According to Catalan sports paper Sport, there is a now a complete certainty that Manchester City’s striker Robinho (25) will not join FC Barcelona during the winter transfer market.

Yesterday, hours before the start of the match between FC Barcelona and Atlante, Barcelona’s  president Joan Laporta held an informal meeting with Shiekh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, the owner of the English Premiership side that lasted for more than an hour.

This meeting, that was speculated to happen by news media especially the two Catalunya based sports papers El Mundo Deportivo and Sport for weeks now,  rather than confirmed the incorporation of the Brazilian player into the Catalan side, is now the opposite.

The club’s president confirmed that out of respect for the team and coaching staff that believe that they have the depth to succeed this season, has decided not to discuss the matter. Laporta also reiterated to the media that the Barcelona entourage has come to Abu Dhabi to support the team competing in the Club World Cup tournament – and if possible win it – and not to make any deals.

Nevertheless, he is not completely ruling out any future dealings should the need arises.

“We know that Barca is playing at a high level and has a great possibility to win the competition, but I hope they do not have the luck of winning the title”

- Gonzalo Higuain

MESSI, UNIQUE!

The crack was barely in the pitch for a minute, scores and settle a semifinal which was static

Atlante 1 – 3 Barça

Iniesta, KO for the final.

Pedro goes down in history. He is the first player ever to score in the six big (official) competitions he plays in, in a single season.

Robinho would accept to come loaned. Laporta met yesterday the Machester City’s owner in Abu Dhabi. The crack’s father negotiated an agreement with Barça 15 days ago.

SUPERMESSI (ENTERS) AND ( THEY QUALIFIED) FOR THE FINAL

Atlante 1 – 3 Barça

Leo entered the pitch and scored after just one minute to settle once for all the win

Pedro made sure of it (the victory) by scoring the third and became the first player to have scored in 6 competitions in a season.

Secret meeting: Laporta – Manchester City: Robinho, almost ruled out.

Lionel Messi ended the Atlante game with discomfort in his right ankle tonight, but hopes to be fully capable to contest the final against Estudiantes de la Plata on Saturday.

The Barcelona striker replaced Yaya Toure in the 54th minute of the match and in just a minute, doubled Barcelona scoreline. The Argentine suffered a Grade 2 ankle sprain against Dynamo Kiev last week, but had his recovery period fast-tracked so he can participate in this Club World Cup tournament.

“I felt good. I played a few minutes, it hurts a bit at the end, but there are a few days to recover again,” the player confessed after the match tonight.

Meanwhile, midfielder Andres Iniesta also ended match with a muscle discomfort and will undergo a medical examination to determine the extent of the injury.

According to the club’s medical services, Iniesta has a discomfort in his left leg’s rectus femoris.

The player is said to be undergoing a medical examination at the team’s hotel in-house medical facilities in Abu Dhabi.

As things stand now, Pep Guardiola is unsure of the player’s availability to play in the final on Saturday.

N.B. The rectus femoris muscle is one of quadriceps muscles. It goes from the hip to the knee and can be used to straighten the knee or lift the knee up. This muscle can rupture or become inflamed at the upper part. The main cause of this is overuse through kicking or explosive movements as in sprint starts.

FC Barcelona hot prospect Pedro Rodriguez Ledesma (22) completed a great move by Andres Iniesta on the left flank to secure Barcelona’s 3-1 win against Mexico’s Atlante in the 67th minute, and book their place in the final of the Club World Cup, and in the process, created history on a personal level; the ‘first’ Barcelona player to have scored in six competitions in a single season. The Catalan club will face Argentinian club Estudiantes on Saturday.

With the goal, the player has now scored in each one of the competitions that the Blaugrana team is participating this 2009 season, which began with the Spanish Super Cup on August 16 (first leg) against Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames (1-2, min.68); opening his account with Barcelona’s second goal.

Twelve days later, he scored the extra–time goal (1-0, min. 115) that secured the European Super Cup for the Catalan club in the final against Shakhtar Donetsk in Monaco.

His streak continues on October 28 in the Copa del Rey when he scored a brace in the opening round match against Cultural Leonesa (0-2, min. 41 and 62).

In the Primera Liga, the Canary-born player has now accumulated a total of 3 goals; scoring the beautifully taken decisive goal against Almeria on October 3 (1-0, min. 31), and scoring a brace in Barcelona’s win over Mallorca on November 7 (4-2, min. 11 and 40).

In the Champions League, Pedrito, as he is known, has so far contributed with two goals; one against Dynamo Kiev on September 29, Barcelona’s second in the match (2-0, min. 76), and the other against Inter Milan, the second goal again (2-0, min. 26) on November 24 . Both goals came at the Camp Nou.

As a point of reference, the player who held the best record before him was Brazilian Giovanni Silva (1996-99), during FC Barcelona’s 1997-98 season. The midfielder scored nine Liga goals, four in the Champions League, two in the Copa del Rey, two in the Spanish Super Cup and one in the European Super Cup.

Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports that Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger refuses Cesc Fabregas to stand for the friendly match of Catalonia against Argentina. He ignores the will of Johan Cruyff, who debuted as coach of the Catalan selection and called up the Arsenal midfielder. Wenger is not obligated to let Fabregas go and won’t allow this either. The French coach already announced this week on the club’s official website that he had not managed to get in contact with Cruyff to discuss the situation.

“There are applications received this month for a dozen players. But I didn’t rest the most basic players last week against Olympiakos in the Champions League to let them play a friendly match,” Wenger said. Wenger reportedly had enough of friendly matches after his star player Robin van Persie got a severe ankle injury last month in the friendly match in the Netherlands national team shirt against Italy.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has once again revealed his intention to lure Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas to the Nou Camp, by proclaiming he and his club are ready to ‘fight’ for the 22-year-old Gunners captain. The Catalan giants have never hidden their admiration for their former youth product and the Sun newspaper claims the European Champions will offer Arsene Wenger £40 million for the Gunners’ talisman at the end of the season.

Fabregas joined Arsenal in September 2003, and he has since established himself as one of the Premier League’s finest imports. In November last year Arsene Wenger appointed the Spanish international as Arsenal’s captain, yet rumours of his move to Spain persist.

Laporta is quoted by the Sun, saying: “Cesc Fabregas is desired by us for many reasons. Barcelona have decided to fight for the kid for next season.”

“The money? This will be decided at the end of March to prepare the way for a deal.”

“Cesc is such a big player.”

“Our intention is to convince the Londoners about the sale. It won't be easy but we have good relations with the Gunners.”

The Sun suggest Barcelona will offer Arsenal a straight up cash bid of £40 million, but should the Gunner reject the bid, the La Liga side will offer a number of their players in exchange most notably Yaya Toure.

Stadium : Zayed Sports City, Abu Dhabi
Capacity : 49,500
Referee : Carlos Simon (BRA)
Managers : Josep Guardiola (Barcelona) , Jose Cruz (Atlante)

Match Statistics
                                                    FCB          Atlante
Total shots (on goal)              14(9)            3(1)
Offsides                                    3                3
Corners                                    9                1
Fouls committed                      16                17
Yellow cards                            2                3
Ball Possesion                        68%              32%

Player Ratings for FC Barcelona

Victor Valdes : Cannot be blamed for the first goal, but pulled off a great 1 on 1 save against Marquez (Atlante), and reacted very well throughout the game, whenever he was called upon.  – 6.5

Daniel Alves : Surged forward at every opportunity, but his crosses did not always meet their intended target. Was slow to react to the Atlante goal, but recovered and did a good job defensively thereafter.  – 6.5

Rafa Marquez : Partly at fault for the goal, but besides that error did not have much to do and distributed the ball forward aeirially on a couple of occasions. A rather uneventful night after the goal.  -  5.5

Carles Puyol : The captain did not have the best game, he was nowhere near where he would have liked to have been for the first goal , but did not make any mistakes from there onwards and had a quiet night as Atlante failed to threaten to score.        – 6

Eric Abidal : The Frenchman’s run of great form continues as he was, again, the best player in the back four. Was strong defensively throughout the game, and also made a couple of darting runs down the flank.    – 6.5

Yaya Toure : He was surrounded by two Atlante players, but managed to get on the end of Xavi’s corner to provide the assist for Busquets goal. Did well to keep possession. Was withdrawn for Messi at 53 minutes as Guardiola opted for more firepower to take control of the game. A strong performance by the Ivorian.  – 7

Sergi Busquets : Was used higher up on the pitch in the first half and did not disappoint, as he scored a goal from inside the box to level the game. Slotted back into his more familiar defensive midfield position when Toure was taken off and did very well to keep ball possesion.  – 7.5

Xavi: The midfield general was not at his defense-splitting best today, but he did what he does better than anyone in the world – keep the ball moving. Orchestrated from the back and was the main reason for Barcelona’s dominance in possesion. His corner led to the first goal.  – 7

Andres Iniesta : San Andres was a huge thorn in the Atlante side. He played some very good one touch passes and made a couple of runs at the defense, among which the assist for Pedro stands out the most. Improved dramatically when he moved back to his normal midfield position in the 2nd half. Linked up very well with Ibrahimovic and his distribution was fantastic, especially in the second half.      – 7.5

Pedro Rodriguez : Will forever remember this day, as the day he made history, becoming the first player to score in six different competitions in a single season. Worked hard chasing the ball and running at the Atlante defense. Was rewarded for his efforts with Iniesta’s through ball and made absolutely no mistake about it as he slotted the ball past the keeper to take his tally to 11 for the season. Very impressive!  – 7

Zlatan Ibrahimovic : The Atlante defenders found it almost impossible to get the ball off him at times. Given a lot of freedom by Guardiola to roam around the pitch and popped up almost everywhere. Showed some brilliant vision, first touches and passing. Found Messi with an unbelievable pin point cross for FC Barcelona’s second goal. His free-kick attempt barely sailed over the bar in the first half and he almost had a goal from 45 yards with a great strike late in the game. Dropped too deep sometimes, but his overall impact on the game was immense. A complete team performance by the striker.  – 8

