The Gamper stays at home (1-1)

The Gamper stays at home (1-1)

Jordi Clos

José Manuel Pinto was the hero for FC Barcelona as he saved two penalties in the spot-kick shoot-out to give the home side and the Trofeo Joan Gamper in Camp Nou against AC Milan on Wednesday night after David Villa had netted his first goal.

The tension and competitive nature of an official fixture may have been missing, but the two giants of European football produced a vintage pre-season encounter and Ronaldinho was given the send-off from the home fans that he did not receive two years ago. Camp Nou was packed for the game as the excitement and expectation of the new season brought the fans out and Barça did not disappoint as they showed that they will once again be a force and a great side to watch. 

Villa and Ibrahimovic 

Barça could have been affected by their efforts to win the Spanish Super Cup at the weekend, but the starting line-up performed superbly as they dominated the early stages on what proved to be a very hot evening in the Catalan capital. Milan started slowly and there was a slight lack of depth to the match as both teams worked out how competitive it was going to be. 

It took 20 minutes to bring the crowd to its feet as Villa and Zlatan Ibrahimovic both looked to break the deadlock. The Swedish striker did put the ball into the Italian visitors' net, but he was ruled out for offside. 

Quiet night 

Milan stepped up and attempted to catch Barça on the break when they could and this in itself offered the home team a different kind of challenge. At the other end Pinto was enjoying a quiet evening despite Ronaldinho being given a free role behind Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Marco Boriello. At the break the hosts made three changes while Milan swapped four players in order to bring some fresh legs to proceedings. 

'Killer' Villa 

After seeing Villa make his home debut last weekend the Barça fans hoped that the free-scoring striker would net his first for the club after joining from Valencia before the World Cup Finals. They were able to celebrate that feat in the second period when he met a cross from Adriano and beat the keeper having been moved into the centre after the withdrawal of Ibrahimovic. Dani Alves, Thiago and Bojan Krkic lifted Barça when they came on and despite the continuing interruptions for more substitutions the intensity increased. Only Pinto and Adriano remained on the pitch for the Blaugrana for the entire game. 


Milan equalise 

With their first real occasion of the game Milan drew level when the irrepressible Fillipo Inzaghi produced a magnificent volley to beat Pinto. That goal meant Barça had to push forward looking for a winner and they did just that. Pedro, Thiago and Messi all tried to find a way through, but they could not score and that meant that at the end of 90 minutes a penalty shoot-out was required to find a winner of the Gamper cup. 

Pinto stood firm and after first preventing Andrea Pirlo's cheeky chip from the sport the keeper dived to his left to palm away Marek Jankulovski's effort.

Guardiola proud of the team and fans

Guardiola proud of the team and fans

www.fcbarcelona.cat

Pep Guardiola stated that he was proud of his FC Barcelona side after seeing them win the Trofeo Joan Gamper on Wednesday evening and was pleased to see Ronaldinho back at the club.

The Blaugrana boss highlighted his players’ attitude in the 1-1 draw against AC Milan. The hosts won the cup on penalties and deserved it after the impressive performance that they produced throughout the 90 minutes. 

Ronaldinho was honoured by the fans for what he did during his time at Camp Nou and Guardiola was pleased. “I am delighted with the fans, it was marvelous,” he said. Dressing room visit 

“Ronaldinho came into our dressing room before the game,” Guardiola then revealed. “He was in great form and met many of his former team-mates. On the pitch the people showed their devotion to him and I think he was pleased.” 

On the game itself the coach continued: “I am happy with how we played against a good team. We learned when we have to do when the opposition play on the counter-attack like they did. We had a good few chances and I felt everyone played their part. I am pleased with how the game went and that we won.” 

No problem 
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has told the media that Guardiola has only talked to him twice in the past six months, but the coach was unperturbed. “We have no communication problems,” the trainer said. “For the good of the club it is better I do not say any more. There is always a reason, but I am not going to explain it now. I am very communicative. I am not going to go into the reasons. When the time is right I will give my opinion.” Transfer window 
Guardiola was then asked whether he feels Ibrahimovic will still be here after the close of the transfer market. “If he is here after the August 31 then he will play here,” he explained. “I will talk with him about things. The problem is not that we have spoken twice. I have the duty to turn this round. I have no problem with Ibra in his work, but the person always comes before the person. Probably this will be resolved by talking.” 

Parents name baby Barça

Parents name baby Barça

www.fcbarcelona.cat

A Belgian couple have called their first son Barça and he has already become the first club member to have the name. The pair told the media they chose the moniker because "they liked it".

Taking inspiration from the verse "tinc un nom que el sap tothom, Barça, Barça, Barça" (I have a name that everyone knows, Barça, Barça, Barça) from the Blaugrana hymn the new arrival has the full name Barça Beeckman and he lives 60 kilometres outside of Brussels in Nieuwerkerk. Aged three the youngster was made a member of the Camp Nou club on July 19 by his father Wesley Beeckman, 23, an architecture student, and mother Anneke Maes, 24, a nurse. 

Game on 
During the pregnancy the couple could not reach an agreement for a name for the baby as they did not want to know the sex until he was born. In the end they settled on the name Lona if the baby was a girl. With a decision about the name if it was a boy in full swing the pair were watching Pep Guardiola's team play when Anneke had a bright idea. "Suddenly, I said to my husband that if we had a boy then would he want to call him Barça," she explained. "He turned towards me and winked before saying 'yes, that is the name of my son'". 

