Today's match in Hong Kong against the Mission Hills Invitation XI has been called off due to a typhoon which is due to hit Hong Kong today. Barça are going to spend an extra day in Hong Kong and the game may take place tomorrow, Saturday, but this has yet to be confirmed.

This can not help the team's preparation at all. Presumably if the team can't play today they won't be able to train either, unless of course some indoor installations are made available. Another 24 hours of kicking their heels around ther hotel is not the best way to spend the day, two weeks before the start of the season. It will also mean one day less together in Barcelona to prepare the first game against Racing Santander.

Our sister site SoccerLens is running a fantasy football league this season.

The winner of the Soccerlens SG group will win a minimum of $1,000 regardless of where you end up in the overall SG rankings.

The only caveat is that for the $1,000 prize money to be awarded, there MUST be over 200 members in the SL group.

The deadline for signing up is this coming Friday midnight, and as we mentioned there ...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/gabriele_marcotti/article1963015.ece  

This has been on various sites but I thought I'd give it the Barça angle. Five Barça players make the top 21 places which is pretty impressive. Messi should be higher than ninth and perhaps Eto'o is a bit high at fourth. What I can't understand is there's no place for Xavi, Iniesta or Deco while Cesc Fabregas is 18th. Losing Fabregas was a shame for Barça but I think he made the right decision because he still wouldn't have got into Barça's team today.

Another flaw in the list is making Sergio Ramos of Madrid 13th. Above Puyol!? Are you ma...

One of the most emblematic figures of Football Club Barcelona, Nicolau Casaus, died today in Castelldefels at the age of 94 after a long illness. Casaus was born in 1913 in Mendoza, Argentina and was a director of the club between 1978 and 2003. He was famous for his Havana cigars and will undoubtedly be missed by many at the club. His funeral takes place at Les Corts, Barcelona on Friday at 12.00.

Yet another goal from youngster Giovani dos Santos gave Barça a well-deserved victory over Yokohama Marinos in front of 56,000 fans at the Nissan stadium in Yokohama. Barça began the game with Henry on the right side of the attack, Eto'o on the left and Ronaldinho playing through the middle. Eto'o and Henry soon switched wings but for the first twenty minutes Barça created nothing. The first chance of the game went to Marinos in the 19th minute, a twenty yard shot was well saved by Valdés.

Barça's first chance came a minute later when Eto'o played a one-two with Ronaldinho but was foiled by the keeper coming out quickly. Then after half an hour Ronaldinho put Eto'o through twice within a minute, the first time a defender managed to get across and block Eto'o's effort, the second pass was taken well by Eto'...

FC Barcelona arrived today at Narita airport in Tokyo. Tomorrow at 19.00 local time (12.00 in Spain) they play the second game of the tour against Yokohama Marinos in the Nissan stadium in Yokohama. This should be a more difficult game than the game with Beijing Guoan and it may provide the first chance of seeing Henry, Eto'o and Ronaldinho playing together. Frank Rijkaard has called for more aggression from his players this season.

Meanwhile, back in Barcelona, Gabi Milito and Rafa Marquez had their first training session after their holidays, Leo Messi will join them tomorrow. Let's hope they are ready for the first league game in just under three weeks' time.

Giovani dos Santos will complete his Spanish nationalisation on August 28 and therefore only Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Touré Yaya occupy places ...

Goals from Giovani dos Santos, Iniesta and Ronaldinho gave Barça an easy win in the first game of their Asian tour. After just nine minutes Eto'o found Xavi in space and his pass was finished well by Giovani who curled a left foot shot past the keeper. The rest of the first half was a pretty dull. Thierry Henry was a bit disappointing, playing on the left wing he showed signs of his undoubted class but nothing really came off. He had two chances to score at the end of the first half; first a great pass from Xavi put him clean through, but his left footed drive was well saved by the keeper. Then he volleyed wide with his right foot after Eto'o had surged into the area.

Things livened up a bit in the second half, mainly through the excellent contribution from Ronaldinho who played through the middle with Eto'...

Deco and Belletti have both had to abandon Barça's tour of Asia for distinct reasons. Belletti pulled a muscle in training yesterday and has returned to Barcelona to rest. He will be out for a week to ten days. Deco has flown to Sao Paulo where his wife Jacciara has given birth to their fourth child, a boy called David. Deco has permission to spend a few days in Brazil from where he will return to Barcelona to continue training with the players who played in the Copa America, Messi, Milito and Marquez.

FC Barcelona arrived in China early today where they begin their three match tour of Asia. Frank Rijkaard, showing visible signs of jet-lag, gave a press conference together with Víctor Valdés, Abidal and Zambrotta. Rijkaard disappointed local fans by declaring that the trio of Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Thierry Henry would not all play together. Barça begin their first training session at 19.30 (13.30 in Spain) at the Feng Tai Stadium where they will play their first game this Sunday against Beijing Guoan FC.

Barça set off tomorrow (Thursday) to play three matches in Asia. Fans in Europe find it hard to appreciate these tours as it does not seem like the best preparation for the new season, however it gives the players some time together and helps the new players to get to know their new team mates, and it is also a great chance for fans in distant lands to see what Football Club Barcelona means. The expedition will leave Barcelona at 12.55 tomorrow and they arrive in Beijing on Friday morning, 05.55 local time. The first game  Beijing Guoan FC - FC Barcelona will be played at the Beijing Feng Tai Stadium on Sunday 5 August. Kick off is at 18.00 (12.00 in Spain). On Monday 6, Barça fly to Tokio where the big match will be Yokohama Marinos-FC Barcelona on Tuesday 7 August. Kick off 19.00 (12.00 in Spain). On Wednesday 8...