Barça have made this season's shirt numbers official and there is little surprise that Leo Messi will take the number 10 shirt worn by ronaldinho for the past five seasons. There are also numbers for five Barcelona Atletic players who have been performing well with the first team in preseason and Marc Crosas has been given the 26 shirt despite reports of an imminent move to Celtic. The complete first team squad numbers are as follows:

1. Valdés
2. Martín Cáceres
3. Piqué
4. Márquez
5. Puyol
6. Xavi
7. Gudjohnsen
8. Iniesta
9. Eto'o
10. Messi
11. Bojan
13. Pinto
14 Henry
15. Keita
16. Sylvinho
18. Milito
20. Alves

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Barça are standing firm in their attempt to keep hold of Leo Messi for the Champions League qualifying round and have named him in the squad for the mini tour of Italy and the USA. Fifa have delayed their decision on the case until tomorrow but even if they dictate that Messi must be freed to play in Beijing's Olympic Games, Barça have declared their intention to appeal the decision which could delay any final decision until it is too late.

Barça have been attempting to reach an agreement with the Argentine Football Association by which Messi could play for Barça on August 12/13 and then fly out to China to join the Argentina squad in time for the Olympic quarter finals. Barça's stance has caused protest outside the Spanish Embassy in Buenas...

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Dundee United fans at Tannadice Park may go home disappointed with the result but at least they had the consolation of seeing Leo Messi. United began the game well, even took the lead and went in at half time on level terms. However, the entrance of Messi in the second half made all the difference and he capped another excellent performance with a hat-trick in the space of 24 minutes.

There were few chances early on as Barça failed to break down the United defence despite dominating the possession with Crosas spreading the ball well. In the 24th minute a great pass from Crosas sent Henry through and a goal looked certain but the Frenchman hit his shot over the bar. United punished Barça a minute later when a mistake by Caceres allowed a cross to come in from the left which was headed home...

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Barça arrived in Scotland today where they will continue the preseason preparations with two games against Hibs on Thursday and Dundee United on Saturday. the only first team players who are not yet with the team are Xavi, Puyol and Iniesta who will join up with their teammates on Wednesday. The rumours are still surrounding Samuel Eto'o who today received an injury scare during training but reports say he will be fine to train tomorrow.

If Eto'o does leave it seems as if Didier Drogba could be first in line to replace him. Drogba was left behind from chelsea's trip to China which has caused the papers in Spain to speculate with a move to Camp Nou. If it's not drogba there is still talk about Emmanuel Adebayor and Dimitar Berbatov. No doubt the rumours will persist until Barça sign someone. ...

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I'm in London for a few days for a well deserved holiday, but unfortunately my parents who I'm staying with have got an apple mac computer which seems to work with a completely different logic to what I'm used to. All sorts of problems seem to arise: how do I copy and paste? how do I post a photo? Where is the c with the squiggly thing on this keyboard when I want to write Barsa? Why is public transport so expensive in this country? Anyway the news today which you have all probably heard hours ago is that Barsa have signed Alexandr Hleb and also the fixture list has been announced. Barsa begin their La Liga campaign on August 31 with a visit to newly promoted Numancia. Real Madrid visit Camp Nou on December 14th, and the return at the Bernabeu is on May 3rd. can Barsa win the league before to get a pasillo from Madrid in front of their own fans (unlikely). The final game of the season is at Deportivo on May 31. I would print the entire fixture list but it would...Read Post »

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Well it seems like the technical problem has been sorted out and we are up and running, apologies for any problems caused. As you can see I've found a new home, and I'm delighted to announce I've been signed up by one of the bigboys of internet football sites, oleole.com.

There's plenty to do here, it's a totally interactive site and you can create your own profile, join friends groups, post photos, participate in forums and you can even create your own blog! You should be directed straight here from the old URL but you can always stick the new one in your favourites list.

I admit there was a financial incentive for me to make the move but hopefully that will give me more time to spend on the blog and I should be able to go to a few more games next season so I can offer...

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Germany reached the final of Euro 2008 with a thrilling last minute 3-2 victory over Turkey. It must be said that Turkey were the better side on the night and with the last minute goal it could be said that they got a very unpleasant taste of their own medicine. It was also extremely unfortunate the TV coverage of a game that will be remembered for years was interrupted due to technical problems (i.e. it was raining).

right from the off Turkey took control of the game and after just 8 minutes a mistake from Lahm let in Altintop but Lehmann saved. Then a few minutes later Kazim Kazim smashed a shot against the German crossbar. A goal looked on the cards and it came just past twenty minutes when Kazim again hit the German bar, this time with a mishit looping effort, and Ugur Boral hit the ball somewh...

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This lunchtime Barça officially presented the team's uniform for next season. The first strip is reminiscent of the one used in the centenary year 1999. So, what do you people think of it? Are you going to rush straight out to spend your hard earned cash on an overpriced shirt that will be out of date in a year? Which players name will you want? Can you picture what Carles Puyol will look like lifting the Champions League trophy in May? Send your comments.

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I know there are a couple of regular readers who will be delighted with the news that Barça have fixed their US tour for this summer. They will be playing Mexican team CD Guadalajara on August 3, and then on August 6 they will take on the Red Bulls in New York. Both games will kick off at 7pm local time (which means a late night for fans watching ion Europe). Click here for more information from the official club website

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Given a choice of eight strikers, readers have been very divided on who to go for. Karim Benzema polled the most with 29% of the vote. I'm afraid to say I think it is extremely unlikely that we will get him, at least for this summer. Next was Zlatan Ibrahimovic with 21%, I think he is quite likely but as said previously he does have a questionable temperament. Third was David Villa with 19% who I also think is extremely unlikely as I think if he moves top a bigger club it will be Madrid. ...

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