Many are still left stunned following Lionel Messi’s commanding appearance at the El Classico.
The Argentine star grabbed his 500th career goal as he inspired
Blaugranato a 3-2 victory against their arch rivals.
The victory changed the momentum as the La Liga winds down. Casemiro had scored the opener before Messi responded to draw both teams level. Ivan Rakitic scored a nice curling shot that gave hope of victory to the visitors until James Rodriguez struck to equalize. It seemed both sides would share the spoils until Messi scored in the last kick of the game to put Barca back in contention for their third straight La Liga title.
“It’s time to enjoy beating a direct opponent, Madrid. It’s time to enjoy the best player in the world and of all time. He keeps showing that in the most important games, which is when you really see him. It’s admirable,” an excited Luis Suarez said. Read more »
Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta has reiterated that playing interesting and flowing football remains just as important as winning for the Catalan club.
Barcelona have been an advocate of attractive football throughout their storied history, boosting the calibre of players like Johan Cruyff, Romario, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi who excelled in delighting fans and neutrals along the way.
The possession-based football that was cultivated under the guidance of Johan Cyruff and further established by Pep Guardiola was a fascinating scene that won both managers titles and fans during their respective spells in the dugout at Barcelona
The Blaugrana has been recently accused of deviating from their usual tiki-taka under current boss Luis Enrique, but Iniesta is adamant their philosophy remain intact on Thursday.
The Spanish playmaker told Esport 3 that the team would continue to believe in the Barcelona well-known football philosophy. Read more »
David Villa used to perform with Barcelona starting from 2010 until 2013 and during this period of time, the Spanish attacker was able to lift 2 La Liga titles and a UEFA Champions League piece of silverware as well as many other trophies along the way.
€40 million was the price tag of David Villa as Barcelona paid that amount of money in order to bring him from Valencia but his time spent at Camp Nou was generally considered to be a flop or better yet, it was not as impressive as it was initially expected.
He had to spend 8 months on the bench and was almost always being overshadowed by other players and he was eventually offloaded to Athletic Madrid and Villa is now performing with the MLS side New York City and the veteran attacker has voiced his desire to see Andres Iniesta joining him in the American club.
Even though Andres Iniesta is 32 years old, he still remains being a hugely influential figure in Barcelona and gets playing time on a fairly consistent basis.
Read more »
Barcelona continued their brilliant form in the new campaign, defeating Athletic Bilbao by a single goal in a hard-fought match.
The score line was not unexpected following their 6-2 banger against Real Betis at Nou Camp.
Arda Turan continued his fine start in the new campaign, scoring a goal in the fifth minute but it was ruled out for offside. Seven minutes later, Bilbao almost got the first goal due to the error of Marc-Andre ter Stegen. He sent the ball to the path of Benat Etxebarria, but he still able to save the goal-bound effort.
Barcelona took the game to their opponents, breaking through in the 20th minute. Turan and Luis Suarez combined well but Rakitic was the target as he picked out a cross heading the ball beyond the reach of Gorka Iraizoz. The firm header ensured Barcelona controlled the pace of the game.
The Catalan club was without key additions in Neymar who is set to return only after the international break. Andres Iniesta is expected to return after the break as well as he picked up a knee injury in the 2-0 win in the Super Cup first leg match against Sevilla.
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Spanish side Barcelona have announced the signing of a new deal by Brazilian superstar Neymar which will tie him to the club until 2021.
The La Liga champions are now set to offer contracts to the rest of the team, with five-time Ballon D’or winner Lionel Messi and play maker Andres Iniesta next in line.
Messi’s current deal will expire in 2018 but the club’s management are not taking any chance as they want him to commit his future now. Iniesta’s deal is also set to expire in 2018 but the club wants to keep him at the Nou camp as well. The president of the club Josep Maria Bartomeu said last week that players with less than two years on their current deal would be evaluated. However, Spanish newspaper Marca claim that doesn’t hold true for Messi and Iniesta as the club will not hesitate to get their signatures now.
The club chiefs are keen on Iniesta ending his career at the Nou Camp and talks with the veteran player is expected to kick off soonest. The club is undergoing a £500 million redevelopment of the stadium which will extend till 2020. The reports say Bartomeu wants Messi to be available when they complete it despite other reports linking Messi to a big-money move to the Premier League. Read more »
Ex-Gunner play maker, Cesc Fabregas who has made several inciting comments of recent made another where he mentioned his former team mate as the best he has played alongside in his career.
