Barcelona 0-0 Deportivo La Coruna

Barcelona lift La Liga trohy

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Arsenal left-back Gael Clichy will wait until the summer to discuss a new contract with the North London club.

The 25-year-old’s current deal expires in 2012 but he says there is no hurry to sign anything now.

The Frenchman has played over 250 games for the Gunners, becoming a senior player in the squad but his future is on hold as he aims to secure the first trophy for Arsenal in six years.

“Will I prolong my contract? I don’t know and I don’t think about it,” Clichy told L’Equipe.

“The season is still long. I will have time to think about it in the summer.”

Clichy is gearing up for the return leg of the Champions Leafue last 16 tie with Barcelona.

Arsenal lead 2-1 as they head to the Nou Camp and Clichy is feeling in confident mood and attributes this to the win over Chelsea in December.

“I have watched the first leg against Barcelona again three or four times,” he added.

“I am rarely impressed by a team but this time Barcelona got 60 per cent possession on our pitch.

“It is huge. We suffered but we could resist.

“Something happened against Chelsea. Since that match we are not the same team anymore.

“In the past, sometimes two or three players could give up. At such a level, it is not possible.

“What will happen at Camp Nou? We will qualify and I will score! It would be nice.

“We will give our very best. Arsene Wenger has often told us there is no better team than ours.”

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Barcelona will not hide if Arsenal make their Champions League game a bruising encounter according to manager Pep Guardiola.

The North London club will be out for revenge after being eliminated by the La Liga champions at the quarter-final stage last year.

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere admitted the Gunners would front-up and get in Barcelona’s faces in order to stop the Catalan giants from playing.

But Guardiola is confident his team will be more than a match for any physical battle Arsene Wenger’s side may adopt.

“They’re welcome to do so but we’re waiting for them,” said Guardiola. ”Last year they were also aggressive to do it but they couldn’t get the ball. We took it off them.

“They came out to press and be physical, but we had the ball so they were forced to run after it.

“I imagine they will try to press us like they did last year, or even more, as they don’t want to lose again.”

Barcelona have shown a vulnerability away from home in Europe this season as they did not win a game away from the Nou Camp in the group stages.

But the manager is not worried about it.

“This is the best moment to break this record,” Guardiola added. “But all those games we lost or drew also were good moments to break this streak.

“At times we’ve played well away from home, at times not, but of course it’s something we have to be conscious of.

“But I’m not expecting a comfortable or easy game, nor will it be decided at the Emirates. The tie will be decided at the Nou Camp in three weeks.”

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Barcelona midfielder Xavi has expressed his desire to see Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fabregas play at the Nou Camp.

Manchester United’s number 10 has spoken of his admiration for Pep Guardiola’s side and stood in his living room applauding the Barcelona team after their 5-0 demolition of Real Madrid.

And Xavi believes Rooney has the ability to succeed for the La Liga champions.

He said in The Guardian: “Rooney is extraordinary, he could play for Barcelona.

“And before people imagine headlines like, ‘Xavi says Rooney to join Barcelona’ – although, I’d love him to – what I mean is that he’s our kind of player.”

With Xavi preparing to face Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday, the Spaniard is asked, inevitably, about his compatriot Cesc Fabregas.

The Arsenal captain wanted to return to Barcelona, where he played in their youth team, last summer, but the move failed to materialise due to a failure to agree a transfer fee.

Xavi, another product of Barcelona’s youth system, understands Fabregas’ desire to go back to Spain and he thinks it is inevitable the move will materialise.

He said: “If I’d ever gone to another club, I’d have been thinking about Barcelona, the link is strong. The same is happening to him.

“But now there’s a problem, now he’s expensive. But I think that a footballer ends up playing where he wants. He has to end up here.”

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Barcelona director of football Raul Sanllehi has revealed there are currently no plans to launch another bid for Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas.

The Spaniard’s future was the subject of intense speculation last summer as Barcelona tried to bring him back to Camp Nou, where he came through the ranks as a youngster.

Fabregas admitted it would be a dream to play for his boyhood club but Arsenal never considered a sale and he respected their decision.

Sanllehi said: “Cesc is a great Catalan player. He played for us as a kid and he will be welcome back at Barcelona for the Champions League match.

“Right now, everything is dead regarding a transfer.”

Source: Sky Sports

No real surprise there then.

Obviously Barcelona will say the deal is dead – the transfer window has shut and the Spanish champions will not risk upsetting Arsenal with speculation over their captain so close to the Champions League tie.

This will not stop the Catalan giants launching another bid to sign the Spanish World Cup winner in the Summer.

But is this the best move for ‘el capitan’?

The attractions are obvious: Barcelona are the best club team in the world; Fabreagas grew up supporting Barca, came through their youth set-up and will be closer to his family; the Spaniard will re-unite with many of his national teammates.

But if he left at the end of the season there will be questions left unanswered.

Fabregas, in terms of trophies, has not proved himself in England. That cannot be entirely blamed on him as he played most of his North London career in a team that is evolving.

At 23 he still has plenty of time left in his career. He could spend another couple of years at the Emirates before returning ‘home’ to the Nou Camp when he will be in his peak.

An FA Cup and a Community Shield in eight years is a meagre return for one of the best midfielders in the world.

As Arsenal captain he  has a duty to the club, his teamates and to the fans that idolise him to end Arsenal’s current trophy drought.

Fabregas said last Summer he has experienced more love at Arsenal than in his own home.

He should re-pay this love by bringing silverware to Arsenal before returning to his roots.

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Thierry Henry and new-boy Alexander Hleb both spoke about Wenger’s ability to get the best from his players, with Henry stating:

I don’t know how Arsene does it when he brings in some players who make people think ‘I don’t know if they are going to be ok’. People wonder if Arsenal are going to do anything.

