Pep Guardiola's Barça B got off to a good start in the play off semi final for promotion by gaining a 0-0 draw at Castillo. The 2nd leg of the tie will be played next Sunday June 1 at the Miniestadi. Barça's team today was: Oier, Córcoles, Víctor Sánchez (min. 5, Valiente), Chico, Espasandín, Busquets, Dimas, Abraham (min. 63, Víctor Vázquez), Pedrito, Guerra (min. 65, Xavi Torres), Jeffren.

Yesterday Argentina beat Catalunya 0-1 at Camp Nou. Victor Valdés played very well for the 45 minutes he played, while Gerard Piqué also did well playing the first half in the defensive midfield role. Leo Messi appeared for 70 minutes for Argentina.

According to today's El Sport Barça have come to an agreement for one of AC Milan's players but no names were mentioned. I have to sa...

Barça president Joan Laporta replied to questions on many aspects of FC Barcelona in a lengthy TV interview this evening on Catalan television's gol a gol programme. He apologised for things not going as hoped for this season and also apologised for the speech he made on April 6th as well as an incident in the director's box at Manchester where he was filmed reacting like a fan would to a bad refereeing decision. Perhaps what was most surprising about the interview was Laporta talking about the pressure he has to put up with due to a campaign against him which includes being followed by private investigators, hidden microphones, and being threatened. We all remember how ...

One of the great things about Football Club Barcelona is the fact that it is a club owned by its members. Every four years the members can vote for one of the members to be president of the club. In the club's statutes there also exists the right to challenge the current president with a vote of no confidence. This morning Barça member Oriol Giralt officially presented a motion for a vote of no confidence against Joan Laporta.

According to the club statutes the club have to prepare the petition forms for Giralt who will then have fourteen days in which he needs to collect signatures of at least 5% of the clubs members. If he succeeds then there will be a referendum in which Giralt's group will need to obtain two-thirds of the votes for the vote of no confidence to succeed. If this happens...

Joan Laporta gave a press conference this evening to confirm what had been so disgracefully leaked to the press on Monday. Pep Guardiola will take over from Frank Rijkaard as first team coach at the end of the season.

Some parts of the press have been trying to stir up the public today into a mass protest at Sunday's game for the poor form of the team. I hope the fans have more sense and use the occasion to pay homage to one of Barça's most successful coaches. Frank Rijkaard may have made mistakes but he always behaved in an exemplary and dignified manner. I wish him every success in the future.

FC Barcelona have reported the theft of president Joan Laporta's computer. The theft took place on Wednesday night during the game with Manchester United. The thief was caught on security camaras climbing into Laporta's office through a window. The club found out on Thursday morning and immediately reported the theft to the police.

Any guesses as to who might be behind such a crime?

Joan Laporta made an emotional speech this afternoon to a group of Barça fans, asking the fans to ignore the criticisms that have been made recently. At times Laporta's voice was raised to a shout as he accused some in the press of hypocrisy as they say they are with Barça but it reality they have other interests. He insisted that Barça can still win both La Liga and the Champions League and called for unity within the club.

He also spoke of Barça's style and indicated that certain coaches with a style that was not Barça's would not be coming to the club. Finally he talked about the healthy economic situation of the club saying that Barça were one of the three richest clubs in the world and that Barça had never been in such a good economic position. Here's a link for the whole story from the...

Barça president Joan Laporta has reportedly offered the players a special bonus to beat Valencia tomorrow night. Laporta talked to the players for twenty minutes with the agreement of Frank Rijkaard and Txiki Begiristain, and asked for unity and that the players should isolate themselves from external comments. Laporta is supposedly worried that a failure to reach the Copa del Rey final could have a disastrous effect on the remainder of the season.

While I applaud Laporta for taking the initiative to try to get the most out of the players, I do wonder how much he himself has been influenced by the external comments from the press after Sunday's draw at Almeria. I also have to question whether a bit of extra cash to players who already earn millions will really make any difference. While ...

I know this is yesterday's news but I didn't have time to comment on the board of directors' decision to stand by Frank Rijkaard at least until the end of this season. Firstly, I am pleased with the decision, I have stated many times that changing the coach mid-season is rarely the solution. Things would have to be much worse for that to happen.

In my opinion, if Barça had been knocked out of the Champions League and were not in the top four then a decision might have to be taken, always assuming you have someone talented in mind to take over. Sometimes a coach loses the support of the players and this can also be a reason for change. I am happy that the directors do not follow a knee-jerk policy with managers: patience and stability is the key to success.

Joan Laporta may have h...

You have probably already heard about the new organization set up to represent the interests of the clubs. The G14 is to be disbanded and replaced by the European Clubs Association (ECA) which will represent 103 clubs from 53 different football associations. Karl Heinze Rummenigge from Bayern Munich will be ECA's first president and Barça's Joan Laporta will be vice-president. AC Milan, Chelsea, Ajax and Lyon will have board members. Elections will be held at the end of the current season. Rummenigge and Laporta will also get to form part of Uefa's executive committee but they will not have a right to vote.

There are four main agreements that the clubs have made with Fifa and Uefa concerning international football. First, Fifa and Uefa have agreed to put a fund of €174 million toward...

According to the Catalan TV station TV3, Joan Laporta has given Frank Rijkaard a type of ultimatum to get the team working in line with the quality of the players. The report suggested that Rijkaard has until October 7th to turn things around.

In a press conference later in the day, Rijkaard claimed he did not feel "questioned" by the board of directors. He also appealed for unity and for the public to support the players. Rijkaard claimed that poor performances against Racing and Osasuna could be put down to tiredness caused by international compromises.

The report may have some truth in it, but one has to ask - if it is true, who leaked the story to the press? Personally, I can understand why Rijkaard is being questioned, but I hope he can sort things out and continue at the c...