We Love Barcelona

The Champions League draw was completed and Barcelona was pitted against the English team Manchester City in what is expected to be one of the most exciting and thrilling matches in these next stages of the European tournament.

Luis Enrique believes that Manchester City was one of the toughest opponents that they could have been drawn against and he is well aware of the threat that the Premier Leagueclub represents but Enrique thinks that Barcelona should be able to come out on top with a victory if they play well.

I am sure it’ll be a very hard match” he said. “The important thing in games like these is for us to be in good condition.

If we’re on form, we are good enough to cope with any competition … I always think positively, and I know we are quite capable of getting through the round against Manchester City.”

Manchester City was just barely able to make it into the last 16 remaining teams in the Champions League after surprising victories against Bayern Munich and As.Roma.

The team of Manuel Pellegrini continues being dependent on Sergio Aguero for most of their goals and this is something that Barcelona can capitalize on when they face each other in the Champions League on February.

Barcelona recently sustained a slip in the Spanish League after drawing against Getafe but by the time that the Champions League reignites in February it would be enough time for Luis Enrique and his time to recover from their recent mediocre performance and return to their natural winning ways but Manchester City has a tougher job to do as they have to start finding a way on not depending so much on a single player as this can seriously hamper their chances on winning major titles in this season.

Sergio Aguero is a fantastic player there is no doubt about that, but if he gets injured or has a bad day then Manchester City’s chances of scoring will be very limited. It’s similar to Barcelona with Lionel Messi but the English squad is starting to depend on Aguero just way too much and this is evidenced by the fact that Aguero scored all 3 goals in Manchester City’s victory over Bayern Munich as well as one of the top goal-scorers in the Premier League with many games where he is the only scorer for Manchester City.

Barcelona remains in tip top form as the club has managed to score 19 goals in the opening 7 Spanish League matches in this season and is located at the top of the standings. The attacking duo consisting of Lionel Messi and Neymar struggled to score goals in the previous season but things have turned around for the Brazilian and Argentinean players who are the main goal-scoring machines for the team of Luis Enrique and things will only get better when Luis Suarez makes his official debut within one week.

The manager of Barcelona, Luis Enrique said that the Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez is ready and eager to make his debut with the Barcelona jersey in a league match.

“He still needs to improve his condition physically as he has been out for a long time but he is a special player who can provide lots of different options. He has been training well and will be ready. I have a good feeling about him and he has improved a lot since he has returned to training and played for his national team. He looks very different now to when he came back. Training every day has made a big difference.” Enrique said as he responded to questions concerning the condition of Luis Suarez

After having bitted the Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in the 2014 World Cup, Suarez received a 4 month ban from doing anything related to football which is still affecting the player but the sanction will be reaching its end just in time for Suarez to be featured and play for Barcelona during their Clasico match against Real Madrid on October 25.

Expectations are high for the return of Luis Suarez as he arrived from Liverpool with a price tag of around €94 million and the Uruguayan attacker has to prove if that extremely high amount of money that was splashed was indeed worth it and what a better scenario then when playing against their rivals Real Madrid?

Barcelona start the new campaign hoping to reclaim the league title with a home match against Elche. However, new manager Luis Enrique will be without star summer signing Luis Suarez since the forward is suspended until the end of October. Enrique has previously been disappointing in his managerial jobs, but there is confidence within Barcelona that he will be a success at the Catalan outfit since he knows the club from the top to bottom. Enrique came through the ranks at Barcelona and went on to captain the club during an immensely successful period. In many ways, he is similar to the club’s former manager Pep Guardiola.

After having managed to work with a number of star names like Lionel Messi and Neymar in the last few weeks of training, Enrique says that he is confident ahead of the new season. The club has had an indifferent from in the pre-season friendly matches after starting with a 1-1 draw against French club Nice. However, they have since recovered to show good form towards the end of the pre-season preparations. The match against Elche will represent a soft introduction to life as a Barcelona manager for Enrique. Ahead of the season opener, the former Barcelona captain has spoken about a number of issues like Messi and Suarez.

“I’m delighted by the motivation and ambition shown by the players in training. That makes me very optimistic…These session have been more intense and tougher than I expected because of their capacity for sacrifice. I’m 100% optimistic the fans will enjoy what we do. Neither I nor the Club accept that the squad is complete. The Club should always be looking for reinforcements. He’s [Messi] such a good reader of the game so we mustn’t close off any opening that he sees on the pitch,” said Enrique.

Luis Suarez has always wanted to play for Barcelona, according to his former team mate Gabri Garcia who went on to add that he would jump at the chance if the club came calling.

Gabri, who himself played for the Catalan giants between 1999 and 2006 after coming through the youth ranks at the club is close friends with the Liverpool striker and his family after spending four years with him at Ajax Amsterdam after he was sold by his boyhood club.

The excellent form that the Uruguayan striker has shown in the Premier League over the last couple of seasons has made him one of the hottest properties in world football at the moment with both Real Madrid and Barcelona credited with an interest in the talismanic striker and according to Gabri, he would pick the Blaugrana over Los Merengues any day.

Gabri stated that while they were at Ajax, they enjoyed a close bond because of their common mother tongue and said that he always wanted to come to the Catalan giants, adding that it would make him immensely happy if he did that.

