MARTINO TAKES OVER

Barcelona recently appointed Gerardo Martino as the replacement for Tito Vilanova, who had to step down from his managerial job due to the difficulties from his cancer treatment resurfacing once again. Vilanova missed large chunks of last season due to cancer treatment, and a reappearance of the disease has meant that he would have had to do the same this season as well. Barcelona were not at their imperious best last campaign and it was primarily due to the constant changing of managers. Barcelona decided to hand over the duties to assistant manager Roura when Vilanova was absent.

Barcelona only managed to win the league title last campaign, but it was largely viewed as a hollow victory because it was mainly down to the lack of a challenge from Real Madrid. During the Guardiola era, Barcelona were one of the strongest teams in the world. The decimated their opponents by playing a style of football that was so intense. Defender Dani Alves has said that the club is close to recapturing that intensity under the regime of Martino, who has been overseeing the training in the last few weeks.

Barcelona also recently brought in Brazilian striker Neymar from Santos for around £ 50 million. He is expected to reduce the burden on Lionel Messi.

“Tata Martino is a good coach. He’s given us that intensity that we perhaps lost over the years. With this spirit we will once again be able to do great things. The fans can get excited about this team because the players are ready to give it their all,” said the Brazilian defender on the official site of Barcelona. Barcelona recently managed to win 8-0 against Brazilian club Santos in a friendly match. They will be playing against Levante in the opening game of the season at home.

ALBA FEELIN HAPPY

The summer signing for Barcelona, Jordi Alba has said that he is finally feeling happy at the club after a slow start to his Barcelona career. The former Valencia defender Jordi Alba was the one major signing made by the club in the summer. He was signed for around £ 12 million, and he had an excellent Euro 2012 with the Spanish national team. He has been at Valencia since the start of his career, thus the move to Barcelona becoming the first one. As a result, it took him a little while to get acclimatised according to the Spaniard.

However, he is now completely settled at the club and is feeling more happy than ever. Barcelona currently have a three-point advantage over Atletico Madrid in the table. Unlike in previous years when Real Madrid have been the title challengers, the second team from Madrid are now threatening to dislodge Barcelona from the top of the table. Jordi Alba has said that it is about time people started giving credit to Atletico Madrid and regarded them as real title challengers. Due to the presence of one of the best strikers in the world – Radamel Falcao, Madrid have been able to keep in touch with Barcelona.

Jordi Alba has also said that he will not rule out Real Madrid from the title race, despite José Mourinho’s men falling 11 points behind them in the table. “I started a little slowly, but now I feel really good and confident. I’m fitting into the team and I want to get better with every day. They [Atletico] are having a great season and they are challengers for the league. They could easily overtake us. You can’t rule out anybody – a club like Real Madrid will fight until the last game of the season to win the league,” said Alba.

MOURINHO DELIGHTED

The Real Madrid manager José Mourinho has said that he is extremely happy that the Catalan club Barcelona’s dominance in the la Liga title has finally been broken by Real Madrid. The former Chelsea and Inter Milan manager José Mourinho has revealed that he was brought to the Santiago Bernebeu with the sole reason of bringing an end to the dominance of Barcelona. Prior to the arrival of José Mourinho, Barcelona had won three league titles. Even though José Mourinho was not successful in his first full season as the Real Madrid manager, he ultimately managed to bring an end to the dominance of Barcelona by winning the league title last season.

He has said that even though Real Madrid have only won one league title to show in the last four seasons, José Mourinho reckons that it is a step in the right direction and feels that Real Madrid will be able to win more titles in the future. Mourinho has said that it is certainly not enough that Real Madrid had one a league title last season. They must repeat the feat this time around as well in order to assert their dominance over Barcelona.

“What is clear is that we have broken Barcelona’s winning run, after the lifted one title after another. Now the balance has shifted and we’ll see how far we can ride the wave. In any case, you have to be honest: we are talking about Real Madrid and Barcelona, two very good teams, two great teams. If you took any other team in the world and put them in La Liga they would not finish either first or second,” said the Real Madrid manager José Mourinho in a recent interview. Mourinho has said that his target is now to win the Champions League with Real Madrid.

