Tailor Events » Barcelona

Henry is back training

admin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:08:04 +0000

The Frenchman, who has had Achilles heel problems in both legs in recent days, has trained with his teammates today. Barça are gearing up for the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup though the team’s international players have yet to return.

High temperatures meant that today’s training session was held in the evening rather than in the morning as initially planned. At 7 pm the players came out onto the pitch at the Joan Gamper sports facility with Thierry Henry putting in an appearance for the first time in some days.

Henry with the squad

Barça’s French striker didn’t travel with his national side to the Faroe Islands as he has been carrying Achilles heel problems in both legs for some days now. He’s been doing recovery work all week and this Thursday was back training with his teammates.

Getting ready for the Super Cup

All the players are focused on the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup to be played against Bilbao this coming Sunday at San Mamés with kick-off set for 10 pm. The only drawback is that the players away on international duty this week have yet to return to training.

Three under-18s

On Wednesday the under-18s player Sergi Ricardo trained with the first team, while today Thursday it has been the turn of his teammates Martí Riverola and Albert Dalmau. The former played in Wednesday’s game between Barça Atlètic and Reus, while the latter was called up for the first team’s London training camp last month.

Iniesta has double session

Andrés Iniesta is continuing to work towards full fitness, and this Thursday morning and evening the midfielder has been doing recovery work.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada09-10/08/n090813106190.html

Eto’o grateful to Barca

admin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:06:20 +0000

Ex-Barca star Samuel Eto’o has expressed his gratitude to his ex-team mates as well as to the club’s fans for the way they treated him during his 5-year stint at the Nou Camp.

Speaking to the Catalan broadcaster TV3, Eto’o. who’s now at Inter Milan, explained that during his time at the club, in which he won two Champions League and three La Lliga titles, he had always: “defended the club’s colours with my life”.

Fans’ favourite

Samuel Eto’o was especially effusive in his praise for the Barca fans , explaining: “ they were always right behind me . I know some people have said that they weren’t always on my side, but that’s just not true, the Barca fans have always shown me a lot of support and I felt I was always a favourite with them”

“Like another family”

As to his ex-team mates, it’s clear that Eto’o has made some firm friendships: “when I joined the club they were my team mates, now they are friends – I feel they are like another family to me”.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada09-10/08/n090815106204.html

Two games away from 8th Super Cup

admin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:04:16 +0000

Barca are two games away from their eighth Spanish Super Cup- Ahead of the two-legged clash with Athletico Bilbao, Barca boast a 50% record of victories from 14 appearances in the competition.

Barca know full well what it is to start the season with a title under their belts having won the traditional pre-season Spanish Super Cup a total of seven times from the 14 appearances in the competition.

Record number of appearances

This fifteenth appearance is more than any other club has managed and an eighth title would equal the record currently held by Real Madrid, Curiously enough, Barca’s first Super Cutitle came against Bilbao in the 83.84 season .Since then they have claimed the title against Atlètic de Madrid, Zaragoza, Betis and Espanyol.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada09-10/08/n090815106207.html

Training at the Ciutat Esportiva

admin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:02:48 +0000

Ibrahimovic and Henrique, who didn’t travel to Bilbao for the Spanish Super Cup, both worked out this morning at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, whilst the rest of the squad look to take the first title of the season.

Ibrahimovic, who continues to recover from his broken hand, and Henrique, who Guardiola decided not to take to Bilbao, took the opportunity to train at the Ciutat Esportiva. Both players are hoping to be fit and available for Wednesday’s Joan Gamper Trophy game against Manchester City.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada09-10/08/n090816106214.html

Messi out of first squad list of the season

admin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:00:40 +0000

Guardiola’s squad for the team’s first official game of the season has one very noticeable absentee: Messi, who has not recovered from a thigh strain picked up midweek. In contrast, Henry does make the squad, whilst Henrique and Jorquera miss out.

Guardiola is taking 19 players to the San Mames: Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Maxwell, Abidal, Puyol, Piqué, Fontàs, Muniesa, Touré, Keita, Xavi, Gudjohnsen, Busquets, Bojan, Pedro, Jeffren, Henry and Jonathan Dos Santos.

