Naijabarcelonalovers

Leganes, playing in their first season in the top flight of Spanish football, have seen their ups and downs this season. Leganes are playing in their first season in La Liga after 88 seasons hopping from the Segunda División to the Tercera División many times. They finished 2nd in Segunda B last season which led to the greatest achievement in the history of the club. Now, the  Pipeneros  (cucumber growers) are adjusting to life in the Primera División. The club has seen a lot of difficult results this season. However, those results were expected as they are a newly promoted team. Despite the tough start, Leganes got some great results. 4 points out of 9 to start their season had their fans thinking positive. Their first La Liga victory ever came against Celta Vigo earlier in the season, 1-0. With every win they achieve, its new history that is added to the club and that is great to see. In addition, every loss has their fans thinking about being sent back down. A lot of...

Barcelona suffered an embarrassing 4-0 defeat from Unai Emery’s PSG at Parc des Princes. Here are a few final thoughts on this match.  Barcelona Manager Luis Enrique has run out of Ideas. Lucho was quite impressive in his debut season of 2014-15 winning the treble in style. He changed the way Barcelona used to control the game with the introduction of high-speed counter attacks. It was arguably the best idea when you have fearsome world-class players at your disposal. But as the year passed by, Barcelona became too predictive to opponents. There was no Xavi to control the midfield alongside Iniesta. Last season, we won the double but it was starting signs that Enrique has nothing new to offer. This season has been a see-saw case from the start as we have won the games but with individual brilliance. But the way Barcelona played against PSG was clear indication that Catalans had no tactical ideas to deal with them. Luis Enrique can be considered best manager for the trophies ...

French defender Samuel Umtiti has become a fan favorite in Barcelona due to his great talent. The Catalans reached their 4th consecutive CDR final thanks to the strong defensive play on display. Apart from Cillessen, Samuel Umtiti was the standout performer in a game which was one of the best games in recent time. The maturity and calmness shown by the young player is an indication that he will go a long way. Already, he is a fan favorite and if he continues like this, will stand a chance to be a great player for Catalans. Since the day legendary defender Carles Puyol decided to hang up his boots, there was a void at center back. Even though Javier Mascherano has been used with Gerard Pique, this was not the natural position of the Argentine. He impressed everyone with his work ethics but still, Luis Enrique was in search of the specialist player. And on 12 July 2016, the Catalans signed a young 23-year-old center back Samuel Umtiti from Olympique Lyon. The Cameroon-born Frenchm...

had a pretty comfortable tune-up fight for the UEFA Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain with a dominant 6-0  La Liga  victory on the road against Alavés. The  Blaugrana  controlled the entire match and scored plenty of goals to increase the confidence ahead of the trip to Paris, and for a few hours climb to the top of the  La Liga  table. But the game ended with a sad note, as Aleix Vidal suffered a gruesome injury that ends his season. FIRST HALF Alavés had basically a reserve team on the pitch after their  Copa del Rey  heroics in midweek, and the hosts decided to stay deep and close to their goal, giving Barça the ball and hoping to not open any gaps for the  Blaugrana  to exploit. The visitors were patient in possession and created some good chances, but they had to wait until the end of the half to find the goals. First, a nicely worked team move ended with Aleix Vidal firing a perfect cross on the ground for S...

Luis Enrique said that he was nervous until the final whistle of the 1-1 draw between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Barcelona drew with Atletico Madrid 1-1 at Camp Nou on Tuesday night. Despite that result, it was enough for Barcelona to advance to the Copa Del Rey final once again. The Blaugrana managed to win 2-1 at the Vicente Calderon. That result was the difference in the tie as Barca won 3-2 on aggregate. Despite the success throughout the tie, manager Luis Enrique was nervous about Atleti and rightfully so. Atletico have provided Barca with many tough tests over the last few years. Lucho has been defeated by Diego Simeone’s men before. However, that was not the case this time around as Barcelona are through to the final. They’ll be looking for their third consecutive Copa Del Rey championship. Luis Enrique talked about what he was feeling during the pressure packed tie with Atletico Madrid. “I don’t like these type of games, they do a lot of damage to me,” said the coach...

Luis Enrique is not confident that Barcelona will win the appeal for the red card given to Luis Suarez at the end of the 1-1 draw between Barca and Atletico Madrid. In a big match like this one, there has to be controversy and there certainly was when Barcelona and Atletico Madrid met for a spot in the Copa Del Rey final. Luis Suarez apparently fouled Atletico Madrid’s Koke near the end of the match. For this challenge, Suarez was shown a red card and will miss the final (barring the results of the appeal). The match ended 1-1 which is why Barca will be in the Copa Del Rey final in a couple of months. However, El Pistolero still thinks that he is innocent and didn’t foul Koke. Despite Suarez being suspended for the moment, Barcelona can and will appeal the booking. They are doing this so that the play can be reviewed and hopefully overturned. If this is the case, Suarez will be able to play in the final. However, Barca have a history of not winning appeals for these situations. Ma...

Javier Mascherano suffered a hamstring injury during the second leg of Barcelona’s Copa Del Rey semifinal against Atletico Madrid. Amidst the controversy in the Barcelona-Atletico Madrid Copa Del Rey semifinal tie, there was some injury concern for the Catalans. This time, the injury news is about Javier Mascherano. On Wednesday, it was confirmed that the Argentine suffered a hamstring injury. A statement released by Barcelona said that there is no timetable for his return. However, he could be out for a couple of weeks. This will depend on how he recovers and how quick he progresses. Here is the statement released by the club. “The FC Barcelona medical staff have confirmed after tests carried out on Javier Mascherano that the first team player has a left thigh injury,” the statement said. “His return to action will depend on his recovery. The Argentine came on in the 62nd minute of the game against Atlético at Camp Nou in place of Denis Suárez.  Mascherano managed to finish t...