I have to confess that after the emotion of winning the Fifa Club World Cup I felt the need for a bit of a break, the same thing happened at the end of May after completing the treble. However, I'd like to take the opportunity of wishing a very happy christmas to all my readers. Over the next few days I'll be posting my review of 2009, the December Player Of The Month and also the Player Of The Year award. I may even stick in a quiz or two to keep you entertained until we get back to action with the game against Villarreal on January 2. Happy holidays!

Barça drew a meaningless friendly tonight in Kuwait after conceding a goal in injury time. Barça had taken the lead thanks Bojan Krkic goal in the 80th minute. Local team Kazma proved to be difficult to break down but did very little going forward to cause Pinto any problems in Barça's goal. Barça put out a second string side but the best news the return of Gabi Milito who played 62 minutes in Barça's defence without showing any problems.

Our best chance in the first half after 14 minutes when Thiago Alcantara hit the outside of the post after being put in by Marquez's free kick. Jeffren and Bojan also had chances but both shot wide after being set up by Victor Vazquez. Kazma's only effort...

No surprises here. Just as Barça have picked up all the silverware on offer this year, Leo Messi has won all the most important individual awards. Have won the Ballon d'Or by the biggest ever margin, and today Leo today has officially been awarded the Fifa World Player award for 2009.

We also managed to get four players in the Fifpro World XI award which is supposed to represent the best possible starting line-up in the world for 2009. The full team was as follows: Casillas; Alves, Terry, Vidic, Evra; Xavi, Gerrard, Iniesta; Messi, Torres, Ronaldo. I have to say it is not a bad choice by Fifpro though there might have been a place for one of our central defenders or for Ibrahimovic or Eto'o instead of Torres. Anyway, send your comments and let us know what you think of Fifa and Fifpro's...

Six out of six! Six out of six! Football Club Barcelona complete the most incredible year by clinching the Fifa Club World Cup after beating Estudiantes 2-1 after extra time to take a place in history as the first ever team to win six trophies from the six official competitions entered. The game was never going to be easy but we suffered almost as much as we did at Chelsea back in May and we needed a goal in the 89th minute from Pedro Rodriguez to equalize the first half opener from Estudiantes' Boselli. Pedro's goal took us to extra time and in the 110th minute Leo Messi scored the winner with his heart. Yes, you heard right - Messi, this year's Ballon d'Or, scored the winning goal with his heart.

Both teams began the game strongly. Estudiantes had the first half chance...

There are many reasons to consider that the Fifa Club World Cup is not the most important tournament in the calendar. It breaks up the league season, it is played in a place that is hardly known for its footballing history, and Fifa seem to organize it more with an eye to making a quick buck than anything else. However, for Football Club Barcelona, this tournament represents a unique opportunity this year. Not only will it officially confirm what most of us already believe: that we are the best team on the planet, it will also give us the unrivalled record of having won all six official trophies that we have competed for in 2009.

Many great players never get a chance to play in this final, but some of our players have had the experience before. Victor...

We cannot complain after being drawn against Stuttgart in the last 16 of this season's Champions League. The draw today has paired the teams who last met in the group stage of the 2007/08 season, Barça won both games then, 0-2 in Stuttgart with goals from Puyol and Messi in October 2007 and 3-1 at home in December with Giovanni dos Santos, Eto'o and Ronaldinho scoring. Stuttgart qualified for the last 16 after finishing second in Group G behind Sevilla. This game will see us up against ex-blaugrana Alexandr Hleb. The full draw is as follows:

Inter Milan v Chelsea
Lyon v Real Madrid
AC Milan v...

History awaits. Tomorrow afternoon at 5pm (Spanish time) Barça take on CONCACAF champions, the Mexican team Atlante, in the semi final of the Fifa Club World Cup. The Club World Cup, previously known as the Intercontinental Cup, is the one tournament we have never won, having lost the Final in 1992 and 2006. Winning this tournament will not only confirm us as the World Champions, we will also go down in history as being the first team ever to win all six official competitions in one calendar year.

Unfortunately we will be without Leo Messi for the semi final but he is working hard to get fit for a theoretical final on Saturday. In his place we will probably see Pedro Rodriguez who is seeking his own personal place in history as if he can score a goal in this...

As you should all know Barça are now in Abu Dhabi preparing for the semi-final of the Fifa Club World Cup against Atlante on Wednesday. The news today is that it seems highly unlikely that Leo Messi will take any part in that game but it is hoped that he will be ready in time for Saturday's final if we get through.

Meanwhile I thought it was time for an update on the Fcbnews fantasy football league. Considering there are around 4000 teams in the overall Oleole league I think we can be quite proud of how we are doing with eight of the fourteen teams in the top 350 overall positions. Does this prove the intelligence of Barça fans? The football knowledge of the readers of this blog? Well, I've no idea but I am very pleased that there are quite a few teams in with a...

A disputed penalty converted by Zlatan Ibrahimovic was enough to give Barça a 1-0 victory over local rivals Espanyol in a game that began well but became more heated and scrappy as the game went on. Barça played a good first half and might have gone in at the break with a bigger margin but as Espanyol pressured forward in the second half we saw some nervous moments at the back which left us relieved at the final whistle.

Before the game Leo Messi presented the Ballon d'Or to the crowd but tonight we missed the skills of the little Argentinian who was replaced on the right wing by Pedro. the game started at tremendous speed with chances at both ends in the first 80 seconds. Espanyol had the first chanceafter...