At the halfway stage in the Spanish league season, Barça is unbeaten and heading the table with 49 points out of a possible 57, having scored 49 goals and conceded just 10. An impeccable start to the season. The stats speak for themselves.

- Barça has scored the most goals and conceded the fewest.

- Messi is the league’s leading scorer (15 goals). He scores a goal every 88 minutes on average. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is third with 11 goals.

- Barça has produced 129 shots on goal, 8 fewer than Real Madrid. If we include all shots, Barça is third with 287.

- Messi has had 38 shots on target, just three behind Villa (41). Including all shots, he is 6th with 63.

- Barça has received the fewest shots (53). In second place in this particular ranking come Sevilla and Osasuna (71). Atletico Madrid has received the most (114).

- Barça has made 563 crosses into the box, the fourth best in the league. Sevilla have the best record with 627. Xavi is sixth in the individual ranking of crosses into the box.

- Xavi also provides the most assists (53, 1 every 31.25 minutes).

- Barça is third in the ranking of total assists (192). Real Madrid is first with 240. However, Barça enjoy a clear lead in assists that finish with a goal (38), 14 more than Real Madrid.

- Messi is in second place when it comes to goal assists (7). Alves (6), Ibra (5) and Xavi (4) all figure in the top ten.

- Barça lead the way in completed passes with 10,359 (almost 2000 more than second placed Real Madrid).

- Xavi is the best individual passer of the ball with 1389 completed passes (1 every 1.19 minutes). Xabi Alonso is second but has completed 379 fewer passes. Barça has five players in the top ten (Alves (985), Piqué (877), Busquets (861) and Puyol (825)).

Fair Play Barça

- No Barça player features among the top ten bad boys of the Spanish league. In fact, the team has received the fewest cards (32). Malaga has the worse record with 68.

- Neither are there any Barça players in the top ten of fouls committed (265) – in fact only two teams have committed fewer fouls – Jerez (259) and Deportivo (256).

- Barça endures 15.53 fouls per match. The leader is Villarreal, who receive no fewer than 19.26 fouls per match.

- Busquets (41), Messi (38) and Iniesta (38) are the Barça players who have been fouled most. Diego Costa (Valladolid) is the leader with 63.

Barcelona starlet Jeffren Suarez (22) is at the centre of a Premier League tug of war between Everton, Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United according to reports in the Spanish press.

Reports suggest that West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola has joined the race for the 22-year-old Spanish winger after missing out on former Chelsea and Barcelona front-man Eidur Gudjohnsen, who looks set to complete a loan to Tottenham Hotspur until the end of the season.

The Daily Mail confirmed speculation this morning that Everton boss David Moyes and Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce were tracking the highly rated Venezuelan born Spanish youth international.

Moyes is keen to bring in more reinforcements to Goodison Park after signing Arsenal Swiss defender Phillipe Senderos and LA Galaxy’s Landon Donovan on loan, while Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce is desperate to strengthen his ranks having only confirmed Yildiray Bastürk on a pay as you play deal from German Bundesliga club Stuttgart.

The 22-year-old Jeffren who emigrated from Venezuala in 2003 to join Spanish club Tenerife was picked up by Barcelona scouts in 2004 and signed for the Catalan club. The highly rated tricky winger has found opportunities at Barcelona limited impressing for the majority in the Barcelona B side. The youngster is still eligible to play for Venezuela and Spain, but has yet to commit to either at full international level.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has looked closely at the youngster’s development being previously linked with a move for the starlet on a number of occasions in the Spanish press. While Sevilla and Celtic have also shown their interest in the youngster.

Barcelona are unwilling to sell Jeffren but are willing to allow the player to leave on loan until the end of the season.

Tottenham Hotspur have emerged as the favourites to sign the former Barcelona forward Eidur Gudjohnsen (31).

It had been thought that the Iceland international was heading to West Ham United but it now seems as though he will move to White Hart Lane on loan for the rest of the season from Monaco.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp said: “We’ve been talking about him for nearly two weeks and, when we heard West Ham were interested, we made our move.

