Javier Mascherano, Barcelona’s 2013-2014 player of the year

This award is named after Aldo Rovira, a former club member who died in 2009 in a car accident and is decided each year for a jury filled with former football figures in Catalunya and Spain.

During the Ceremony, the current Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu alongside with Aldo Rovira’s father Josep Lluis Roviera had some words about the decision to award Javier Mascherano for all the efforts of the player during last season La Liga.

During the debate of the jury, there was quite some discussion at first, but when the name Mascherano came to the table, there was a unanimous response of all the jury members. 

This was a deserved prize and it’s an honor for Barcelona team to have a player like Mascherano, said president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Rovira added that the price to Mascherano was the right thing to do and it showed when he was named as a candidate for the Balon d’Or. He has a lot of virtues, and his commitment to the team is always a 100 percent, and this was from the beginning when he used his own money to come to this team.

Last words came from Mascherano himself and this was an honor and that he will tray to keep up during the rest of his years in Barcelona.

He was thankful for all the people that voted him and will try to do the things as well as they have until now with the same dedication and effort while being faithful to the club and his philosophy.

This is the first time that Mascherano wins this award, after three won by Leo Messi and Eric Abidal named winner for the 2011-12, a season after his battle with cancer.

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Messi not worried by record

Lionel Messi has stated that his personal records are not important and his focus is in the achievements of this current team and more important in the next saturday El Clasico against Real Madrid.

This La Liga season has started with seven goals for Messi, with a current 250 total in his professional life, just one behind all-time record of Telmo Zarra, former Athletic Bilbao member.

With just two more scores on saturday will make history and set a new Spanish record, and better yet, in the home of the Barcelona’s biggest enemy; but Messi also claimed that victory is more important than the record and personal prestige.

With a victory during Saturday match, Barcelona will have a seven point advantage over Real Madrid for the title race, but Luis Enrique said during this week that it’s just another match and the season wont be lost or won this Saturday; there are a lot more matches ahead.

Last Tuesday victory against Ajax in Champions League and the perfect connection between Messi and Neymar, confirmed with an early goal from Neymar after a Messi’s pass.

But both players will be joined for the first time during this season with a new star, Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, who will debut at the Bernabeu after the four month ban.

Also Johan Cruiff, former legend both as player and as coach in Nou Camp club’s history, backed the Uruguayan striker and the lack of fitness and familiarity with the team won’t be a problem. 

Whether will be starting the game in the starting line-up or on the bench is still a question with a lot of discussions, but Cruiff has no doubt that he will be on the starting line-up. 

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El Clasico - Attackers

Attack is and essential part for the two teams with the most la Liga titles and this season the attacker line is one of the most impressive. With Messi and Ronaldo scoring more than 50 goals per season we can be sure that we will see goals this Saturday.

FC Barcelona

Messi is not a sole star in Barcelona, the success of the Argentinian is thanks to all the other players that are able to feed him with passes. 

Other important names in the team are Iniesta, Alves and Xavi but we cannot forget the other players in the team and all of them essential for the match.

This year with the new coach Luis Enrique, we have seen Messi fall back to a position a bit behind his usual one; and Messi is scoring as much as he is assisting. 

Nonetheless he is currently the second scorer in the team, just one goal behind Neymar. The first season in Barcelona for the Brazilian wasn’t a good one due to the injuries and this year has been constantly substituted by Luis Enrique, but even so, he is the top scorer in the team with ten goals in ten matches.

The last one in the line is in the air, some are hoping to see the debut of Suarez for the first time in a official game, but others want to see youngster Munir in that position.

Real Madrid

As well as in Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo is not the only name in attack for Real Madrid, but a big part of it. The Portuguese has the rest of the team to help him in this task.

But most likely Cristiano will be the man that will decide the fate of the game, a good night will bring the three points and a most likely nightmare for Barcelona defense.

Excluding Ronaldo, coach Ancelotti has other good players to choose from, the trio Benzema, Bale and Cristiano, but the Welsh will not be in this game with a muscle injury.

The job to assist Ronaldo falls in the hands of Benzema, who has scored six goals against Barcelona and his job is critical. The place of Bale will most likely be filled with James Rodríguez, that will also help in the defense and midfield.

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Barça ready for El Clasico

Luis Enrique and his team is ready for the next weekend match against Real Madrid and open a seven point gap after the last victory against Eibar with a final score of 3-0.

With no goals during the first half, Barça broke the match when Xavi Hernandez scored the first for his team early in the second half, followed by two more goals from Neymar and Messi for a final 3-0 and maintaining the four point advantage over Real Madrid.

Lucho, said post match that he is looking forward to the next La Liga weekend and he hopes to win the match, but he also pointed out that next week result will not decide the title.

Messi goal after a one-two with Neymer set him to a final count of 250 goals in his La Liga career, just one behind record holding Telmo Zarra, former Athletic Bilbao striker. While it is possible for the Argentinean to break the record against Real Madrid next week, nothing can add extra motivation for a blaugrana fan or even player other than Bernabeu visit.

Eibar had two clear opportunities to score before the end of the first half, with a Barcelona unable to find his way. Luis Enrique said that Eibar is a reflection of the players and coach, they are brave, hardworking and daring.

Barça’s defense survived and this is another game without conceding a goal, but Barcelona’s coach is happy for this feat, but he is more interested in the victory.

One player that also shined during the match was Dani Alves, with 20 full crosses during the match, including one that allowed Neymar to score the second goal and being vital according to Luis Enrique.

Where will Messi be in 10 years

Nobody predicted the rise to superstar of Lionel Messi from that skinny teenage boy to the greatest player of all times. 

