Barça began the Champions League campaign with a well deserved 3-1 victory over Sporting Lisbon at Camp Nou tonight. Barça dominated from start to finish and today managed to convert three of many chances created. Rafa Marquez scored first with a rare goal from a corner, Samuel Eto'o converted a penalty on the hour to make it 2-0, Sporting then pulled a goal back through Tonel, but man-of-the-match Xavi Hernandez settled things a couple of minutes from the end.

Pep Guardiola had another surprise up his sleeve tonight by playing captain Carles Puyol at left back for what was his 400th official appearance for Barça. Puyol showed his typical...

Pep Guardiola has made four changes to the list of players named for tomorrow night's Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon at Camp Nou. Thierry Henry returns to the squad along with Rafa Marquez, Martin Caceres and Sylvinho. The players left out are Hleb, who will miss three to four weeks with a ligament injury to his left ankle, youngsters Sergio Busquets and Victor Sanchez, and Eric Abidal. Could Guardiola have realized already that Abidal is a weak link, or could it just be part of a general plan to rotate players regularly?

Sporting have won two out of two so far in the Portuguese League this season. Last weekend they had no game and so have had plenty of time to prepare for this game. The most familiar players...

Young striker Bojan Krkic has been called up by Vicente Del Bosque for Spain's senior squad for the coming games against Armenia and Bosnia. Bojan has been called in to replace Fernando Torres who was injured yesterday in Liverpool's game against Aston Villa. The international break meant that there were only six players at training today: Pinto, Sylvinho, Gudjohnsen, Victor Sanchez, Dani Alves and Victor Valdés. Gudjohnsen will join up with the Iceland squad on Wednesday, while Samuel Eto'o, who was given permission to miss training today, should be back on Wednesday as tomorrow is a rest day. The team will continue as a reduced group until September 12 when...

Barça will have no complaints after being drawn against Sporting Lisbon, Basel and Shakhtar Donetsk in the group stage of this season's Champions League. With the likes of Juventus (who are in Real Madrid's group), Roma and Bayern Munich as possible rivals we have to admit to a relatively easy group. As I write the full calender has not been announced but the first games will be played on the 16th and 17th of September and the final games take place on the 9th and 10th of December.

Group A
Chelsea
Roma
Bordeaux
CFR Cluj

Group B
Inter Milan
Werder Bremen
Panathinaikos
Anorthosis...

Barça qualified for the group stage of the Champions League tonight but the alarm bells will be ringing after a poor performance which saw the first defeat for the team under Pep Guardiola. A goal from Brazilian defender Cleber gave Wisla a 1-0 win on the night though Barça go through 4-1 on aggregate.

There were few problems for either goalkeeper early on, but Wisla had the better chances. On 12 minutes mistakes from Abidal and then Puyol led to a shot from 25 yards from Diaz which went straight at Valdés. Then after 20 minutes Valdés made a mess of a Piqué backpass and ended up clearing straight to the feet of a Wisla forward who chipped the ball back in only for the ball to drift wide of the far...

Having won the first game 4-0 Barça go into the return leg in Poland without the need to recall Leo Messi who has been given a rest after competing in the Olympic Games. However, Barça are treating the game with the respect that  Champions League qualification deserves, and despite the comfortable lead Dani Alves and Martin Caceres both return to the squad after missing the game against Boca Juniors through injury.

Reserve team goalkeeper Ruben Miño is also included in the squad in case Jose Manuel Pinto doesn't recover in time from a slight injury to his right elbow. Pedro continues in the squad and with Messi being left out he may...

Football Club Barcelona took a giant step towards the next round of the Champions League with a 4-0 win over Wisla Krakow at Camp Nou tonight. Samuel Eto'o who looked to be on his way out of the club scored twice and there were goals too from the excellent Xavi Hernandez and from an improved Thierry Henry

Barça had to wait until the 14th minute for the first decent chance when Xavi's free kick found Henry unmarked but the Frenchman's header was well saved. Then Barça began to turn up the rhythm. In the 18th minute Marquez dribbled out of defence before sending a great pass through to Eto'o as the defence looked for offside, Eto'o ran on to beat the keeper with a left-footed shot into the...

Pep Guardiola has named the 22 players available for tonight's vital Champions League first leg tie with Wisla Krakow. But the best news was the announcement from Guardiola that Samuel Eto'o will stay at the club this season "because he wants it and I want it" This is an excellent boost for us all going into the new season, no more idle talk of Drogba or Adebayor, we have the best and he's staying with us.

Barça will have to guard against complacency after showing great form in the five friendly games so far. A slip up tonight would have catastrophic consequences at the club which could ultimately effect the team for the entire season. The fact that the last time Wisla visited Camp...

With the crucial Champions League qualifier against Wisla Krakow just four days away Barça returned to the Miniestadi this morning to continue preparation for the match. Barça will also have a training session this afternoon at 18.30. Tomorrow the players will train only in the morning (9.30) but on Monday they will return to the routine of training twice a day. Today's sessions are expected to be light given that the players are still recovering from the effects of jet lag but the intensity of the sessions will increase towards match day.

For many this game may seem like a pushover but the importance of the game is undeniable. Should Barça slip up and get knocked out it would be a sporting,...

After some initial reports that Barça were trying to get either Beitar Jerusalem or Wisla Krakow to agree to playing the second leg at Camp Nou, it has now been confirmed that the first leg of the Champions league qualifier will take place at Camp Nou on August 13. The 2nd leg will be played on Aug 26/27.

Meanwhile Barça are in New York preparing for tomorrow night's game against the New York Red Bulls. Barça trained in Central Park and also had representatives at the opening of Wall Street today. They are publicising an excellent campaign to combat malaria called "Malaria No More", I have to say that things like this make me proud to be a...