Deal with Liverpool to sign Mascherano

Deal with Liverpool to sign Mascherano

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FC Barcelona and Liverpool FC have reached agreement in principle for the transfer of Javier Mascherano, who will join the club for the next four seasons.

The agreement was reached after considerable effort from the club over the last few hours and the willingness and desire of the player to make the move. 

FC Barcelona will give more details of the operation once the player has gone through his medical and the transfer is definitive. Javier Mascherano is expected to arrive in Barcelona this weekend.

Barca drawn in the Group of Champions

Barça drawn in the Group of Champions

Roger Bogunyà

Barça have been drawn in Group D of the Champions League together with Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen and Rubin Kazan.

The draw for the group stage of the Champions League was made in Monaco on Thursday afternoon. Although the other three teams may not be that well known to many fans, they all won their respective leagues last season. In fact, Group D is the only group to feature four league champions and Barça fans will remember that Russian champions Rubin Kazan produced a shock win in the Camp Nou at the same stage last season. 

UEFA Club Player awards 
During the draw, the winners of the 2009-10 UEFA Club Players awards were announced. Reigning European champions Inter Milan scooped all four prizes - Julio Cesar (goalkeeper), Maicon (defender), Sneijder (midfielder) and Milito (forward). Milito also took the award for Best Club Player. 


Group A Inter 
W. Bremen 
Tottenham H. 
Twente 

Group B O. Lyon 
Benfica 
Schalke 04 
H. Tel-Aviv 

Group C M. United 
Valencia 
G. Rangers 
Bursaspor 

Group D FC Barcelona 
Panathinaikos 
Copenhagen 
Rubin K. 

Group E Bayern M. 
AS Roma 
Basel 
Cluj 

Group F Chelsea 
O. Marseille 
Sp. Moscow 
Zilina 


Group G AC Milan 
R. Madrid 
Ajax 
Auxerre 

Group H Arsenal 
Shakhtar D. 
Braga 
Partizan 

Puyol happy with the draw

Puyol happy with draw

Roger Bogunyà

Carles Puyol admitted that the draw for the Champions League had been kind to the club and that the squad was happy with the rivals they will face, whilst insisting on the need for prudence and respect.

The memory of last year's games against Rubin Kazan was still very much in Puyol's mind when he spoke to reporters on Thursday night and he insisted: “I think it's been a good draw. Obviously we're happy with it, but we have to respect all of our rivals. We can't be over confident, because it's bound to be hard work.” 

Rubin Kazan again 

The little-known Rubin Kazan pulled off a shock 1-2 win at the Nou Camp last season and also held Barca to a goalless draw in Russia and Puyol claimed: “we have the experience of last year with Rubin who surprised everybody. Every game in the Champions League is going to be tough” The captain sees the Russians as the hardest rivals, reminding everybody: “we suffered with the cold there last year and let's hope the weather's not so bad this time around. It's a long and tiring trip and they are a strong team”. 

Ronaldinho 

Puyol also referred to the reception given to Ronaldinho on Wednesday night: “it was a very emotional moment. I think he is one of the best players to have played here and I count myself lucky to have played with him. He was a 10 as a player and as a person. What happened on Wednesday was thoroughly deserved”.

Vilanova : "Not an easy group"

Vilanova: “Not an easy group”

Núria Barnils / Jordi Clos

Assistant coach Tito Vilanova reckons the Champions League draw is anything but easy, noting that all three rivals “are national champions”. Vilanova was disappointed to draw Rubin again, but happy to begin the group with a home game.

Panathinaikos, Copenhagen and Rubin Kazan are Barca's rivals in this season's Group Stage and for Tito: “no way is it an easy group. There's no such thing in the Champions League. All three of them won their national leagues. I'm most worried about us believing it is easy. In a group with so many games there's always the chance of a slip up and things getting complicated”. 

Dangerous Rubin 

Vilanova still remembers last season's clashes with Rubin and admitted: “we were not too keen on getting them again, it's a very long trip, but at least this time we have the advantage that we know more about them. In our first year year we drew Shaktar from the fourth group of teams and they were the toughest – the same thing has happened this time around with Rubin”. 

Happy with home start 

Vilanova was more pleased with playing the first and last games of the group at home, explaining: “as well as the rivals you draw, the order of the matches is very important. It's better to start at home because the players are still at the start of the season and not yet up to full fitness, they will be just back from international duty and not having to travel is a big plus”.

