sylvinho.


Ronaldinho is back in training, but did not train with the rest of the squad as he continued with specific therapy and training to address his particular situation. Three young talents, Pedrito, Víctor Sánchez and Busquets were also present in training, all three coming from the junior team, Barca B.


The match against Villarreal takes place at El Madrigal on January 24th. Kick-off time is 22:00 hours local time.

In order to avoid over-crowding the schedule of the Catalan giants, the Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LFP) have rescheduled Barca's next La Liga game.



This became necessary after the Blaugrana were earlier required to play both Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao within a space of 46 hours, both matches being away matches and implying Barca will not have any chance to regroup or to train at Camp Nou before playing the second match. The former schedule had the Copa del Rey match at El Madrigal between Villarreal and FC Barcelona scheduled for Thursday, January 24th at 22:00 hours local time while the Athletic Bilbao clash in San Mames was fixed for Saturday evening at 22:00 hours local time but has now been postponed to Sunday, January 27th at 19:00 hours local time.


FC Barcelona will return from the Villarreal clash on Friday, then leave for the La Liga clash with Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Creative Iniesta is not concerned about Real Madrid ouster from the Copa del Rey.


Rather, the Spanish star feels more concerned about Madrid's seven point gap at the top of the La Liga, and wants to do everything within his powers to reverse the trend before the season ends. Iniesta said:

We’re just happy that we’ve got through. If Mallorca knocked out Madrid, that means they deserved to get through as well. We don’t care what they do in the Cup, as we need them to trip up in the League. Getting knocked out is always painful and hard to accept. We have to win our games and not worry so much about Madrid.

Iniesta also spoke about the forthcoming tie with Villarreal in the Copa quarter -final stage. Read more:


Andres Iniesta: We Don't Care About Real Madrid

Barca players speak after the first loss of the season.


Bojan Krkic was the highest point of the night for FC Barcelona as the 17 year old entered his name yet again into the record books by becoming the youngest player to ever score a goal for the Blaugrana since the history of the La Liga. Though FC Barcelona lost the match, there was an indication that indeed, another star has been born. Bojan spoke after the Villarreal match along with the rest of his teammates who were given hearing audience with the press:


Bojan Krkic:

I am pleased with the goal, but I have a bad taste in the mouth as we were unable to take all three points. Messi is a great player and I have a great understanding with him. I will keep the shirt I wore today as a souvenir.

Xavi Hernández:

In the end we lacked freshness, but the match was determined by the first goal. Villarreal played well on the counter-attack. It is a day when everything that normally happens to us was in reverse. We said in the dressing room that we know we have to keep our chins up. It is the first defeat of the season at a difficult stadium and in a week when many of us had international commitments.This ground has not been good to us. We started the game badly. They played on the counter against us and it was very difficult to find space. We have to congratulate them because they played a great game. It is true that Villarreal are a direct rival, but there is still a long way to go in the league and until now we have been playing well.

Deco:

It hurt a little at the beginning of the game, but at the break I had a massage and it improved. I did not think that I was injured.

Eidur Gudjohnsen:

It is never good to go on because a team-mate has been injured, but I am pleased to have played my first minutes of the season. It would have been better if we had won though. Villarreal is a strong team with a lot of quality. We have played well after going 2-0 behind, but they scored the third and it was very difficult for us after that. I felt fine, but I am still lacking minutes. Midfield is my best position. I am comfortable there and played there for the last two years at Chelsea and it is not a problem for me. I am prepared to play there.