If you have visited Barcelona in the last 20 years you may well have seen this guy juggling a football at the top end of the Ramblas. His name is Joan Sabaté and he is known as El Maradona de La Rambla, today is his 65th birthday and he is going to retire, though he has said that his final performance will be on April 16th.

In 2005 some fun-lovers at the local council decided to ban him from the Ramblas and he was even arrested, having his ball confiscated. Joan was forced to move elsewhere to perform but he campaigned and finally managed to get the decision overturned and he returned to the Ramblas.

I have seen him countless times on the Ramblas, he always had a look of intense concentration on his face, and in all those years I have never once seen him lose control of the b...

The Comité Español de Disciplina Deportiva (CEDD) have agreed to suspend the closure of Betis's ground. This means that tomorrow's match will take place at Betis's Ruiz Lopera stadium after all, but Betis will still have to play two matches somewhere else at a later date. I have to admit I didn't think the punishment was the correct one, but leaving this decision until 24 hours before the game is a joke and an insult to fans. When will they get their act together?  

Carles Puyol has recovered in time from the injury he received playing for Spain on Wednesday, and has been included in Barça's 18-man squad for tomorrow evening's match against Betis (kick off 8pm). Giovani dos Santos and Santi Ezquerro return to the squad after injury. Giovani hasn't played since the Villarreal game on March 9th while Ezquerro last played in the Copa del Rey against Alcoyano at the start of January. The negative side is that Gabi Milito hasn't recovered in time but hopefully he will be fine for Tuesday's Champions League game at Schalke.

Betis have had an inconsistent season but they have improved a fair bit since losing 3-0 at Camp Nou in November. They beat Real Madrid 2-1 in mid-February and since then they have won two, drawn one and lost two. It is unclear who will play in...

Barça have agreed to play a friendly match with Fiorentina in Florence on July 30th. The match is being held to honour the ex-president of Uefa Artemio Franchi who died in a traffic accident 25 years ago. Franchi was also president of the Italian Football Federation and vice-president of Fifa. The last time Barça played Fiorentina was back in 1999 in the Champions League group stage. Barça won 4-2 at Camp Nou and drew 3-3 in Italy.

Barça's under-11 team proved that at least one thing works at the club, and that is the youth scheme which continues to produce some fantastic players. In a tournament played in  San Pedro del Pinatar the boys restored some pride for Barça by beating Real Madrid 1-0 in the semi final and Valencia 1-0 in the final with a goal from tournament top scorer captain Carlos Aleña (Pictured above with the cup). Eidur Gudjohnsen's son Sveinn formed part of the team.Group Stage:
FC Barcelona 4 - Villarreal 2
FC Barcelona 3 - At. Madrid 0
FC Barcelona 7 - ANEF 0

Semi final:

FC Barcelona 1 - R. Madrid 0

Final

FC Barcelona 1 —-Valencia 0

Ronaldinho has once again been left out of the squad for tomorrow afternoon's game at home to Valladolid (kick off 5pm Spanish time). The official version is that he is still suffering discomfort in the adductor muscle in his right leg, but no doubt there will be many questions asked about the truth of this. Gabi Milito misses the game through suspension and three players from Barça B, Victor Sánchez, Victor Vázquez and Pedrito have again been included in the squad.

Valladolid will have to reorganise in defence as they will be without their two first choice central defenders Garcia Calvo and Iñaki Bea, but apart from that they should be at full strength. They have only won one of their last eight games and are currently 17th in the table with 32 points. However, they are capable of an ...

Barça travel to Almeria without Ronaldinho with a groin strain and Giovani dos Santos who has an ankle injury. This makes a total of nine first team absentees as Messi, Toure, Deco, Marquez, Ezquerro and Jorquera are all out injured and Zambrotta is serving a one-match suspension. Oleguer Presas is fit and back in the squad while Frank Rijkaard has called up Victor Sanchez, Victor Vazquez and Pedrito from Barça B to make up the numbers.

Almeria have Juanma Ortiz and Santiago Acasiete back in the squad and will be at full strength except for the injured right-back Bruno. Since beating Real Madrid at the start of February they have only won one out of five games. However, they are very strong defensively and have an excellent young goalkeeper in Diego Alves, in their last five home matches they...

Today there are general elections in Spain which will decide whether Mariano Rajoy’s right wing Partido Popular or Jose Luis Zapatero’s left wing PSOE will govern Spain for the next four years. I would never wish to use this site for political reasons especially as I find all politicians are either incompetent or corrupt, or both.  However, based simply on football I came across a curious fact. Real Madrid’s nine European Cups have all been won when the right wing were in power in Spain (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1966 under General Franco’s dictatorship, and in 1998, 2000 and 2002 when the Partido Popular were in power). Meanwhile Barça’s two successes in Europe’s maximium competition ha...

Barça entertain Villarreal tomorrow (kick off 9pm) with the need of a win and a good performance to restore belief that Barça can win without Leo Messi. Toure Yaya and Gabi Milito have both been named in the squad and both should make the starting lineup though Toure may need an injection before the game for his back pain. Some might argue that he shouldn't play unless he is at 100% but that is another debate.

Villarreal are almost at full strength after Gonzalo Rodriguez, Cygan, Capdevila and Giusseppe Rossi have all recovered from injury, only Cani and Josico have been ruled out. Rossi has ten goals this season and could replace Guille Franco in attack alongside the ever-dangerous Nihat. Since losing to Barça in the Copa del Rey at the end of January Villarreal have won both the...

Frank Rijkaard has continued with his policy of rotations by leaving out Toure Yaya for tomorrow evening's game at Atletico Madrid (kick off 8pm). Rafa Marquez has still not recovered from his foot injury and Bojan Krkic is also out after picking up a knock against Valencia. There is a return to the squad for Ronaldinho, Sylvinho, Gudjohnsen and Giovani dos Santos.

Atletico have hit a poor run having been knocked out of the Uefa Cup by Bolton Wanderers and losing their last two Liga games. They have injury problems in midfield  (Thiago Motta will be out for another three month with his persistant knee problems), which could mean a debut for 17-year-old Ignacio Camacho. However, they are still a danger going forward where Kun Agüero has been declared fit to continue his partnership with Diego...