Fabregas had joined current Chelsea team mate, Eden Hazard, to declare publicly their wish that Leicester City win the English Premier League in light of the hot chase Spurs gave, before
The Foxes eventually clinched the trophy on Monday when Chelsea played a draw with Tottenham.
The comments drew criticisms from several quarters as they opined that the players should have kept such thoughts private, especially as professionals playing against each other in the league. The Spaniard again said he believes Mathieu Flamini is the best midfielder he has played alongside.
Despite sharing the pitch with a catalogue of world class team-mates during a glittering career at Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea, the Spain International believes Flamini’s covering qualities are unparalleled. The play maker featured alongside Xavi and Iniesta for both club and country where he spent four seasons with Flamini at Emirates Stadium before the Frenchman moved to Milan in 2008.
Flamini was introduced for Fabregas in the closing stages of Arsenal’s 2006 Champions League final defeat to Barcelona but the pair played together regularly in the final season of Flamini’s first spell in North London. The player told Football Daily: Read more »
Lionel Messi is the Barcelona player who is usually receiving all the attention from the media as the Argentinean is a showstopper whenever he comes into the pitch with sensational goals and tricks.
There are however other players that aren’t in the spotlight as much as Lionel Messi or Neymar. One of these players is Andres Iniesta. The Spanish midfielder is considered to be one of the best performers in the world and even though he has been displaying world class abilities for the past few years, the players in Barcelona that are regularly in the headlines or highlights of videos and websites is either Messi, Suarez or Neymar.
Nonetheless, Iniesta is always putting in work in each and every game that he plays for Barcelona as well as the Spanish national team.
Andres Iniesta was one of the most influential players of the 2010 World Cup as it was him who managed to score the winning goal of that tournament which helped secure the prestigious piece of silverware but Iniesta has gone even further and established himself as one of the greatest Spanish players after securing his 29th title and becoming the player with most titles from his country. Iniesta even managed to surpass his former teammate Xavi Hernandez who has a total of 28 trophies in his collection. Read more »
Barcelona suffered a shock 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Athletic Bilbao in theSupercopa de Espana.
This first leg match was expected to see the Catalan club in full swing after the recently captured the UEFA Super Cup to the growing list of trophies. However, manager Luis Enrique opted for an inexperienced the starting line-up in order to keep his first-team players fit for the new la Liga season. This move backfired immediately after Barcelona were second best in all areas of the game. The team made several high-profile defence were mistakes that were key towards this defeat and midfielder Iniesta did not offer any excuses.
He also ruled out the possibility of a comeback in the second leg, which will take place shortly. Even though Barcelona have been scoring goals at will, Iniesta feels that this advantage will prove very superior for the losing finalist of the Copa del Rey 2015. It was Barcelona who beat Athletic Bilbao in the final of the Copa del Rey last season. The prospects of winning a sextuple have been thrown out of the window following this defeat. Barcelona will still hope to lift mid-season trophies like the FIFA Club World Cup and more. Read more »
Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta has not had such an influential season for his club in comparison to other seasons.
A few years ago Iniesta, Xavi and Messi were the main stars of the Spanish club but things have sustained a dramatic change as Suarez and Neymar have now attracted all the attention and have turned into the central figures at the Camp Nou.
Xavi Hernandez has already signed a contract with the Qatari club Al-Sadd as the Spanish midfielder will be ending his relation with Barcelona at the end of the current season and Andres Iniesta seems to be heading to the out of Barcelona as well.
Iniesta has a contract with Barcelona which extends until 2018 but it’s obvious that he isn’t the same player he used to be some years ago. After having made over 300 appearances for Barcelona, the best days of Iniesta are behind him and the 30 year old midfielder took the chance to give his thanks to the manager who allowed him to make his debut, Louis van Gaal.
Andres Iniesta said: “My debut with the team, it was the most important day of my life. It was a dream come true. These are very good memories. I was nervous but also very grateful to Van Gaal and all the coaches I’ve had before. I was 17 years of age and delighted to be in the first-team, and he gave me that opportunity. I knew that he had always done tremendous work with the young players.’’ Read more »
May 8, 2017 2:57 pm | 