As well as the injured Messi, Iniesta, Marquez and Ibrahimovic are also missing for the trip to Bilbao where Barca will be aiming to get a good result ahead of next weekend’s second leg at the Nou Camp.

Márquez and Messi train apart

At Saturday evening’s training, which started at 19.0O at the Ciutat Esportiva, Guardiola called up four of his young reserve players Muniesa, Fontàs, Dos Santos and Jeffren. Iniesta trained apart from the rest of the players, as did Marquez and Messi, though the Argentinean did join the rest of the squad for the warm up session. The squad was completed by the internationals who’d been away on duty during the week, whilst Víctor Sánchez, who is finalising his move to Jerez, was absent.

More info Shirt numbersThe four youngsters who Guardiola has called up for the San Mames trip will be wearing the following squad numbers:

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada09-10/08/n090815106211.html

Zlatan Ibrahimovic joins Barca

admin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:23:02 +0000

Ibra’ joins Barça in the summer of 2009 from Inter Milan to replace the man who had worn the number 9 shirt for the previous five seasons, Samuel Eto’o, who moves in the other direction to Inter Milan.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was born in Malmö (Sweden) of a Bosnian father and a Croatian mother on 3rd October 1981. He joins Barça at the height of his career and is recognized as one of the most lethal strikers in European football. He is one of that rare breed of total footballers: he’s deadly in the air, fast, effective in front of goal and mesmerizing with the ball at his feet. His style of football makes his team-mates play better.

Ibrahimovic started his career with Malmö before moving on to Ajax in 2001, where he joined up with Barça team-mate Maxwell. Here he started to get noticed on a bigger footballing stage and gave indications of becoming a world class star despite his youth. For part of his time at Ajax his manager was former Barça star Ronald Koeman.

After three seasons in Holland, where he won two league titles, the Cup and two Dutch Super Cups, Ibrahimovic signed to Italian giants Juventus, managed by Fabio Capello, staying there for two seasons from 2004 to 2006. Juve finished top of the league in both seasons but were stripped of the title and relegated to the second division as a result of the “Moggigate” scandal, leading to his transfer to Inter Milan.

Three successful seasons with Inter Milan

Ibrahimovic won three league titles and two Italian Super Cups with Inter Milan and was an essential part of the starting line-up under both Mancini and Mourinho.

His presentation as a Barça player on 27th July 2009 attracted 60,000 fans, a record in the history of the Club.

Ibrahimovic is also a key member of the Sweden international team and has been voted his country’s best player on three occasions (2005, 2007and 2008).

PROFILE

Ibrahimovic has always stood out as a skilful player, scoring some amazing goals and displaying tremendous creativity. That’s why he’s known in Italy as ‘Ibracadabra’.

He stands 1.92 metres tall and combines great technique with a powerful physique, making him particularly feared by defenders in the air, as well as making it difficult to take the ball away from him.

In short, the Swedish international is the perfect modern centre forward and goal scorer. Last season he scored 25 goals in the Italian league with Inter Milan.

Honours

Inter Milan

2008/09 Serie A
2007/08 Serie A
2007/08 Italian Super Cup
2006/07 Serie A
2005/06 Italian Super Cup

Ajax

2003/04 Eredivisie
2002/03 Dutch Super Cup
2001/02 Dutch Cup
2001/02 Eredivisie

Individual honours

2009 Top scorer Italian league
2008 Best player Italian league
2008 Best foreign player Italian league
2008 Best Swedish player
2007 Best Swedish sportsman
2007 Swedish athlete of the year
2006 Best foreign player Italian league
2005 Best Swedish player

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/futbol/temporada_09-10/plantilla/jugadors/ibrahimovic.html

“We want to win it all again”

admin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:20:36 +0000

Lionel Messi is clearly enjoying the trip to the United States and believes that the squad has the same desire and hope as they did last term when the treble was won.
After being instrumental in the 0-4 victory against Seattle Sounders, the Argentinian spoke the media and made no secret of the fact that he is feeling very ambitious ahead of the campaign. “We want to win everything again,” he said. “We have the same hopes and dreams. But we will have to go game-by-game, just as we did last season, because that served us well.”