But suddenly, like last year, everyone starts raving about how Arsenal are playing and what a great team they are.

Newly-arrived Hleb went on to stress the importance of the ex-Monaco boss at the Emirates:

Wenger is everything to Arsenal.

The future for Arsenal, if Wenger stays, is that they will always play at the top.

Both players, with the Barcelona team touring Scotland, flourished under Wenger before moving on to the Camp Nou. While they both agreed Wenger can turn it around this season, Hleb pointed out that the board could stand in the way of Wenger’s progress of building a team. The Belarusian hinted that the board are not forthcoming with improved contracts for its stars, jeopardising the future Wenger is building towards:

These are fantastic players, Adebayor and Cesc [Fabregas]. Sometimes I think that Arsenal do not want to keep this team, not give something more.

Of course it is difficult now because Arsenal have a few political differences. When he leaves, I think this is a difficult time coming for Arsenal.

Cameroon international Samuel Eto’o has expressed his desire to leave Camp Nou this summer and his wishes moved closer to coming true as new Barca manager Pep Guardiola said he could go, along with Ronaldinho and Deco.

Now the striker has revealed to Corriere Dello Sport that three clubs have made a move for his services, naming two Premiership clubs and the Italian champions:

“I have a few important offers. Which ones? Chelsea, Tottenham and Inter.”

Whether the clubs will actually make a move or not is still in debate. Tottenham assistant manager Gus Poyet recently said they would not bring Eto’o to White Hart Lane, while new Inter manager Jose Mourinho has stated he is targetting a midfielder over a striker.

This only leaves Chelsea as a realistic destination. With questions over Drogba’s future, would Stamford Bridge be a reasonble destination for Eto’o?

The Rossoneri had said that they wanted to bring Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor to the San Siro, but faced competition from Spanish giants Barcelona. However, apart from agent claims that a deal was “80% done”, nothing has gone Milan’s way. As vice president Adriano Galliani states, Milan have seemingly been priced out of the chase:

Adebayor is overridden by continuous requests for €45million. These figures are impossible for clubs in Italy.

Galliani went on to complain that Milan cannot compete with the apparent endless wealth of some of Europe’s biggest players, with transfer targets heading for the bigger stage of England or Spain:

The top footballers in the world do not come here [to Serie A] any more.

When big clubs like Barcelona and Chelsea arrive it is impossible to compete because they have a much more advantageous fiscal situation.

The news will in no way change the stance of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who has always maintained that he was not fazed by the speculation and that Adebayor was going nowhere:

He’s under contract and that’s quite simple. I can tell you as manager of Arsenal I’m not worried.

Of course I expect him to be at Arsenal next season – he’s under contract.

But with Adebayor publicly flip-flopping over a move away from the Emirates Stadium and Camp Nou’s busy summer not yet over, is the saga put to bed by the claims from Milan or has it just made it a one-horse race?

Emmanuel Adebayor was expected to leave Arsenal in a £25million deal for either the San Siro or Camp Nou, with even his agent, Vincenzo Morabito, yesterday claiming a deal with Milan was “80% certain”. However, today the Togolese striker looks to have scuppered any chance of signing him:

I’ve three more years with Arsenal, I have a good contract, we have a good team there and I’m playing for one of the biggest teams in the world.

The most important thing for me is to keep on enjoying my football. I’m staying at Arsenal.

He went on to explain that his decision was not motivated by the £120,000 a week he was supposedly demanding and that he was happy in the Premiership:

I was born in Togo so I never cared about playing for money, my happiness was to play to enjoy myself. That’s what I’ve been doing until now.

You can see people changing clubs because of money, because they want a change of atmosphere or to get their names in the big leagues. I just play football to enjoy myself. I play because I love it.

He also insisted he wanted to stay in London and concentrate on building on last seasons title challenge:

We all have the same ideas and we all want to achieve something. We have a good boss which is Arsene Wenger, he tries to bring this atmosphere to the dressing room where we feel like brothers and like family.

Those are the reasons that give us a chance to play the football we play. We play good football, now we look forward to winning trophies.

This statement may come as a relief to Arsenal fans, who would undoubtedly find it hard to replace their 30-goal hero. However, with his agent saying a deal was 80% done, do agents play too big a role in drumming up stories about star’s moves, simply to earn some money?

Zenit St Petersburg have confirmed that Barcelona have made an approach for their playmaker Andrei Arshavin, the star of Russia’s Euro 2008 campaign. A spokesman for Zenit stated today:

Barcelona have made a formal proposal to Zenit for the purchase of Arshavin.

We will only talk about this once Andrei returns to Zenit.

Barcelona now looks to be the preferred destination, with them making moves to complete a transfer that the 27-year-old Russian described as his “dream” earlier this week. The Catalans have been monitoring the player since earlier this year, as Barca vice-president Ferrari Seriano mentions:

Our interest isn’t sudden since we have been following him with discretion for a few months now.

We are interested in Arshavin. But it won’t be easy to sign him because all teams want him now.

Arshavin’s agent, Dennis Lachter, thinks he will leave Zenit for Camp Nou in a deal worth around €25million (£19.8million), but he insists money is not the main factor, as he told Spanish TV channel La Sexta:

It’s time for him [Arshavin] to look for new challenges, and this is a great opportunity for him. Everything depends on how interested Barcelona are and how much the player wants to play there.

There are not that many clubs in the world that can match his pay at the moment, but the main reasons for leaving will be sporting ones.

The move has the hype of an international tournament. Arshavin has only played two games for Russia, yet he is already worth three times what he was after winning the UEFA Cup. I’m not doubting his talent, but even Michael Ricketts had a few good games once.