“We aren’t paying a penny more than West Ham were offering him. Two identical deals were on the table. In the end it was a straight choice for Eidur.”

The 31-year-old had already undergone a medical at Upton Park and appeared on course to join Gianfranco Zola’s squad so Spurs’ late interest has annoyed the club’s new co-owner David Sullivan.

French paper L’equipe report that spurs chairman Daniel Levy personally called Gudjohnson to discuss the move, and it is this phone call which convinced the 31 year old to snub the interest from West Ham in favour of a move to White Hart Lane.

He said: “We thought we had a deal and the player even had a medical. We then heard that Tottenham were trying to speak to the player. I can’t say I’m happy about it but I believe in Karma and what goes around, comes around.”

Xavi Hernández has praised Leo Messi’s good record of behaviour on the pitch and rejected any comparison with the incident that saw Cristiano Ronaldo sent off in Sunday’s match between Real Madrid and Malaga.

The Spanish FA handed Ronaldo a two-match ban on Tuesday for the incident in Sunday’s league match between Real Madrid and Malaga that left Malaga defender Mtiliga with a broken nose. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Xavi explained: “In my opinion the incident is quite clear. It’s a red card and a two-match ban is fully justified”.

Support for Messi

Real Madrid have appealed against the decision and have cited an incident involving Messi and Sevilla defender Marc Valiente in Ronaldo’s defence: “You have to assess the intention of the player. Leo wants to carry on playing and Cristiano wants to get rid of the defender by striking out. Leo is the number one. And his image cannot be damaged in this way. He’s modest, hard-working and always thinks of the group. He’s not like other footballers”.

Players meet for dinner

The players took advantage of the absence of any midweek matches to have dinner together and promote the good atmosphere in the squad: “The squad is really united. They’re a fantastic bunch. It’s the first dinner we’ve had together this season. It’s good to clear our heads and it’s good to have everyone involved”.

”I want to win it all”

Barça currently enjoy a five-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid in the league and are through to the R16 of the Champions League. Xavi told us: “We’re on the right track and there’s still a winning dynamic”. This weekend, Real Madrid face a tough match away to Deportivo: “There are a lot of points left and we’d like to increase the gap. There’s a long way to go in the league and Real Madrid will fight to the end. We cannot relax but we are lucky that it’s in our own hands”.

Asked if he would prefer to win the Champions League or the World Cup, Xavi revealed: “I like being competitive. Luckily, we’re going well and we should try for everything. The final of the Champions League, for all that the Bernabéu represents, is even more motivating and we have the league heading in the right direction. I want to win it all”. He also gave his backing to a proposal to play some league matches on Mondays: “It seems fine to me and football people will be delighted. We can adapt to anything”.

Club presidential elections

Xavi has spent most of his life at Barça and knows the Club inside out. Who better to comment on the presidential elections due to be held this year: “For the sake of the squad it’s probably better to hold the elections at the end of the season. This is a matter for the Board; it depends on the president”. Having predicted that Guardiola would extend his stay as manager, Xavi joked: “Maybe in three months time I can predict who will be the next president”.

A book worth reading

Xavi is the patron of a project created by Catalan sports journalists in 2004. The latest edition of their book ‘Historias solidarias del deporte’ has generated 48,975 euros for the Alex Foundation, dedicated to helping vulnerable children and the disabled.

As FC Barcelona finished the first half of the season on top of the league, one fact cannot go unnoticed:  the team has conceded the fewest goals in la Liga, allowing only 10  in 19 matches.  That gives  Barça net-minder, Victor Valdés, an impressive 0.53 goals against coefficient and places him at the top of the list in the race for the Zamora Trophy.  Another fact that is worth repeating is this one:  in a span of 57  games, now, the team has only lost three times with Valdés as goalkeeper.

