Laporta and Txiki announce Pep's renewal!

Club President Joan Laporta and Technical Secretary Txiki Begiristain have called an impromptu press conference at the Camp Nou premises, with the main objective of announcing the renewal of Pep Guardiola.

The press conference has been scheduled for 1330 hrs. Catalan time, and has been reported by Sport as well as El Mundo Deportivo. More details to follow.

Collection of my 5 favourite moments from the Calendar year 2009

Is anyone going to forget this? Iniestaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

The goal that sealed the Champions League, courtesy of the man who never scores headers and never scores against English teams.

Gerard Pique Bernabeu tears down the Bernabeu.

A goal scored with the heart - and the Barca badge, to send Barca to the summit of world football.

Finally, unbridled joy on the face of the man who made it all possible.

Barca of the Six Cups

Feel proud, Blaugrana fans. Barca of the SIX CUPS. An unprecedented and unbreakable record.

See how much it means to Pep, the man and the legend.

Great Tribute to Barcelona from a Milan fan

I read this on the Goal.com forums, written by a Milan fan, irasmaldinista. It was titled

"We are Rossoneri, But We are Not Blind Blaugrana Friends"

Makes me feel extremely proud, fans of other clubs have also appreciated how great this team truly was.

Yes, we can see... We can see a Football club finally emulating the 1988-1994 invincible Milan and even surpassing them. We can see a Football club who count on their own home-grown boys. We can see a Football club who know money may buy some cups, but not character, not history. We can see a Football club who deserves being called simply the best. We can see a Football club who free themselves from rigid myths and do what they feel is right. We can see a Football club who are proud of their achievment, and rightly so. We can see a Football club who are already gone down in history books as righteous victorious. We were mesmerized by their humility, their exuberance on the pitch, their harmony, their sense of belongingness to their club and many more aspects of a true phenomenon. We will clearly remember a Football club whose head-coach dedicated their dominantly conquered European trophy to one of the best men ever in the history of the beautiful game: Our eternal Captain, Paolo Maldini. They did so only out of pure respect, nothing more. They could easily not have done that and nothing would have happened, but chose to show their immense character to the world and we wish to thank them, again. I, on behalf of all the Milanisti who are used to winning and who naturally adore the winners, congratulate the unbelievable accomplishment of the Catalan men and express our hope to be the first side to repeat such enormous success. Let's hope their culture, which is that of the beginning days of Football, which is that of being identified representatives of a region or a city, is followed by all other clubs, including our beloved Milan, to see more of these glorious moments, the moments that they experienced. Props to the writer again.

El Capi to renew till 2013

Carles Puyol gave Barcelona fans much joy when he announced that he will renew his contract till 2013, thus ending weeks of speculation about his future.

Puyol is the heart and soul of the team, and to have him renew means that any doubts that could have been placed on his future can now be discarded.

"Carles will stay here for many years because he is a Barca man," Xavi was quoted as saying by El Mundo Deportivo. "He is an example to everyone and his renewal is fantastic news."

Puyol and Guardiola made the announcement in training and this was followed by a standing ovation from the players. The contract length means that Puyol will be 35 by the time he is set to leave, hence making it very likely that he will retire at the club where he is already a legend.

Robinho loan deal to be tied up in early November

It seems Barcelona has been brought to earth by the lack of depth in the forward line, as is shown by the club's attempts to secure the signature of Manchester City forward cum winger Robinho, who has grown disillusioned at Eastlands.

Reports from Catalan paper Sport recently stated that Manchester City's oil-rich owners have consented to the deal to bring Robinho to the Camp Nou stadium as early as the January transfer window.

Sport now claims that there has been further contact between the two clubs in the last few hours as they look to reach an agreement that will see the Brazilian sign for Barcelona on loan for the rest of the season.

Barcelona are reportedly not keen on protracted negotiations and are aiming to seal the deal within three weeks, long before the winter transfer window opens and their contingent of African players leave for their continental championship.

Sport also believe that relations are currently strained between Citizens boss Mark Hughes and Robinho. The manager is apparently still unhappy with the Brazilian's frequently-expressed desire to leave and has given the go-ahead for the transfer to take place.

Barcelona are ready to pay €3.2m to take the former Real Madrid man on loan for six months, with a set price of €35m to make the transfer permanent in the summer.

David Villa will miss Barcelona match

The Barcelona camp can heave a huge sigh of relief with the news that David Villa and Joaquin will both be absent for the clash at the Mestalla when La Liga resumes after the international break.

Star striker Villa suffered a muscular injury in the game against Racing Santander and has been ruled out for three weeks, while Joaquin Sanchez has been ruled out for 20 days with a thigh problem.

This news was first reported by Marca.