MORE DEPARTURES POSSIBLE

The Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta has said that there could still be departure from the camp Nou before the end of the transfer window. Barcelona have already sold a number of key players in the transfer window, while they have also lost Keita on a free transfer. Even though they have been quite active in the transfer window bringing in the likes of Jordi Alba and Alex Song, Andoni Zubizarreta has said that the club needs to balance the books by selling a few players before 31 August. Some of the players who have been linked with a move away from the camp Nou include the likes of Ibrahim Afellay, Jonathan dos Santos, and Marc Bartra.

While confirming that some of the players could leave the club, Zubizarreta also has said that he does not expect the club to sign any more players between now and the end of the transfer window. Jordi Alba was signed by the club for around £ 13 million, while Alex Song was signed for around £ 15 million from Arsenal a few days ago. Barcelona began the process of reclaiming the title from Real Madrid with a 5-1 win over Real Sociedad during the weekend. Tello was one of the outstanding players in the match.

“We like our squads to be fairly compact. Until the market closes, we have some interesting options to look into. We are working with some agents to see if we can find the best places for some of the players to develop their careers. As for further signings, we don’t have any plans. We have the squad we want. The renewal of Puyol is well-advanced. Both parties want to come to an agreement,” said the Barcelona sporting director in a recent press conference. Has also expressed his confidence about getting Tello to sign a new contract.

KEITA WANTS BARCA END

Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita has said that it would be a dream come true if he manages to finish his career with Barcelona. The Mali international is coming to an end of his career, with rumours linking him with a move from Barcelona.

However, the 31-year-old has said that he wants to stay with the Catalan giants for the rest of his career. He has also said that it would be a privilege if he manages to finish his career with the Spanish club. Keita still has two years left on his current contract, but there has been no interest from Barcelona to renew the deal – if anything he is more likely to be in a Liverpool Shirt at the start of next season.

He is also thought to have a clause in his contract that will allow him to leave one of the transfer if he decides to do so because he has made an appearance in more than 50% of the total number of Barcelona matches last season. Barcelona recently appointed Guardiola’s assistant manager Tito Villanova as a replacement for the man who has led the club to an incredible 14 trophies in just four seasons. Villanova recently expressed his desire to keep the Mali international at the club. Villanova said that it would be vital for the club to retain the services of such an experienced international.

“I am yet to speak with the club to sort out my future. But I want to continue; this is my desire. I would like to retire at Barcelona, like Lionel Messi will, so I hope that can be the case. We must talk and see what they offer and what they want. But my family is happy in Barcelona,” said Keita in a recent interview. The Mali international has been linked with a move to Italian club AC Milan, who are in the process of rebuilding their team.

AC FEAR NO-ONE

AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said that his teammates should not be fearful of Barcelona because they have already shown earlier in the season that they are capable of achieving a result against the Spanish club. AC Milan were drawn against Barcelona in the same group. As a result, they have already played them home and away this season. It has been an up-and-down learning curve for AC Milan, as they managed a credible draw against the Catalans at the Camp Nou, while they suffered a narrow defeat at the San Siro. A home defeat would be the last thing on the minds of the AC Milan players, as it would hand Barcelona a major advantage in the tie.

Barcelona also have the advantage of having the second leg at the Camp Nou, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic has urged the AC Milan players not to be fearful of the Catalan club. Barcelona have by far been the best club in the world over the last few years. They have already won the Champions League two times in the last three seasons, and are favourites to win this time around as well. Zlatan Ibrahimovic recently scored his 29th goal of the season and is expected to be the main threat for AC Milan.

“It’s difficult for us to play a match in the style of Mourinho’s Inter, they were a more physical side. We will face Barcelona with courage, motivation and serenity. We have to try and make as few mistakes as possible and play with an attacking mentality,” said AC Milan manager Allegri responding to queries that is AC Milan would adopt a similar strategy to that of Inter Milan a few seasons ago. Inter Milan adopted a very negative strategy and successfully went into the final beating Barcelona.