And this outstanding record cannot be attributed solely to the fact that the team tends to hold possession an average of at least 65% of the time during a match, thus giving their keeper little to do but watch and cheer.  A look back over the past several matches will reveal that Valdés’ clean sheet is due in large part to some excellent saves that kept Barça from falling behind as the team settled in to the game’s rhythm.  Prime examples would be their last game against Valladlid and the one against Tenerife; in both matches the score could well have read 2-0 by the first 20 minutes,  had Valdés not been at the top of his game.

On Tuesday, January 26th,  Victor Valdés gave an interview to Barça TV.  Here are some of his answers, as presented in the video on the team’s website.

About receiving individual praise:

    I’m a player that — people who know me know that I don’t like praise too much, and on a  collective level, to receive too much praise is not as good as it seems on the outside. I think it’s important to gain the recognition for your hard work, but that’s it.  And I think you need to receive praise when you’ve won things or win things again.

About Guardiola:

    When the keeper has the ball, as the last player, he can’t make a mistake.  As I’ve seen in other seasons, when the goalkeeper makes a mistake, it’s often a goal.  So there’s a risk, a big risk.  But the coach, in that sense is happy with the way we are working.  We’ve tried to learn his way of doing things, having the ball at your feet, and I’m very happy.

    I think he taught me to see football in a certain way, to enjoy playing football, and that was difficult for me.  He’s opened the door, so to speak, in that sense.  He also showed me that someone can teach you a lot of things, but those things have to come out, and that’s the way I learned, by being shown that these things can come out.  He is one of the few people who’s convinced me of that.

More about his feelings on winning:

    At home I keep the most important memories for me, and those are the titles that we’ve won.  That’s what I keep.  Everything else, or when I see a teammate receiving a prize, I feel part of that because we’re a close squad, and football at the end of the day is a team sport.

About what la Furia Roja coach, del Bosque, recently said (that he recognized Valdés’ achievements but does not see a place for him in la Selección right now):

    I think it’s okay because the level of goalkeeping, or the level of goalkeepers, in Spain is very, very high.  there are lots of really good goalkeepers, so it’s difficult for the NT coach to pick 3 from a list of many.  So it’s difficult, but those kind of word help to keep me working hard.  As a professional it’s always in your head to become an international player.  To reach that next level.  I think it’s very important to have those goals.  If it happens or not, that depends on lots of different things.

LET’S DRINK A TOAST TO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Barça plot to win in Bernabéu

In the dinner to celebrate Pep’s continuity, Piqué proposed a toast to a victory in Madrid’s final.

Madrid keeps mentioning Messi.  Xavi: “No one will harm his image”

MESSI DOESN’T MIND WHAT RONALDO DOES

He doesn’t want to talk about the subject.

Laporta: “Leo is a model of fair play”

Xavi: “No one will harm his image”

Florentinowants a custom punishment. He’s trying to get the “cautelar”* so Cristiano will be allowed to play in Riazor.

The squad dinner’s secrets.

The elections will be celebrated the first two weeks in June

FC Barcelona’s earnings rose by almost a fifth on the year in the six months to the end of December and the club made a net profit of 8 million euros (6.9 million pounds), the European champions said on Thursday.

Income increased across all parts of the club’s activities to £222.8 million, from £186 million in the same period a year earlier, a gain of 19.7 percent, Barca said on their official website.

New sponsorship deals with TV3, Etisalat and Turkish Airlines helped boost revenue, as well as a tour of the United States and a friendly in Kuwait, while the club also earned more from gate receipts, they added.

The gain in income was outpaced by a 27.1 percent increase in spending, which rose to £211 million from £166 million in the year-earlier period.

The club spent more on player salaries due to new signings such as striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as well as on improved contracts and bonuses for the three titles won in the period, the Spanish and European Super Cups and the Club World Cup.

“The figures highlight that Barcelona is consolidating year after year a self-financing and sustainable business model,” the club said.

As the Barça squad gears up for the second half of the season, it has been revealed that attendances at the Camp Nou have increased by 14% compared to last season.

The average crowd is now 77,587 while gate proceeds have risen by 22%.