Of course, there where people who predicted this move for Messi, like Charly Rexach when he was presidential advisor and who signed the Argentinian with a contract on a serviette, or Frank Rijkaard who gave him is first opportunity with the senior team back in October 16th 2004.

In the latest book about Guardiola, Pep Confidential by Marti Perarnau, former Barcelona coach explains how he told Messi to turn into a false nine. 

He was in his office before El Clasico in May 2009 and watching a video of Real Madrid searching for clues to beat the defense; he saw a gap between the two centre-backs and then he realized that he needed someone to receive the ball and drive into; this man was Lionel Messi.

He immediate called Lionel Messi number and told him to come over to his office to show him something important, one hour later, a young Lionel Messi entered coach office and from that point, this was the “Messi Zone”.

Barcelona won that game with an incredible 6-2 and Messi was born, he broke all the records and winning four Ballon d’Ors.

Now at 27, he is halfway of his career and entered the best moments, so probably the best move will be for Luis Enrique to bring him away from the front line deploying him as a traditional 10 instead of the false 9.

Having signed Luis Suarez and Neymar, Messi could find more space deeper and producing plenty of assists for his team and probably winning some more Ballon d’Ors in the way. A move that we already saw on the last matches.

From here is difficult to predict, at 30 the physical attributes start to decline and probably he will end up relaying on his technical ability and probably dropping even deeper, even as a central midfield

Andres Iniesta wins Golden Foot 2014

Andres Iniesta has won the Golden Foot 20014, the award was presented to him yesterday evening in a gala held in Monaco.

The Barcelona midfielder started his professional career in Barcelona under Pep Guardiola, after spending some time in La Masia where he captained the Under-15 team to win the Nike Premier Cup in 1999.

During all this years he played for Barcelona and also for Spain national team where he won the World Cup in 2010 after scoring the winning goal on minute 116th against Netherlands.

Iniesta traveled to Monaco alongside Andoni Zubizarreta, Barcelona sporting director, his agent Ramon Sostres and his wife Anna Ortiz. He returned to Barcelona later that same day to prepare the match against Eibar with his team mates.

He was nominated with other nine active footballers aged 28 or more and he became the first Barcelona active player to collect the trophy, a trophy that has been awarded each year since 2003. The other players from around the world also nominated where: Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andre Pirio, Manual Neuer, Thiago Silva, Brazillian women’s footballer Marta Vieira Da Silva and former Barcelona players Touré Yaya and Thierry Henry.

All the players were selected from a group of journalist and the decision was based on the achievements and the player’s personality. The Trophy can only be won once in a lifetime and involves leaving a footprint in the Monaco seafront, also known as “Champions parade”.

Iniesta that will be back for training today with the rest of the team, has started 6 games so far this season and also has been wearing the captain’s armband a lot more during this season, with his team mate and former Barcelona captain Xavi having played a lot less.

He will return to Barcelona training after been away with Spain’s national team under coach Vicente del Bosque and also other Barcelona players like Gerard Piqué, Jordi Alba, Marc Bartra, Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodriguez.

Defense an ongoing problem at Barcelona

The last Champions League and with two goals scored from a standing position, highlighted an old problem for Barcelona, the back line.

Despide going down with a fight, Barcelona ended having what they deserved at this big night at Parc des Princes.

Defense has been always a big problem for Barcelona and the arrival of Luis Enrique does not seem to have changed anything, not been able to score from corners of free-kicks but allowing a lot from them in the other side.

Even after not scoring any goal during this season, they looked vulnerable from dead balls and PSG scored twice from these situations, with a free-kick conceded by Dani Alves which allowed David Luiz, marked by Mascherano, to control de ball and send it to the right corner of the net. 

The second came from a corner, with Ivan Rakitic having to mark several PSG men and with an error from ted Stegen, left an easy task for marco Verratti to just head to ball to the empty net.

Mascherano and Mathieu are in good form, but with Mascherano build making them more vulnerable to this type of situations against much more robust players that he faces. 

And if Barcelona cannot block this situations, at least the should try to conceive as few as possible near their area.

The absence of Gerard Pique after scoring a goal against APOEL in the last Champions League game was noted, and his physical presence was much needed during all the match.

Barcelona can learn a lot from the last La Liga champion, 

Atletico Madrid, which are known for their tactics in this kind of situations when attacking, with Messi and Rakitic been very good delivering from a dead-ball, Mathieu and his mates need to watch what the Atletico back line is doing well.

Marco Reus in Barcelona 2016 squad?

Currently the most wanted footballer is Marco Reus, with all the big names in Europe football wants to sign him after the end of his contract with Borussia Dormund next summer. Lots of rumors have suggested that the German star has already somewhere to go.

Reports coming from England and Germany said last Tuesday that Marco and Barcelona have already reached a deal during a meeting last August and probably the midfielder is already playing on loan in his current team Borussia.

Due to the ban to Barcelona and the satisfaction of current coach Luis Enrique with his current squad, he will not be able to play with his new team until the end of 2016, where Barcelona will be able to start signing new players again.

It will be a tricky contract, with the current contract with Borussia finishing on July, Barcelona will be required to loan the midfielder during the 2015 season and finally joining the squad at the end of that season. 

This is needed for Barcelona to not being accused of negotiations while banned, also, with negotiations starting from last August where the team was still able to make moves at the market.

But all of this are just rumors and not confirmed, so anything can happen. 

Probably the most likely outcome is for Reus to follow the same path of Mario Götze and Robert Lewendowski, joining Bayern Munich after leaving Dortmund.

But if the reports are correct, this will be the biggest signing for Barcelona of future 2016 season.