Surprise, surprise 
On April 26 Anneke gave birth in Sint-Truiden and Barça came into the world. "We were convinced that it would be a girl," Anneke continued. "My family did not know what to say at the start and they were not keen, but now they are used to the name. People had to ask me twice what his name was early on and everyone has said it is the first time they have heard the name used." Wesley's relatives were happier. "My father liked it as soon as he heard it," he stated. 

Firm fans 
Despite the relatives' initial dismay the couple are "very proud that our son carries the name of the best football team in the world" Anneke commented. Anneke and Wesley are keen FC Barcelona fans and he plays for his local team VCT Terkoest Alken. 

"We hope that when he grows up that he will like his name and understand why we gave it to him," Anneke added. 

Guardiola remains ambitious

Guardiola remains ambitious

Anna Segura

Pep Guardiola is as ambitious as ever for his team and despite winning virtually every possible title over the last two years, he insists that he can get even more from his team, who “with humility” can go on to win many more titles.

Saturday’s exhibition against Seville served as a demonstration of what Guardiola expects from his players and he admitted: “we played at a very high level and the challenge is to continue to repeat that intensity and attention”. 

Starting from zero again 
For Guardiola: “we have to play with humility. In the games that are supposedly easy, I want to see us running more than our opponents, making as much effort as we did tehthe very first day”. Guardiola is also well aware that there can be no sitting on their laurels for his team and insists that this season: “we have to go back and win everything all over again”. 



Still room for improvement 
Many might ask how you can possibly improve a team that has won everything, but the boss has his objectives and plans for the new season and believes: “there are always things to improve – how players play together, the quality of our training, our mental strength..... I believe we can do things better”. 

Proud of Saturday's performance 
Saturday's win against Seville didn't surprise Guardiola (“we've come back so many times in the past”) and he was especially proud of his players, claiming: “we came into the match in a difficult situation because we'd had so few chances to train together, but it was an excellent game and the players responded really well. 
Milan 

Looking to Wednesday's 45th Joan Gamper Trophy, Guardiola was clearly happy at the quality of the opposition his team will face: “I think there are few other teams who could dignify our tournament as much as Milan. We're very proud they are here and it'll be a good test for us and a chance to look at a few things”. 

Open letter from Ronaldinho

Open letter from Ronaldinho

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This message is meant for all the members, fans, board members, staff, players and friends at FC Barcelona.

"As you all know, I don't normally talk in public a lot and I'm not one for big farewells, but I would like to take advantage of this occasion to thank you all for everything we shared together during the five years I defended the Barca shirt. They were certainly the best years of my life, both professionally and personally. I honestly think we enjoyed so much whilst we were together. 

I don't like farewells and I prefer to think this will be a chance to meet with old friends and renew friendships and relationships we had in the past. 

Coming back to the Nou Camp is very special for me. This will always be one of my favourite stadiums and one where I enjoyed myself so much and hopefully helped the Barca fans to enjoy themselves too. 

A sincere hug to all the Barca family and especially to Sandro Rosell. 

Ronaldinho." 

Five B team youngsters in training

Five B team youngsters in training

Sandra Sarmiento / Vanessa Forns

With the Gamper Trophy due for Wednesday and the league set to kick off in Santander on Sunday, the squad trained at the Ciutat Esportiva this morning.

Twenty two first team players and five Barca B youngsters trained under Guardiola in the second session of the week. 

Wednesday's game against Milan and Sunday's league debut against Racing are the focus of training this week and Guardiola decided to bring in five youngsters this morning - Oier, Miño, Fontàs, Thiago and Jonathan Dos Santos - ahead of the two games in just five days. 

New League ball 
Diego Simeone was again watching the session at which the players used the official ball of the new league season .

Milan's eight visit to Nou Camp

Milan's eighth visit to Nou Camp

David Puig

This year's Gamper will be the eighth visit of Milan to the Nou Camp, with Barca having won four of the games between the two in Catalonia and Milan just one, with two games ending in draws.

A Barca - Milan game is always one of the classic European ties and two of the continent's biggest clubs will meet for the eighth time at the Nou Camp on Wednesday in the 45th edition of the Joan Gamper Trophy. 

Barca dominate Gamper meetings 

This will be Milan's third appearance in a Joan Gamper Trophy, having previously been invited in 1986 and in 2004. Their first visit came on 19th August 1986, when the trophy was still played between Barca and three invited teams. Milan and Terry Venables' Barca met in the second semi final with Pedraza, Hughes and Víctor giving Barca a 3-1 win -Tony Hateley scored the Italian's only goal. In the third /fourth place play off, Milan beat Spurs 2-1, whilst Barca beat PSV 1-0 in the final. 
Milan's second appearance came in the 2004 edition when Carlo Ancelotti's team went one up through a Serginho goal, only for goalscorers Giuly and Andrés Iniesta to lead an epic fightback to make it 2-1 at the end of the game. 

Milan denied final place 

Milan's last visit to Barcelona came on April 26th 2006 when Barca and Milan met in the second leg of the Champions League semi final with a place in the final up for grabs. Rijkaard's team had taken a valuable 0.1 lead from the San Siro thanks to a goal from Giuly and they held out for a goalless draw at the Nou Camp to see them through to the Paris final against Arsenal. 

Only win 
Milan's only win at the stadium came on September 26th 2000 in the group stage of that season's Champions League when Zacheroni's team won 0-2 with goals from Coco – who later signed for Barca – and Bierhoff. This proved to be a bad defeat for Serra Ferrer's team who a few week's later were eliminated from the competition.