The General Manager of FC Barcelona, Joan Oliver, made these figures public after a meeting of the Delegate Commission on Friday. He told us: “This is a positive situation. More season ticket holders are coming to the stadium and we’re selling more tickets”.

9,579 spectators

Over the first half of last season, the average attendance was 68,008 as against 77,587 so far this season, an increase of 9,579 spectators per match, or 14% more than last year: “Children under 7 are not included in these figures as they enjoy free admission to the Camp Nou. So we have to add on some 3,000 children per match – that’s the usual average”.

Season ticket holders

“This year, about 45% of season ticket holders are releasing their seats for resale, which means we can sell more tickets. Although this is 5% up on last season we still think it’s insufficient. If everyone released their seats [when they cannot come to the match], others members and fans without a season ticket could come to the ground. However, our stadium has the highest attendances in Europe”.

The increase in attendances has led to a rise in gate proceeds of 22% compared to the same period last season.

Redevelopment plan moving forward

Mr Oliver also gave details of the progress of the project to redevelop the MiniEstadi. He expressed his confidence that the entire project would be approved and pointed out that FC Barcelona had accepted some tough conditions: “On Thursday 28th January, the Barcelona City Council is scheduled to approve a project to build on the site currently occupied by the MiniEstadi. This development will have more public housing than any other in Barcelona and Barça will not make a cent. We’ve also taken on some commitments that will mean a cost of 30% of the total, more than double that required by the law”. Mr Oliver confirmed that the work would not start before 2011.

Barcelona forward Bojan will not be leaving the club in what remains of the January transfer window, despite reports linking him with a possible move to the Premier League, according to Espn soccernet.

Bojan, 19, became the youngest ever player to score in a league game for Barcelona when netting against Villarreal in October 2007 but his progress has slowed somewhat in recent months, largely due to the impressive form of fellow academy graduate Pedro.

Coach Pep Guardiola has only started Bojan in three league games this season and it is reported that Manchester City have shown an interest in the player who is believed to be a long-term target for Arsenal.

But FIFA agent Zoran Vekic, who is a close confidant of Bojan’s family, is convinced that a January departure from Camp Nou is not a realistic prospect as the forward is determined to succeed at Barca.

“There is no option of leaving in the winter market,” Vekic told Soccernet. “In June we will re-evaluate the situation but right now it is a mystery because it is not yet known who the next president of Barcelona will be.

“In addition, Guardiola has not yet signed his contract extension. In football who knows? Of course he’s not playing many minutes but perhaps next week he will play and begin to score goals and then things change completely.

“He is not discouraged despite playing few minutes. The eruption of Pedro has reduced his minutes but he continues working to have opportunities to play because his dream is to be successful in Barcelona.”

Blackburn Rovers, amongst other clubs, were linked with an audacious bid to bring Bojan to the club on loan last summer and Vekic admits the player did attract substantial interest before Barcelona decided to keep him at Camp Nou.

“It is not true that he refused a loan in the summer,” Vekic said. “It was Barcelona who were against it. Clubs from Spain and the Premier League asked for him.”

Bojan determined

In the mean time, Bojan Krikic spoke to the media this lunchtime and expressed his desire to remain and fight for his place: “I’m focussed on continuing to work hard and improve as a player – I want to make it hard for the boss!”

Krikic insisted: “I’m very happy to be able to work at a club like Barca. I’m surrounded by a fantastic group, who really believe in me and I’m trying to respond to that by helping as much as I can. I’m keen to continue fighting for a place in the team and I want to make it hard for the boss when he has to pick his starting 11”.

Santos has finally done the deal of loaning Robinho. Manchester City announced Thursday that the forward will be loaned to the Brazilian club till the 4th of August. Santos will pay the salary and bonuses of the 26-year-old attacker that time, said the official statement.

Robinho thinks he didn’t played enough for The Citizens and hopes to play every week with his new team. City-coach Roberto Mancini did not expect a departure from the forward, but he can understand the dissatisfaction with Robinho.

