Good news today as Deco trained normally without any problems. Deco didn't feel right during the warm-up to last night's match with Stuttgart, and decided it was better not to take any risks. Toure Yaya also trained with the other players and should be available for Saturday's game at Valencia.

Ronald Koeman's Valencia will be without striker David Villa who was injured in Tuesday's Champions League game at Chelsea. Valencia will also be without defender Raul Albiol, while Joaquin is doubtful. It's not all bad news for Koeman; Edu, Baraja, Angulo and Albelda are all recovering well from their injuries and could be in line to play against Barça. Valencia have won only one game in seven since Koeman took over as coach.

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Toure Yaya is suffering from flu and could miss Sunday's game with Deportivo. The Ivory Coast midfielder has missed the last two days of training and may not recover in time for the match. He is said to have fever, migraine and an inflammation of the sinuses. The return of Deco is also under question; despite training normally at the same level as his teammates he has still not received medical clearance. Whether this is just a mix-up with the team doctors is unclear, hopefully he will be given the OK in time. I imagine he will start the game as a substitute along with Samuel Eto'o.

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It now seems likely that neither Samuel Eto'o nor Deco will be fit in time for the derby match with Espanyol at the start of December. Both players are looking to the weekend of the 8/9 December, when Barça play host to Deportivo, to make their comebacks. Barça will have to make do without them for the games at home to Recreativo (Sat 24th Nov), the Champions League game at Lyon (Tuesday 27th) and the game at Espanyol (1/2 Dec).

If this is the case Barça will only have Eto'o for six games (4 in the league, Stuttgart in the Champions League, and the return cup game with Alcoyano) before he will be off to play for Cameroon in the African Nations Cup. Toure Yaya will also be away for the ANC but by then Jose Edmilson should be fit as a possible substitute. Rumours in England suggest Edmilson may le...

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Apologies to those of you who are bored of me writing about Rangers fans, here is today's latest Barça news. First, congratulations to Victor Valdés for breaking the Barça record for not conceding a goal in European competition for 466 minutes. The last goal he conceded was scored by Riise for Liverpool back in February. The previous record of 406 minutes was set by Valentí Mora in the 1970s.

Barça have some injury doubts for tomorrow's game at Getafe (kick off 8pm). Andres Iniesta suffered a ligament problem in his left knee in the game against Rangers but is expected to travel. Rafa Marquez was all set to start against Rangers but he suffered a strain in his right calf muscle in the warm up to the game, which is why Thuram played. The doctors will decide today if he can be included for tomorro...

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There were mixed fortunes for Barça players in the latest international matches. Ronaldinho came out better than Rafa Marquez as Brazil beat Mexico 3-1 in Boston, Giovani dos Santos came on as sub for the last 16 minutes.

Xavi scored Spain's opening goal in their 2-0 win over Latvia, Andres Iniesta played most of the second half after coming on as sub for David Villa. There was also a successful night for Zambrotta who played all 90 minutes of Italy's 1-2 win in the Ukraine. 

Leo Messi had a good game, hitting the post and setting up Argentina's goal, scored by Demichelis, in the 1-0 win over Australia in Melbourne. And Eidur Gudjohnsen played his first match since his injury, coming on in the 53rd minute of Iceland's 2-1 win over Northern Ireland.

There was a poor night, however, for Thuram ...

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Ronaldinho Gaucho capped a fine performance with a goal in Brazil's 4-2 win over USA in yesterday's friendly match. Ronnie also played a part in Brazil's first two goals. First he set up Kaka to shoot and the goalkeeper's save rebounded off a defender for an own goal. Lucio then headed home a Ronaldinho corner to put Brazil 2-1 up early in the second half. Ronnie's goal came in the 75th minute when he converted a free kick.

In the weekend's other international games, Iniesta came on as sub to save a point for Spain with a late goal in the 1-1 draw in Iceland, Xavi and Gudjohnsen played the 90 minutes.

Zambrotta, Abidal, Thuram and Thierry Henry all played in the 0-0 draw between Italy and France. Henry picked up a booking and will now miss France's game against Scotland through suspension. Deco played 90 mi...

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/gabriele_marcotti/article1963015.ece  

This has been on various sites but I thought I'd give it the Barça angle. Five Barça players make the top 21 places which is pretty impressive. Messi should be higher than ninth and perhaps Eto'o is a bit high at fourth. What I can't understand is there's no place for Xavi, Iniesta or Deco while Cesc Fabregas is 18th. Losing Fabregas was a shame for Barça but I think he made the right decision because he still wouldn't have got into Barça's team today.

Another flaw in the list is making Sergio Ramos of Madrid 13th. Above Puyol!? Are you ma...

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Deco and Belletti have both had to abandon Barça's tour of Asia for distinct reasons. Belletti pulled a muscle in training yesterday and has returned to Barcelona to rest. He will be out for a week to ten days. Deco has flown to Sao Paulo where his wife Jacciara has given birth to their fourth child, a boy called David. Deco has permission to spend a few days in Brazil from where he will return to Barcelona to continue training with the players who played in the Copa America, Messi, Milito and Marquez.

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Sporting Director, Txiki Begiristain, confirmed today at Eric Abidal's presentation, that Anderson Luis de Souza Deco is not for sale. This was in reply to a story run in "The Times" yesterday, that said that Deco could be involved in an exchange deal that would bring Frank Lampard to Barcelona and see Deco move to Chelsea.

Txiki also confirmed that Sylvinho would be staying at the club, but he was less clear about the future of Belletti, "We'll have to wait and see what happens."

Finally, Begiristain denied that the club had received an offer for Jose Edmilson from Newcastle United. Edmilson is in the first stage of recovery after his knee ligament operation last week, he is not expected to be fit again for at least five months.  

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In the last couple of days I've claimed that Deco has been poor at times this season, and I've also stated that I see no reason to sell him. Then in one of the papers today there is a story saying that Deco is on Barça's 'out' list. If the story is true then I feel Barça may well be making a mistake.

Deco was one of the pillars of the team in his first two seasons. His drop in form this season may be due to external factors that can be overcome; it may be due to the poor pre-season, lack of rest after last summer's World Cup; or he could, of course, simply be past his best.

Some will suggest that with Xavi and Iniesta we don't need Deco. However, if Deco was sold how much could Barça expect to get for him? Probably no more than €10M and then you would have to buy a replacement. Looking at the price that Man Utd have paid for Owen Hargreaves (€25M) or Bayern Munich for Franck Ribery (€26M), it would not be cheap, and at the end of the d...

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