Frank Rijkaard has decided to rest Thierry Henry and Deco for tomorrow's game against bottom of the table Levante (kick off 7pm, local time). With Rafa Marquez also missing the game with a bruised foot, there is a return to the squad for Zambrotta, Edmilson and Bojan. There could be some big names starting on the bench as Rijkaard looks to keep his players fresh for Wednesday's Copa del Rey game with Valencia. However, he could just as easily rest players against Valencia as the following game next Saturday is away to Atletico Madrid.

Levante have problems both on and off the pitch. Their players have been having problems to get paid, and this week there are all sorts of stories about whether one of their biggest shareholders is giving up his shares or not. Don't ask me to explain it ...

In a report from the Economics, Sports and Intangibles Research Group at the University of Navarra, Football Club Barcelona have been declared to have the highest "media value" of any football club. I have to admit that I wasn't going to run this story after seeing the ten most valuable signings had Thierry Henry in second place while Gabi Milito was placed sixth in the ten least valuable signings. But hey, I suppose they are only judging this on media value, not on value to the team. For those of you interested here's a link to the report - http://www.unav.es/econom/sport/index.php?section=1

I couldn't help laughing as El Sport made another fine mess in their attempt to understand the play on Leo Messi's name in the British press yesterday. They claim that there are many possible ways to put a double meaning on our little striker's surname based on the verb "to miss". They then try to make sense of headlines such as "Celtic in a mess" suggesting it means something like Celtic were missing something.

It gets even funnier when they look at The Sun's "Strachan in a fine Messi" because they also choose to confuse their poor readers by pointing out that "fine" can also mean different things such as "a punishment". God knows what the non-English speaking readers made of it all. You would think they could have found someone in the office with a slightly better grasp of Engli...

The city of Barcelona is organizing a meeting point for Celtic fans near the fountains on Montjuic close to Plaça Espanya. According to the organisers there will be bars and food stalls, football "activities", a giant TV screen showing football, as well as luggage lockers. This is an obvious attempt to avoid the scenes caused by Rangers fans last October. I just hope they remember to provide some portaloos. For more information visit the club's official website.

The LFP have announced the kick off times for Jornada 26. Barça's game at the Calderón with Atletico has been scheduled for Saturday 1st with an 8pm kick off. For the first time this season Barça and Real Madrid will play their matches at the same hour (Madrid are away to Recreativo), so you had better check which game they are showing where you watch football.

The LFP have announced the kick off times for next weekend's 25th round of La Liga. Barça's game at home to Levante has been set for Sunday 24th with a kick off time of 7pm. Real Madrid who are at home to Getafe kick off later at 9pm. There's still time to organize that mad Saturday night party that you have had to put off for the last two weeks.

Frank Rijkaard has only fifteen first team players available after Deco and Sylvinho dropped out today. Deco took a knock on the ankle playing for Portugal on Wednesday and Sylvinho has a muscle strain in his right leg. They join Toure, Eto'o, Bojan, Zambrotta, Puyol, Ezquerro and Jorquera on the absentee list. Three players from Barça B (all called Victor!)  have been called up to complete the 18-man squad.

We have seen Victor Sanchez against Alcoyano, and Victor Vazquez who played and scored in the Copa Catalunya against Gimnastic in September, but this is a first call up for 22-year-old left back Victor Espasandin who has been drafted in to cover for the loss of Sylvinho.

Sevilla are also missing players, but Palop is back in goal, and Kanoute and Keita are back from the Africa...

The LFP have announced the kick off times for next weekend's games. Barça's game at Zaragoza has been set once again for 10pm on Saturday. This means the game will be televised live on Spanish TV, probably on La Sexta and TV3. Real Madrid will also play on Saturday kicking off their game at Betis at 8pm. You may now organize your lives. 

Not the best news for Barça today as the yellow card that Dani Alves received in Sevilla's win at Recreativo has been overturned by our friends at the Real Federación Española de Fútbol. The card would have meant Alves missing Saturday's clash with Barça; however, Sevilla's appeal was successful.

On the plus side, Sevilla will be without central defender Aquivaldo Mosquera who was sent off at Recreativo. Sevilla are also still without Javi Navarro, Crespo and Chevanton who are all injured. However, with Palop back in goal and the return of Keita and Freddie Kanoute from the African Cup of Nations, Sevilla will be much stronger than when we faced them in the Copa del Rey. Sevilla usually play very well at home to the big teams (this season, with all their problems th...

You can thank my Dad for telling me about this article and interview with our little Argentinian maestro Leo Messi. I thought I'd share it with you. I've added links below to the goals mentioned at the start of the article.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,2249095,00.html

Messi's hat-trick against Madrid

Messi versus Getafe

Messi against Mexico