Barça need to pick themselves up after the disappointment of Tuesday night and go into the final four games of the season with the intention of finishing second in the table. A third place would mean having to play the Champions League qualifiers in August which would cause some changes in the pre-season plans. Tomorrow evening Barça take on Valencia at Camp Nou (kick off 7pm) hoping to gain revenge for the Copa del Rey defeat in March.

Barça are without the injured Milito, Iniesta and Toure for the game which means a return to the squad for Oleguer, Marquez and Giovani. Frank Rijkaard has been saying he has no intention of leaving which is probably the correct thing to say right now even if everything is already decided; he will be hoping to end his time at Camp Nou in the best possible w...

It may not have been a great night for Barça but Manchester United have problems too. Two goals from Michael Ballack gave Chelsea a 2-1 win over United to leave the premiership title race neck and neck with just two games to go. United lost Vidic after he received a knee in the face from Didier Drogba, and Wayne Rooney was also substituted with what seemed to be a groin strain. There is no news yet on whether either player will recover in time to play Barça on Tuesday.

After the game some United players went back on the pitch for a warming down session and they became involved in some ugly scenes when Chelsea groundstaff tried to get them to leave. Patrice Evra seems to be the player who was most involved in the incident which was recorded by photographers for The Sun newspaper.

Frank Rijkaard has decided to rest Xavi, Messi and Eto'o for tomorrow night's game at Deportivo and they have been left out of the squad along with Iniesta and Milito who are both suspended. This means a return to the squad for Oleguer, Ezquerro and Pedrito. Rijkaard is quite rightly giving preference to the Champions League though of course Barça still need the points in their fight for second place with Villarreal. 

Deportivo are the most in form team in La Liga. Their recent run of 22 points from 9 games has moved them well clear of the relegation zone where they struggled for a lot of the season, and they now have an outside chance of winning a Uefa Cup place. The good run has a lot to do with coach Miguel Angel Lotina's decision to bring in Angel Lafita and Christian Wilhelmsson as wingers...

Manchester United may be without their central defender Nemenja Vidic for tonight's game at Camp Nou. Vidic appeared yesterday evening at the press conference with Sir Alex Ferguson, but later in the evening he was taken to the Bellvitge hospital complaining with stomach pains. If Vidic doesn't play his place could be taken by ex-Barça player Gerard Pique.

According to El Sport Champions of the Copa Libertadores, Boca Juniors, have accepted the invitation to be Barça's opponents in the next edition of the Joan Gamper tournament which will take place on Tuesday 26th August. Boca took place in the first Gamper of Joan Laporta's presidency in 2003, when Barça won the trophy 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. It will be an opportunity to see Juan Roman Riquelme return to Camp Nou.

Good news for Barça who recuperate various players for tomorrow evening's game with Espanyol. Deco returns to the squad for the first time since the start of March, and Iniesta seems to have recovered from his knee problems. Also included in the squad are Thierry Henry and Bojan Krkic who both missed last week's draw at Recreativo. The players who have been left out are Thuram, Edmilson, Ezquerro and Victor Vazquez. 

Frank Rijkaard will no doubt have an eye on Manchester United when he picks the team but Barça need a good result to restore confidence and also to stay above Villarreal in second place of the league. And who knows, if Real Madrid lose at Racing Santander on Sunday there could still be an outside chance of stealing the title. 

If Barça are going through a bad pat...

This is a message to all Manchester United fans who are travelling to Barcelona for next week’s game. In the interest of everyone having an enjoyable time next week you should all be aware that the biggest problem you may have in the city is with thieves. Every group of football fans that comes here is targeted, especially the British. The thieves see you as a big pay day and there is a simple logic to this: you will most likely drink a lot of alcohol and you will probably be carrying a fair amount of cash. There are three main types to watch out for.

First the type who comes up to you on the street saying something like “ah my friend, you like football, Barça good, Manchester good” or any similar inane crap. Do not let these people put their arm around you! It is not no...

As already mentioned in a previous comments section Leo Messi has been included in the squad for tomorrow evening's match in Huelva against Recreativo (kick off 10pm). Messi has trained normally with the group this week but his inclusion is still a bit of a surprise and slightly sooner than the six weeks that was initially talked about as the time of his recovery.

Slight injuries to Bojan Krkic and Thierry Henry, added to the already known absence of Andres Iniesta, means that Santi Ezquerro and Victor Vazquez are also included in the squad. With so many forwards missing Messi could well start the match. One would hope that there would be no risk taken with him, given the importance of having him fit for the Man United game

Recreativo have Quique Alvarez fit after he missed training...

Xavier Sala Martin who is the President of Barça's economic commission made some highly revealing statements this morning on Radio Catalunya. Sala Matin suggested that some players are not really injured but that they have been separated and isolated from the team. He mentioned no names but suggested they were players who liked "to go out on the town" and were therefore accustomed to training less than their teammates.

Of the players who are currently 'injured' the most obvious targets for this claim are Ronaldinho and Deco. It is strange, certainly, that last week both players were said to have trained with their teammates and then the following day they were both said to be injured again. Whatever the case, Sala Martin's statement will no doubt cause a great deal of debate. Some will ...

Frank Rijkaard has named the same 18-man squad that travelled to Germany, for tomorrow evening's league game at home to Getafe (kick off 9pm). With Ronaldinho out for six weeks and Deco still not recovered from his injury problems there were only 19 first team players fit, and Santi Ezquerro was the player Rijkaard chose to leave out.

Getafe arrive in high spirits after grabbing a well deserved 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich in the Uefa Cup on Thursday, but they have had little time to prepare for tomorrow's game. Coach Michael Laudrup will probably make some changes to the team, and he will definitely be without the goalscorer in Germany, Cosmin Contra, who is suspended for the game. Barça will have bad memories of Nigerian striker Ikechukwu Uche who gave the Barça back four such a hard time in