Substitutes :

Leo Messi : Has proved yet again, why he is the best player on the planet. His impact on the game was instant, as he scored a minute after being introduced by Guardiola. Made a very well timed run through the middle and was picked out by Ibra, and he rounded the keeper to put Barcelona into the lead. Ran at the Atlante defenese and played some perfect passes that provided scoring opportunities.  – 8

Gerard Pique : Was brought in to provide some stability to the backline that looked vulnerable at times and did just that. Did not have much to do defensively and did well bringing the ball out of defense.  – 6

Bojan Krkic : Was eager to get some minutes under his belt , but he will very disappointed with himself after tonight’s performance. Squandered a couple of very good scoring opportunities. Completely missed the ball on the first of those two chances. Did not take his opportunity to break into the starting eleven tonight , but we must keep in mind that he had only 15 minutes to play.    – 5.5

“Everybody likes to see Barcelona play, us included.”

- Kaka, Real Madrid.

FC Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi is confident he’ll be fit enough to play in the Club World Cup final tomorrow, reports Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo.

“It still hurts but I feel fine and I will be able to play the final,” the player said to a reporter’s question.

Intended as a reserve for the final, Messi was forced to be included in the semi-final match on Wednesday when the scoreline calls for it. He was able to play for some 40 minutes without any indication of pain, but considering that he was still under the supervision of physiotherapist Juanjo Brau, and was yet to be given the full clearance by the club doctor, it was a risk that the coach and Messi was willing to take.

After preliminary examination done confirmed that the right ankle was inflamed again, Brau is again given the responsibility to ensure that the Argentine is back to his best condition for the final. Yesterday, he again worked on the beach, playing a little of foot-volleyball with the rest of his teammates, as a form of training session and mental relaxation exercises, and more massage.

Barcelona players realised the match versus Estudiantes will not be anything like the one against Atlante, and the first one to admit that is Messi himself, who knows first-hand his countrymen’s abilities and strength, and especially that of Sebastian Veron, a friend who he admired a lot.

“It will be a rough match because it is an Argentine team, and they have strong legs,” acknowledged the forward.

Other than preparing for the predicted physically tough match, Messi is also of the opinion that to defeat Estudiantes, Barcelona will have to shut his friend down: “Verón is the brain of Estudiantes. He is a player with such great talent, and is capable of directing the team all by himself.”

Speaking to FIFA.com a day after Barcelona’s semi-final match against Mexico’s Atlante, Zlatan Ibrahimovic admitted to feeling the pressure faced by the team even though they were dominating the match, with a scandalously disproportionate ball possession.

“It was no easy match, it was tough,” the Swede said.

“Atlante went ahead after five minute, and that left us to chase the game from the off. That put us under extra pressure – it was a World Cup semi-final after all. We were very patient though and managed to equalise in the first half. After the break we had a bit more room to move the ball around, create more chances and score another two goals, which meant that we could control the game.”

Though Guillermo Rojas’s opener served as a necessary wake-up call for the Catalan side, Pep Guardiola’s men did not panic.

“My first thought was to ’stay patient’. I knew we had to keep calm, create some chances and score some goals, and that’s exactly what we did,” said the 1.91m striker.

To the delight of the 41,000 spectators in the Zayed Sports City Stadium, Barcelona stepped up their game after the break, playing their usual brand of football which totally stifled the Mexicans.

“We’re always looking to create things out on the pitch. Each of us is there to support the others, and that obviously really helps. We’re Barcelona, we help each other out, try to keep the ball moving and create chances.”

“But the most important thing of all is that we win. We’re managing to do that pretty well at the moment, and I hope that we’ll carry on being so successful,” admitted Ibrahimovic, who has already notched 11 goals in 13 Liga matches in the Spanish Primera Division.

The Blaugrana is expecting a battle royal in the final against Copa Libertadores winners Estudiantes de La Plata, and he is not underestimating the Blaugranas opponent.

“We haven’t analysed them yet, but Estudiantes is a strong Argentinian club who have made it through to the final of the Club World Cup,” the striker acknowledged, in line with Pep Guardiola’s insistence that Barcelona will always tackle one match at a time.

Looking ahead to Saturday evening’s showdown in Abu Dhabi, Zlatan confessed further, “It won’t be an easy match – it never is against South American opposition. But we have a good team and I hope that we play the way we did against Atlante, except the first five minutes of course!”

CATCHING THE SIXTH

Barça, very focused,  don’t want to miss this chance to win the Club World Cup and go down in history.

Messi: ‘My ankle still hurts, but I will play the final’

Jaume Ferrer will put himself forward for Barça’s presidency

THE CHAMPION’S STYLE

Barça’s football make everyone in Abu Dhabi fall in love with this team.

Messi: ‘I want the Club World Cup, no matter what’

Training on the beach. The starters relaxed after the tough victory against Atlante.

Pedrito celebrates his historic sixth goal. Unzué (goalkeeper coach) taught Pedro how to beat Vilar.

Iniesta will definitely miss the grand final

Pep told his players that Robinho won’t come. He believes in his squad’s potential and doesn’t need reinforcements.