20 players report for training

20 players report for training

Sandra Sarmiento / Aida Soriano

The players were back in training on Thursday after Wednesday evening’s victory in the Joan Gamper Trophy. Guardiola was able to work with the full squad except for Swedish international Ibrahimovic, who exercised in the gym due to an ankle problem.

The absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the main talking point of Thursday’s training session. A total of 20 players worked out on the Club's training grounds including Hleb and Cáceres. However, Puyol and Adriano exercised separately from the main group. There were no players from the reserve squad as Barça B are preparing their first league match of the season against Celta Vigo. 

Ibra works in the gym 
An Achilles problem in his right ankle kept Ibrahimovic behind in the gym to follow a series of recovery exercises. The Swedish striker was the only player absent from the first post-Gamper training session ahead of the league opener against Racing Santander. 


Specific exercises for Puyol and Adriano 

For their part, Puyol and Adriano followed a separate programme based on stretching exercises during the first fifteen minutes of the session. 

Congratulations to Adriano 
Before the session got underway, Josep Guardiola congratulated Adriano for his performance in Wednesday evening’s match. A nice gesture by the manager, who had also mentioned the Brazilian in his press conference prior to the Joan Gamper Trophy. 

Zubi analyses Champions League draw

Zubi analyses Champions League draw

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Speaking immediately after the draw for the Champions League group stage in Monaco, Andoni Zubizarreta called for “the maximum respect” for Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen and Rubin Kazan.

Zubizarreta attended today’s draw in Monaco to hand over the award for best goalkeeper. Afterwards he spoke to Barça TV and www.fcbarcelona.cat to analyse the three teams Barça will now face in Group D. 

"We can’t take anything for granted" 
The former Barça and Spain goalkeeper, now head of professional football at the Club, warned: We can’t take anything for granted. Barça will have the maximum respect for our opponents. If they’re in the draw it’s because they’re earned the right to be there. I’m sure we’ll find they have their strong points”.

Turning to an assessment of each team individually, he described Panathinaikos as a “difficult team” while he highlighted that Copenhagen was a team not often seen in the Champions League. As for Russian champions, Rubin Kazan, who FC Barcelona also met last year in the group stage, Zubizarreta stressed the difficulties posed by the long trip to Russia. 

Better to finish at home 
Before the fixture schedule was announced, Zubizarreta revealed that he would prefer to have the last match at home. As it turned out, Barça’s last match of the group stage will be in the Camp Nou against Rubin Kazan.

Champions League group stage draw

Champions League group stage draw

www.fcbarcelona.cat

Barça players and fans will find out on Thursday afternoon which teams they will have to play in the group stage of the Champions League. Barça has the best coefficient in Europe (137) and will not be drawn together with any of the other top seeds.

The road to next year’s Wembley final starts here. The group-stage draw will take place at 6 pm (CET) in Monaco and according to UEFA rules, Barça cannot be drawn against any of the other seven teams in the top seed pot or against any team from the Spanish league – in this case Valencia and Real Madrid. The 32 teams going into the draw will be seeded as follows: 

SEED POT 1: Inter (101), Barça (137), Manchester United (125), Chelsea (118), Arsenal (115), Bayern Munich (111), AC Milan (100) and Lyon (97). 

SEED POT 2: Werder Bremen (95), Real Madrid (85), Roma (84), Shakhtar Donetsk (74), Benfica (73), Valencia (67), Marseille (63) and Panathinaikos (57). 

SEED POT 3: Tottenham (56), Glasgow Rangers (56), Ajax (55), Schalke 04 (55), Basel (49), Sporting de Braga (40), FC Copenhagen (34) and Spartak Moscow (34). 

SEED POT 4: Hapoel Tel-Aviv (28), Twente (25), Rubin Kazan (22), Auxerre (20), Cluj (16), Partizan (14), Zilina (11) and Busaspor (7). 

Barça will be drawn against one team from Seed Pot 2 (except Valencia or Real Madrid), one from Seed Pot 3 and one from Seed Pot 4. 


Match calendar 

The group stage matches will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The first matches will be on 14th and 15th September and the sixth and final group stage matches on 7th and 8th December.