He went on to add that if the club does move for the player, they would be making a great signing considering the adaptability that the player has shown in every league he has played in and he would be a great fit for the club as well. The move would also suit his young family with his in-laws staying near the city as well.

Gabri mentioned that if Suarez joined Barcelona, the club would have one of the best attacking lineups in the world with Lionel Messi and Neymar already a part of the team and signing the Uruguayan would make them an almost unstoppable force and help them dominate for years to come.

Barcelona’s Gerardo Martino has not enjoyed the best of debut seasons after the Catalan crashed out of the Champions League and Copa del Rey. There already are rumors of him leaving Barcelona when the season finishes and Luis Enrique taking over the club during the summer.

Barcelona still has a chance of winning the Spanish league title but this will only happen if they are able of securing a victory against Athletic Madrid on the last match of the season.

Gerardo Martino is well aware that the club has already made contacts and held meetings with Luis Enrique but Martino remains proud of the work he has accomplished with Barcelona and everything else is secondary.

“The club has done nothing wrong. At least not in my eyes, I won’t necessarily be happy with my work even if we do win the league title. There’s no result that will change my future. I’m very proud to coach Barcelona. It’s a huge job.”
“It has been a difficult season, with many problems off the pitch. We have tried to get over them with football and we were alive in the title race. It was a poor season wasn’t what we expected. There was the chance of not reaching the goals, but not due to our own mistakes’’. Martino said.
If indeed Martino does get sacked at the end of the season, Malaga is a likely destination for the Argentine manager as Malaga is interested in turning him into their head coach and some time ago, Martino was on the verge of joining the club but ultimately he decided on settling with Barcelona.

The manager of Barcelona, Gerardo Martino, is very happy that his side has performed well in the high pressure games of late.

Barcelona has had some indifferent results in the Spanish top flight in the last couple of months because of which they lost their top position in the points table, but, now, it seems that they are back in rhythm and are well and truly in the race for the title. They are still not leading the table though, but, they are not too far away from it.

In the last few days, Barcelona has won two high pressure games. First, the El Clasico against the arch rivals Real Madrid and then the Barcelona derby against the local rivals Espanyol and in both those victories, it’s their superstar Lionel Messi who played the main role.

Talking to the reporters after the match against Espanyol, Martino said, “I knew it was going to be a tight game and thus, it was important for us to be on our toes. I am really proud of the way the boys showed character. We are peaking at the right time.”

When asked about Victor Valdes who has been ruled out of the season because of injury, Martino said, “This win was for Victor. He has been a great player for Barcelona over a long period of time. It was obviously unfortunate the way he went out, but, that’s life.”]

Victor Valdes would make an away move next summer which means that he would never feature for Barcelona again.
The Spaniard has been at Camp Nou since 2002 and has represented Blaugrana in close to 400 league games.
He had established a ligament injury in the match against Celta Vigo which Barcelona had won by 3-0.

Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino has stated that the players should remain focused if they are to achieve success at the end of the season. The Argentine was speaking after the 2-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League. The win has helped them get a foothold in the first leg of the last 16 round in the competition.

They are now favourites to progress into the quarter-finals where they could be joined by the likes of PSG and Chelsea. Barcelona have not been up to their usual high standards this campaign.

This has largely been attributed to the tactics of manager Martino, who has been accused of playing the ball too soon to the frontmen. Martino, however, did not change the philosophy of the team during their visit to the Etihad stadium. Barcelona not only dominated possession, but they also created numerous chances over the course of the 90 minutes. Lionel Messi opened the scoring for the first time against an English club away from home with a penalty. The red card to Martin Demichelis during the build-up only helped the situation for the Catalan club.

Daniel Alves scored a late goal to make the game safe for the club. Despite this commanding position, Martino says that the players should be aware of the threat from City in the second leg.

“For 10 minutes during the first half we lost control a little, but in the rest of the game we did well. We have to remain calm and continue along the same path because there is no time to relax as we must now start thinking about our next game in La Liga. We have clear objectives in each tournament. We can play better or we can play worse than tonight but in no way are we going to relax,” Martino told http://www.sublimeshot.com.

The manager of Barcelona FC, Gerardo Martino, has made it quite clear that he is not in any hurry at all to bring one of his superstar players Lionel Messi back into the side.

Messi hasn’t featured for Barca in the last couple of months because of his hamstring problem. However, he has been training since the last few days and is close to achieving match fitness. There were speculations that he might be making his comeback in Barca’s upcoming La Liga game against Atletico Madrid which will be played at Vicente Calderon this Saturday, but, Martino’s statements suggest that his fans might have to wait a bit longer to see him back playing.

According to Martino, he doesn’t want Messi to come back with 90% fitness and then get ruled out again. So, he will bring him back only when he is fully prepared for that.
The fact is that Barcelona hasn’t missed Messi that much. They have been playing quite well in his absence and have been securing points without having too many problems. So, there is no need to risk the 26 years old Argentinean superstar by putting him on the ground immediately.

Talking to the reporters yesterday about Messi’s comeback, Martino said, “Nothing is certain at the moment. We will assess him and see if he is feeling good about himself or not. It’s not only about getting prepared physically. We will have to take the mental thing into account as well.”
“The last thing we want is to bring him back in a hurry and then lose him for another few weeks. That would not be ideal at all.”

Barcelona has won 16 out of the 18 matches that they have played in the La Liga this season.