“I have five or six excellent strikers and every time I have to decide who plays. I just can not play with four strikers.”

The former Real Madrid player began playing last season in the Premier League impressively, but in this current season he has not reached that level so far. This year, the dribbler has played due to injuries, only ten league matches, including four as a substitute. He did not score at all. Last season, Robinho, who didn’t want to lose his spot in the World Cup selection scored fourteen times.

Erik Hamrén, head coach of Sweden, gives star player Zlatan Ibrahimovic half year the time to think about a possible continuation of his international career. In August, Hamrén set a deadline : he would want to know then whether he can still rely on the Barcelona striker in the future, he told Sport Expressen.

In November 2009, Ibrahimovic put a temporary end to his international career. Sweden was disqualified for the World Cup in South Africa and in the later months therea would be only friendly games in the program. The Barcelona striker did not want to waste energy in those games, so he let the coach know.

Hamrén accepted that, but also indicates that a comeback from Ibrahimovic is a possibility. “I told Zlatan that I want an answer in August. We have agreed. “ When in August the Euro Cup qualifications start for the Swedish squad, the coach would be happy if his star player returns. “I still hope that Zlatan will also be part of it,” said the coach.

SILVA OR RIBÉRY

To reinforce the left wing position.

The French is the attacker who Guardiola always prefered

Those azulgrana who play in Spanish nationa team prefer Silva because of his “Barça’s profile”

Henry of Pedro, another dilemma. The Canarian’s great performance and his 14 goals are dangerous for Henry, who may not be a starter.

[Non Barça Related]

Madrid: Appellation Committee didn’t yield an inch about Ronaldo.

THERE’S MONEY ENOUGH TO BUY CESC

The club will have at it’s disposal 100 million euros to buy reinforcements in June.

There’s an initial agreement with the player, now they have to wait for negotiate with Arsenal.

In the pic: Dressing Cesc with Barça’s jersey is the great Laporta’s target before leaving.

The elections will be on June 13th

[Non Barça Related]

Madrid: No mercy for Ronaldo. Madrid asks for the “cautelar”

Although the club doctors haven’t yet cleared him to play, Sergio Busquets showed he’s perfectly fit in training with the rest of the squad this morning. Jeffren, who’s also been out injured, was another player who looked to be back to full fitness.

Seven of the first team squad came in on Wednesday evening for a game against players from the reserves and youth team, but for the rest, after enjoying a day off training yesterday, it was back to the Ciutat Esportiva this morning as they began preparations for Saturday’s game at El Molinon.

Sergio, Jeffren and Alves

Neither Sergio Busquets nor Jeffren have yet been given the thumbs up from the club’s medical services, but both trained normally. Busquets was sidelined last week after a knock to his kidneys in the Seville game and this week has gradually come back to train at the rhythm of the rest of the squad.
Meanwhile, Dani Alves is in doubt for the match against Sporting after he suffered a stretch in his right twin muscle. Exams ruled out any serious injury yet he could still miss out the trip to Gijon.

Keita trains with the rest of the squad

Keita, who has been working out in the gym on his this week, also trained out on the Ciutat Esportiva pitch this morning, though the Mali international is suspended after seeing is fifth yellow against Valladolid and not available for selection at the weekend.

Barça Atlètic keeper Rubén Miño was again called up to train with the first team squad this morning.

UEFA controls

The squad also received the visit of a team of UEFA doctors for a routine urine test. Valdés, Piqué, Puyol, Xavi, Ibrahimovic, Messi, Pedro, Abidal, Touré and Thiago were all tested. The last time UEFA ran tests on the squad was on 22nd October 2009.

The team will be back at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper For training behind closed doors at 11.00 on Friday morning.

Touré back in Barcelona

Touré Yaya, who played his last game in the African Nations Cup on Sunday, arrived back in Barcelona this morning and came straight to Ciutat Esportiva to greet his teammates. The Ivory Coast international also took a UEFA urine test.

Pictures of Barca players in training: