fan-club-barcelona: April 2011

Wallpaper: Real Madrid 0 - Barcelona 2

Barcelona's victory in this Champions League semifinal almost secured their pass to the great final. Messi was the hero in this 0-2 win over Real Madrid, and you can have those moments right in your desktop. Choose your screen resolution and click on the image to expand. Then, right click on the wallpaper, and choose "save image as".

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Wallpaper: Real Madrid 0 - Barcelona 2

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Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: Supreme Messi crushed Mourinho's hopes

Josep Guardiola's best answer to Mourinho was not his latest words at the press room. This Barcelona's 0-2 win over Madrid was the real hit for the Portuguese coach. And Pep's the most lethal weapon was, once again, Lionel Messi.

Messi netted two superb goals and almost decided this Champions League semifinal in favor of Barcelona. A 10-men Real Madrid could not stop him, even in a game full of fouls and violence.

Mourinho complained about the referee and about UEFA helping Barcelona in every competition they play. He also said that winning Barcelona in the second game will be "not only tough. It will be impossible".

This was the third "clasico" in fifteen days, in we still have one left to play.

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: Supreme Messi crushed Mourinho's hopes

Messi netted two superb goals and almost decided this Champions League semifinal in favor of Barcelona. A 10-men Real Madrid could not stop him, even in a game full of fouls and violence.

This was the third "clasico" in fifteen days, in we still have one left to play.

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: Guardiola blasts against Mourinho

Just a few hours before the Champions League semifinal between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Josep Guardiola decided to blast against Jose Mourinho with explosive statements.

The Catalan coach said that Mourinho is "the f*** boss of this press room. In this room, he is the smartest person in the world. Tomorrow we will face him on the pitch. Off the pitch, he has already won".

"We have worked together for four years, that's all I want him to remember. I know him really good" said Guardiola.

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: Guardiola blasts against Mourinho

Just a few hours before the Champions League semifinal between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Josep Guardiola decided to blast against Jose Mourinho with explosive statements.

"We have worked together for four years, that's all I want him to remember. I know him really good" said Guardiola.

Faithful Friends, Passeig de Lluis Companys, Barcelona

Friendship, love, hate, happiness or sadness are a universal asset, inherent to the human race. Friendship knows no creed. Anyone that is able to love, to be kind, to do good, to cultivate friendship is a person and not "the source of all evil". We tend to stigmatize religion, we foolishly fear the unknown, people that look different. These two muslim women covered with what we would refer to as a beautiful peace of cloth, witness to their faith, are looked over the shoulder by many and are generally misjudged by the western world. If I look underneath I just see two wonderful friends, maybe more valuable as persons than many ignorant racists in the first world. This is a delicate issue and maybe the mere fact of musing on it sounds silly or irreverent. Sorry about that. By the way, let's not forget that other well known good citizens of this planet wear or have worn a veil and nobody ever cared. Yet another example of how absurd this debate can get to be. The picture was taken at Passeig de Lluis Companys, Barcelona

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: Iniesta backs Guardiola's latest statements

Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola complained about the possibility of having a Portuguese referee, and also said that Real Madrid are favorites for the first leg of the Champions League semis on wednesday. Many spanish newspapers have reacted to those words since that's not the usual style of Guardiola.

Andres Iniesta expressed his support for Guardiola, saying that the coach "did not mean to find excuses. We are going to win this match, and we have never talked about excuses before".

Wednesday's "clásico" will be the third Real Madrid-Barcelona duel in the last 12 days, and the most important so far.

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: Iniesta backs Guardiola's latest statements

Andres Iniesta expressed his support for Guardiola, saying that the coach "did not mean to find excuses. We are going to win this match, and we have never talked about excuses before".

Wednesday's "clásico" will be the third Real Madrid-Barcelona duel in the last 12 days, and the most important so far.

Real Madrid win Copa del Rey with Cristiano Ronaldo's header

Barcelona lost to Real Madrid 1-0 in the "Copa del Rey" Final, an even more painful result because of the fact that is the classic rival.

The second "clásico" in 5 days took place at the Mestalla Stadium and it was similar to the previous game at the Santiago Bernabeu: it was intense and tough. But this time, Barcelona was not able to score, and Cristiano Ronaldo finally proved to be a hero for big games too.

Now all Barcelona fans must wait for the Champions League semis to seek revenge.

Real Madrid win Copa del Rey with Cristiano Ronaldo's header

Barcelona lost to Real Madrid 1-0 in the "Copa del Rey" Final, an even more painful result because of the fact that is the classic rival.

Now all Barcelona fans must wait for the Champions League semis to seek revenge.

Barcelona vs. Real Madrid: "Copa del Rey" Final is not the match of the season for Guardiola

For Josep Guardiola, it makes sense to hear that Real Madrid will use counterattacks as their main strategy against Barcelona. That's why he said this 'Copa del Rey' Final "will not be the game of the season".

"Our philosophy is to play and move really fast, to get tired of playing great football" said the Catalan coach. "I'm in no position to criticise Mourinho's strategy".

Barcelona arrived at Valencia and visited the Mestalla Stadium, the perfect scenario for such a final. But Guardiola remains cautious. "Beating Real Madrid in a final will not chage history. Such a result will not change everything that Madrid have won."

Barcelona vs. Real Madrid: "Copa del Rey" Final is not the match of the season for Guardiola

"Our philosophy is to play and move really fast, to get tired of playing great football" said the Catalan coach. "I'm in no position to criticise Mourinho's strategy".

Forest Fire in Collserola Mountain, Barcelona

Watching a forest fire from your own window is one of the saddest views you could ever have. This afternoon a small fire swallowed part of the woods on this hill at Collserola mountain. Now that I write this, at night, everything seems to be under control, but mother nature is not always that lucky. It is true that many forest fires start by a mere accident, like lightnings on a storm but the great majority are due to cigarette butts, bottles that act as a magnifying glass and outdoor barbecue grills which are forbidden. But the worst cause is forest arson which is probably what happened here. This is not the first time there's a fire around Barcelona, in fact one year several hills were completely devastated by the flames. The wind makes things worse and the fact the city is near is dangerous at least for those living at the slope of the mountain.

Update: April 18th: The police identifies three 14 year old teenagers as the authors of the fire yesterday Collserola Fire News in Spanish

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: 1-1 draw in first duel

The 1-1 draw tasted like victory for Real Madrid. Mourinho's side displayed a great performance in front of the best team in the world and have a morale boost which help them face the next three derbies with real hopes of beating Guardiola's squad. Still, Barcelona remains 8 points ahead of Madrid and are almost champions of the Spanish League.

Talented Lionel Messi scored the opener with a penalty shoot. Cristiano Ronaldo netted the equalizar in the second in the same style.

The duel Ronaldo-Messi ended up tied as well. The Portuguese striker proved to be just as crucial for his team as the argentinian star.

Now Guardiola has to prepare his team for the second derby, the most important one so far, in the Copa del Rey final.

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: 1-1 draw in first duel

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: Guardiola cautious with his words

With four Barcelona vs. Real Madrid games in the next 18 days, Barcelona's coach Guardiola knows that he must be careful with his words before facing their classic rival. His team will battle Real Madrid tonight at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, and he spoke about that.

Despite having some of the best players in the world, such as Messi or Iniesta, Guardiola prefers to be cautious. "Real Madrid are favorites in this game. They run more than us, they shoot more than we do. They are faster and stronger... I've never seen a team like them" said the catalan coach.

This first derby has not the same importance as the Copa del Rey final or the Champion's semis, but it will be really important to achieve a victory to face the rest duels with less pressure.

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: Guardiola cautious with his words

This first derby has not the same importance as the Copa del Rey final or the Champion's semis, but it will be really important to achieve a victory to face the rest duels with less pressure.

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: Puyol fit for the first derby

Carles Puyol is completely recovered from a tough injury that kept him from playing during three months. That's good news for Guardiola, who is focused in using his best men to beat Real Madrid.

Josep Guardiola is taking the whole squad to Madrid, even those players that cannot be in this match: Mascherano, Abidal and Bojan.

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: Puyol fit for the first derby

Carles Puyol is completely recovered from a tough injury that kept him from playing during three months. That's good news for Guardiola, who is focused in using his best men to beat Real Madrid.

Josep Guardiola is taking the whole squad to Madrid, even those players that cannot be in this match: Mascherano, Abidal and Bojan.

Pottery: From Clay to Ceramics

The art of spinning a piece of clay, shaping it up with your bare hands until it becomes a jar, an amphora, a pitcher, a mug or whatever has been always a fascinating process for me. I remember pottery workshops at school and how clumsy I was. But if obtaining an object out of the blue may look mysterious in a way, placing it in a kiln to bake it is certainly magical. As usual, I wonder who was the first to have the brilliant idea of cooking a block of mud. Granted that this someone may have discovered some wet clay mound accidentally solidifying under the sun but it takes centuries to take that clay and put it in the fire to produce an object. And if that is not enough, glazing it and placing it back in the kiln to make it colorful is a great sample of the evolution of tools and skills throughout history, the history of our civilization.

Fish stall at Mercat de la Mercé, Nou Barris, Barcelona

Fish stand at La Merce market, Barcelona, Spain [enlarge]

Who said a female fishmonger had to be rude, shabby and smelly. Well, I guess they smell of fish of course but certainly these girls have a wonderful look. I realize my comments are stupid but I wanted to muse on cliches around professions. I don't know in your country but at least here I remember one: You shout like a fishmongeress, something that of course is not always true. Maybe you can share other cliches you've heard of in your city.

Spectacular Barcelona crushed Shakhtar 5-1 and almost secured their pass to the semis

FC Barcelona travel to Ukraine with one objective in mind: defeat Shakhtar and score as many goals as possible. Both objectives were accomplished. The 1-5 win of Guardiola's team is more than enough to think that Barcelona and Real Madrid will battle for a place in the Champions League final.

The first goal, scored by Andres Iniesta, came very early and change the plans of the local team. Their defensive line could not resist the counterattacks the the other four goals could have been a lot more.

Dani Alves, Pique, Keita and Xavi scored the last four goals, and the leg was over for Shakhtar, that save their honor only with a goal netted by Rakitskiy.

Spectacular Barcelona crushed Shakhtar 5-1 and almost secured their pass to the semis

Dani Alves, Pique, Keita and Xavi scored the last four goals, and the leg was over for Shakhtar, that save their honor only with a goal netted by Rakitskiy.

Compulsive Shopping at Passeig de Gracia

Shopping in the most expensive street in Spain is risky for the wallet and yet there are some stores along Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona where you can adventure into compulsively squandering your monthly salary. While on a shopping spree though, it is easy to pull out the plastic magic wand usually known as Visa and also referred to by many other names with unpredictable effects. At that moment, you are the luckiest person in the world, you have overcome centuries of cash exchange to finally manage to get goods for free. But fairy tales are illusive and the fantasy created by the wand gently fades away by the end of the month. You wake up naked wearing a fig leaf, fleeing from a bunch of goons in black sent after you to gently remind you that your magic wand has been cancelled and you owe money to the bank.

