Naijabarcelonalovers

Paris Saint-Germain right-back Serge Aurier admits reports of Barcelona interest are "a pleasure to hear," but the Ivory Coast international insists his "future is still in Paris." Speaking with TF1's telefoot, the 23-year-old emphasised he intends to honour his current contract with the French champions and is not planning a departure anytime soon. "I have three years of contract left," Aurier said. "I will continue to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world." Aurier has often found himself in the headlines for a variety of reasons this year, most recently for a gesture made when celebrating a goal he assisted for the Ivory Coast. On top of that, Mali coach Alain Giresse and national team coordinator Fousseni Diawara praised Aurier for helping to save Moussa Doumbia's after he suffered an epileptic fit during the match. Former PSG player Clement Chantome, who knows Aurier, recently said he was concerned about the defend...

Gerard Pique insists the cost to assemble Barcelona's squad means there can be no excuse for Saturday's 0-0 draw against Malaga, despite the absence of star duo Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. The Catalans failed to score at home for the first time since February 2015 as they played out a goalless draw with Malaga. Messi missed the clash due to illness, while Suarez was sidelined due to suspension. Pique, however, refused to use the missing pair as an excuse after Barca fell four points behind leader and arch-rival Real Madrid. "We're Barca and we can't blame absences," he told reporters after the match. "We have players that cost a lot of money and a huge budget if we compare it with Malaga's. There are no excuses for not winning. "It's worrying that we've dropped so many points at home. No one wants to draw against a rival that in theory we should beat. "We've dropped two points."

Paco Alcacer started for FC Barcelona against Malaga. The Valencian forward had a new chance to score his first goal for the club and show he is the right man to be the fourth striker behind the MSN. With Luis Suarez suspended he was picked in his favoured central spot.  A statistic from Carles Domenech of La TDP showed that he did not touch the ball between the 10th and 41st minutes of the game. 31 minutes that he was out of the game for. On more than one occasion he was seen in offside positions and he did not link up well with his team-mates Arda Turan and Neymar Jr in the forward line. As you can see from this heat-map, Paco Alcacer was barely involved in the game and moved around to the pitch to get involved, but failed to do achieve that aim. It was the latest opportunity he could not take 

Luis Enrique has received some good news regarding injuries at last. After missing many of his star men for weeks, he finally is recovering them. Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba, half of his first-choice defence, are fit to play for the first time in a month, both of whom were injured against Manchester City. Finally Aleix Vidal is fit again too after suffering some adductor problems ahead of the Catalan Super Cup. Three players who Luis Enrique can use to relieve the strain on his current defence, who have been playing several games lately without the chance to be rested.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi will help Neymar to become the world's best player, according to former Brazil international Mazinho. Neymar, 24, helped his country to win the gold medal at the 2016 Olympics but finished third behind teammate Messi and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo in the Ballon d'Or in 2015. But Mazinho, who won the 1994 World Cup with Brazil, insists that the winger is not far away from being considered the best around. "Neymar will be the best in the world in the near future," he told  Globo Esporte . "Every great player helps another great player. Messi helps Neymar a lot and Neymar is already one of the best. Messi will help him become the best in the world." Brazil have not won the World Cup since 2002 and Mazinho also insisted that Neymar would have a big part to play in Russia 2018 -- with the country sitting four points clear atop the CONMEBOL qualifying standings. "He's the biggest talent we have in Brazili...

Barcelona's Lionel Messi will help Neymar to become the world's best player, according to former Brazil international Mazinho. Neymar, 24, helped his country to win the gold medal at the 2016 Olympics but finished third behind teammate Messi and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo in the Ballon d'Or in 2015. But Mazinho, who won the 1994 World Cup with Brazil, insists that the winger is not far away from being considered the best around. "Neymar will be the best in the world in the near future," he told  Globo Esporte . "Every great player helps another great player. Messi helps Neymar a lot and Neymar is already one of the best. Messi will help him become the best in the world." Brazil have not won the World Cup since 2002 and Mazinho also insisted that Neymar would have a big part to play in Russia 2018 -- with the country sitting four points clear atop the CONMEBOL qualifying standings. "He's the biggest talent we have in Brazili...

A leading conservation group has called on  Barcelona  to use its new £200million sponsorship deal with Japanese company Rakuten to help stamp out the ivory trade. The Spanish champions  this week announced a four-year partnership with the Tokyo-based e-commerce site,  who in 2014 were revealed as being the world's biggest seller of ivory and whale meat. Rakuten say they no longer allow the sale of whale products on their marketplace, but the Mirror has found whale meat available on the Japanese version of the site.