Slowly but surely

Given the patient outlook, Messi did not want to look beyond the first phase of the season. “We have only just started and now is not the time to begin looking forward to the treble or the Champions League as they are both very difficult,” he explained. Winning the Ballon d’Or is something that the star is often asked about, but he again played down the emphasis of individual honours. “I have always said that the team is more important,” he stated. “Last season we were fortunate to win everything and this time we will go for the same, but calmly.”

Going nowhere

Asked about plans to improve his contract with the club, Messi was clear: “I have no problem and have always said that I will not leave this club,” he said. “I just want to focus on playing football.” Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s arrival has also enabled the spotlight to be taken off the Argentinian and he is pleased the Swede joined: “With him the team will be even stronger because his strengths are his stature and his shooting,” he commented. “But nobody should forget how spectacular Samuel [Eto'o] was here.”

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada09-10/gira/n090807106111.html

Final session in United States

admin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:19:10 +0000

Barça have completed their thirteenth and final training session in the United States. Shortly before taking on Chivas, the players have had the chance to stretch their legs.
The morning session at Candlestick Park put an end to training in the USA for Barça, and after playing Chivas they will start thinking about travelling back. They have trained thirteen times at four different venues: UCLA University, Washington University, Kezar Stadium and now Candlestick Park. That has been a lot of work, and including the time spent in Marlow, all of the training sessions have been open to the media. Only the first 15 minutes of sessions will be viewable when they are back in Barcelona.

No tactics

Unlike in previous sessions, the players did no tactical work today. The session lasted just over an hour and the main purpose was for the players to loosen up before the game.

Márquez and Iniesta have fitness problems, and stayed in the hotel’s gym. Ibrahimovic, as usual, also trained in isolation.

Positive vibes

All of the coaching staff are delighted with the way their work has gone in America, and have been impressed by all the facilities. They have appreciated the chance to work with a full squad, in a relaxed atmosphere, and to have worked on different tactical issues that are harder to deal with once the season is in full swing.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada09-10/gira/n090808106122.html

Magic, goals and class for Barça

admin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:12:45 +0000

A skilful and physically imposing footballer, an all-round goal scorer. That would be a quick and concise definition of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Barça’s second signing of the season. Ibracadabra’ is coming to the Camp Nou to continue working his own bra
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was born in Malmö (Sweden) of a Bosnian father and a Croatian mother on 3rd October 1981. He joins Barça at the height of his career and is recognized as one of the most lethal strikers in European football. He is one of that rare breed of total footballers: he’s deadly in the air, fast, effective in front of goal and mesmerizing with the ball at his feet. His style of football makes his team-mates play better.

Technique and power

Ibrahimovic has always stood out as a skilful player, scoring some amazing goals and displaying tremendous creativity. That’s why he’s known in Italy as ‘Ibracadabra’. He stands 1.92 metres tall and combines great technique with a powerful physique, making him particularly feared by defenders in the air, as well as making it difficult to take the ball away from him.

In short, the Swedish international is the perfect modern centre forward and goal scorer. Last season he scored 25 goals in the Italian league with Inter Milan.

Ajax at the age of 19

The Italian league

After three seasons in Holland, where he won two league titles, the Cup and two Dutch Super Cups, Ibrahimovic signed for Italian giants Juventus, staying there for two seasons from 2004 to 2006. When Juventus were relegated to the second division as a result of the “Moggigate” scandal, he signed for Inter Milan.

Three successful seasons with Inter Milan

Ibrahimovic won three league titles and two Italian Super Cups with Inter Milan and has been an essential part of the starting line-up under both Mancini and Mourinho.

Ibrahimovic is also a key member of the Sweden international team and has been voted his country’s best player on three occasions (2005, 2007and 2008).

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada09-10/07/n090722107688.html

Valdés, until 2014

admin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:10:58 +0000

27 year old Víctor Valdés has extended his contract with Barça until June 30, 2014. The termination clause has been set at 150 million euros.

Shortly after 12.00 midday, Victor Valdés signed an extension to his contract with FC Barcelona. As well as president Joan Laporta, Valdés, was also joined for the event by his father and agent, as well as vice presidents Joan Boix and Rafael Yuste. The deal links him to the club until June 30, 2014. His previous contract was until June 30, 2010. The termination clause has been set at 150 million euros.

“A great day for Barça”

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/futbol/temporada09-10/07/n090707105820.html