FC Barcelona Organigram 2010 -2011

Board member responsible for professional football: Josep Maria Bartomeu

Board member responsible for youth football: Jordi Mestre

Sporting Director of Professional Football: Andoni Zubizarreta

Co-ordinator for the area of professional football: Narcís Julià

Technical Secretary: Albert Valentín

Sporting Director of youth football: Guillermo Amor

Co-ordinator for the area of youth football: Albert Puig

First team coach: Josep Guardiola

First team assistant coach: Tito Vilanova

www.fcbarcelona.com

FC Barcelona, All Matches 2010 - 2011

July
Preseason	-	Thu 29 Jul	19:00	Valerenga	2 - 4	FC Barcelona	info
August
Preseason	-	Wed 04 Aug	13:00	K-League	2 - 5	FC Barcelona	info
Preseason	-	Sun 08 Aug	14:00	Guoan	0 - 3	FC Barcelona	info
Spanish Super Cup	Anada	Sat 14 Aug	21:30	Sevilla FC	3 - 1	FC Barcelona	info
Spanish Super Cup	Tornada	Sat 21 Aug	20:30	FC Barcelona	4 - 0	Sevilla FC	info
Gamper	-	Wed 25 Aug	19:45	FC Barcelona	1 - 1	Milan	info
	Jornada 01	Sun 29 Aug	19:00	Racing	0 - 3	FC Barcelona	info
September
	Jornada 02	Sat 11 Sep	18:00	FC Barcelona	0 - 2	Hercules	info
	Jornada 01	Tue 14 Sep	20:45	FC Barcelona	5 - 1	Panathinaikos	info
	Jornada 03	Sun 19 Sep	19:00	At.Madrid	1 - 2	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 04	Wed 22 Sep	20:00	FC Barcelona	1 - 0	Sporting Gijón	info
	Jornada 05	Sat 25 Sep	22:00	Athletic Club	1 - 3	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 02	Wed 29 Sep	18:30	Rubin Kazan	1 - 1	FC Barcelona	info
October
	Jornada 06	Sun 03 Oct	19:00	FC Barcelona	1 - 1	RCD Mallorca	info
	Jornada 07	Sat 16 Oct	20:00	FC Barcelona	2 - 1	Valencia CF	info
	Jornada 03	Wed 20 Oct	20:45	FC Barcelona	2 - 0	Kobenhavn	info
	Jornada 08	Sat 23 Oct	18:00	Zaragoza	0 - 2	FC Barcelona	info
	1/16 1st leg	Tue 26 Oct	22:00	AD Ceuta	0 - 2	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 09	Sat 30 Oct	22:00	FC Barcelona	5 - 0	Sevilla FC	info
November
	Jornada 04	Tue 02 Nov	20:45	Kobenhavn	1 - 1	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 10	Sun 07 Nov	19:00	Getafe CF	1 - 3	FC Barcelona	info
	1/16 2nd leg	Wed 10 Nov	22:00	FC Barcelona	5 - 1	AD Ceuta	info
	Jornada 11	Sat 13 Nov	22:00	FC Barcelona	3 - 1	Villarreal CF	info
	Jornada 12	Sat 20 Nov	20:00	UD Almería	0 - 8	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 05	Wed 24 Nov	20:45	Panathinaikos	0 - 3	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 13	Mon 29 Nov	21:00	FC Barcelona	5 - 0	Real Madrid	info
December
Catalonia Cup	3x1 (1)	Wed 01 Dec	21:45	RCD Espanyol	2 - 1	FC Barcelona	info
Catalonia Cup	3x1 (2)	Wed 01 Dec	22:45	Hospitalet C.E.	0 - 2	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 14	Sat 04 Dec	20:00	Osasuna	0 - 3	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 06	Tue 07 Dec	20:45	FC Barcelona	2 - 0	Rubin Kazan	info
	Jornada 15	Sun 12 Dec	21:00	FC Barcelona	5 - 0	R.Sociedad	info
	Jornada 16	Sat 18 Dec	20:00	RCD Espanyol	1 - 5	FC Barcelona	info
	1/2 1st leg	Tue 21 Dec	20:00	FC Barcelona	0 - 0	Athletic Club	info
January
	Jornada 17	Sun 02 Jan	18:00	FC Barcelona	2 - 1	Levante UD	info
	1/8 2nd leg	Wed 05 Jan	22:00	Athletic Club	1 - 1	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 18	Sat 08 Jan	22:00	Deportivo	0 - 4	FC Barcelona	info
	1/4 2nd leg	Wed 12 Jan	22:00	FC Barcelona	5 - 0	Real Betis	info
	Jornada 19	Sun 16 Jan	21:00	FC Barcelona	4 - 1	Málaga CF	info
	1/4 2nd leg	Wed 19 Jan	22:00	Real Betis	3 - 1	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 20	Sat 22 Jan	20:00	FC Barcelona	3 - 0	Racing	info
	Semifinal 1st leg	Wed 26 Jan	22:00	FC Barcelona	5 - 0	UD Almería	info
	Jornada 21	Sat 29 Jan	20:00	Hercules	0 - 3	FC Barcelona	info
February
	Semifinal 2nd leg	Wed 02 Feb	20:00	UD Almería	0 - 3	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 22	Sat 05 Feb	22:00	FC Barcelona	3 - 0	At.Madrid	info
	Jornada 23	Sat 12 Feb	20:00	Sporting Gijón	1 - 1	FC Barcelona	info
	1/8 anada	Wed 16 Feb	20:45	Arsenal	2 - 1	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 24	Sun 20 Feb	21:00	FC Barcelona	2 - 1	Athletic Club	info
	Jornada 25	Sat 26 Feb	20:00	RCD Mallorca	0 - 3	FC Barcelona	info
March
	Jornada 26	Wed 02 Mar	22:00	Valencia CF	0 - 1	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 27	Sat 05 Mar	20:00	FC Barcelona	1 - 0	Zaragoza	info
	1/8 tornada	Tue 08 Mar	20:45	FC Barcelona	3 - 1	Arsenal	info
	Jornada 28	Sun 13 Mar	21:00	Sevilla FC	1 - 1	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 29	Sat 19 Mar	20:00	FC Barcelona	2 - 1	Getafe CF	info
April
	Jornada 30	Sat 02 Apr	22:00	Villarreal CF	0 - 1	FC Barcelona	info
	1/4 1st leg	Wed 06 Apr	20:45	FC Barcelona	5 - 1	Shakhtar D.	info
	Jornada 31	Sat 09 Apr	20:00	FC Barcelona	-	UD Almería	Tickets
	1/4 2nd leg	Tue 12 Apr	20:45	Shakhtar D.	-	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 32	Sat 16 Apr	22:00	Real Madrid	-	FC Barcelona	info
	Final	Wed 20 Apr	21:30	FC Barcelona	-	Real Madrid	info
	Jornada 33	Sun 24 Apr	--:--	FC Barcelona	-	Osasuna	Tickets
May
	Jornada 34	Sun 01 May	--:--	R.Sociedad	-	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 35	Sun 08 May	--:--	FC Barcelona	-	RCD Espanyol	Tickets
	Jornada 36	Wed 11 May	--:--	Levante UD	-	FC Barcelona	info
	Jornada 37	Sun 15 May	--:--	FC Barcelona	-	Deportivo	Tickets
	Jornada 38	Sun 22 May	--:--	Málaga CF	-	FC Barcelona	info

www.fcbarcelona.com