Barcelona to appeal yellow cards for Luis Suarez, Rakitic and Vermaelen

Barcelona's continuing battle with authority has seen the Catalan club appeal against all bookings received during Sunday's 1-0 La Liga win at Athletic Bilbao.
Barca came through a tight game with all three points thanks to Luis Suarez's volley early in the second half, with Suarez himself along with midfielder Ivan Rakitic and defender Thomas Vermaelen being shown yellow cards by referee Carlos del Cerro Grande.
The Blaugrana have taken the unusual step of appealing each of these decisions to the Madrid-based La Liga offices, with an official club statement claiming that they did not accept the reasoning behind all three calls contained in the official match report.
"Barcelona has decided to appeal the yellow cards shown by referee Carlos del Cerro Grande to Ivan Rakitic (43'), Thomas Vermaelen (63') and Luis Suárez (74') in Sunday's match against Athletic Club," the statement read. "The club considers the reasons outlined in the referee's report inadmissible and has therefore appealed to the Competition Committee."

Barcelona want Neymar to retire at Camp Nou amid Man United links

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has reacted to rumours linking Neymar with a move to Manchester United by saying he wants the forward to spend the rest of his career at the Camp Nou and revealed that talks over a new contract will open "over the next months."
Neymar, 23, has been linked with a move to Old Trafford in recent days via reports in the British and Brazilian press, with Globoesporte talking up a potential world-record bid of £140 million being made by United while The Sun reports the total package of transfer fee and wages could amount to £240m.
Barca sources have told Catalan paper Mundo Deportivo that no bid from United has been received, nor has the player's camp been in touch with Barca's board to communicate any interest.
Blaugrana club chief Bartomeu, who along with predecessor Sandro Rosell is still under investigation for his role in the controversial deal which brought Neymar to the club from Santos two years back, told Radio Catalunya that his aim was for the forward to spend the rest of his playing days at the Camp Nou.
"We do not want [Neymar] to leave," Bartomeu said. "He is young, we want him to retire here, at our club. He must stay here."

Luis Enrique says team at 'very high-level' in opener

The Barça coach, 'satisfied' with the three points, spoke to the press following his squad's opening day victor

• Athletic Club - FC Barcelona (0-1)

"I think we started the [La Liga] championship the way we did last season, at a very high level," said FC Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique in the San Mamés press room following his team's 1–0 victory on match day one. "We kept Athletic from creating danger and I think we played a very complete match," he added.
Talking about the game in general, Luis Enrique praised the role of wing-backs Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba in the context of the injuries to Dani Alves and Sergio Busquets.
Here are the highlights of what the coach had to say:
"Overall, I'm satisfied. We created chances, a lot more than [Athletic]. Towards the end it got tough for us, of course, because the score was so close."
"Our wing-backs are very important, both defensively and offensively. They help us stretch the field."
"They [the wing-backs] were very good, especially Sergio Roberto, who came in unexpectedly and played a very complete match. Jordi Alba too."
"We have to wait and see what the doctors say and see how the players come along. Injuries are part of football, it's a very demanding sport there is more risk [early in the season]. They don't seem serious."

FC Barcelona arrive in Bilbao to kick off the league season

The 18 players named in the squad are in Bilbao for the opening game of the campaign in San Mamés

Photo galleries

• Flight to Bilbao

Ten days after the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, the FC Barcelona first team return to San Mamés. The 18 man squad selected by Luis Enrique landed on Sunday in the Basque Country just after 11.00am CET. After resting and having lunch at the hotel, the blaugrana squad will make their way to the stadium where they will face Athletic Club Bilbao at 6.30pm CET.
This will be the third game in a row against the Basque club and therefore a good opportunity to put the Spanish Super Cup defeat behind and start off the new league campaign on a winnning note.

The dressing room ready

Barça's dressing room at San Mamés is now waiting for the team. In contrast to the Super Cup game, today FC Barcelona will wear their first strip for their first league game of 2015/16. There are three changes to the squad numbers: Sandro will now wear the number 19 and Cámara and Gumbau will wear 26 and 27 respectively.

Dani Alves' injury confirmed

Tests show that the Brazilian suffered a groin strain in the first half of the game in San Mamés

Sergio Busquets' ankle injury is nothing serious reveal examination

• Dani Alves suffered a groin strain in San Mamés- FCB

The win for Barça in San Mamés was not all good news for the blaugranes. Both Dani Alves and Sergio Busquets were substituted during the win against Athletic and on Monday morning the two players underwent medical tests.
In Dani Alves’ case, the results show that the Brazilian has a groin strain. The right was replaced by Sergi Roberto on Sunday after just 19 minutes of the game.
In contrast, the tests performed on Sergio Busquets reveal that midfielder has suffered a slight ankle injury but nothing important. The Barça number ‘5’ was replaced by Marc Bartra in the second half in Bilbao after a collision with Athletic striker Aduriz.

Pedro: Being at Barça was a dream come true

The striker bids farewell to the Club and the fans in a press conference attended by his family and his former team mates

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  Pedro says goodbye to Barça  - FCB

• Pedro's farewell press conference
• Pedro Rodríguez Ledesma

Pedro Rodríguez Ledesma has said goodbye to FC Barcelona. Accompanied by his family, his former team mates and the first team coaching staff, the man from the Canary Islands wished to “thank everybody for getting me into his great Club and for making my dream come true.” He also had words of gratitude for the Board of Directors, “for understanding my decision and for respecting it.” He continued, saying he was “very happy for all the moments I’ve been through and all the titles won” with FC Barcelona.
“Playing in this Club was a dream of mine from very young. I have always felt comfortable here (..) I have tried to learn from all the examples and legends who have passed through Barça. That has helped to guide me as a person and learn the institution’s values. I think and I hope that I have done the best I can (…) Now I am sad to be leaving my home but happy to have given everything,” he commented.

A difficult send off

Pedro Rodríguez wanted to point out that the “most difficult thing about leaving the Club is my team mates, the people who work here and the fans who have always supported me.” Furthemore, the winger admitted that he knew “like here I won’t be anywhere, because my whole life is here and Barça is the best club in the world.”
Pedro said “he wanted to have been able to retire at FC Barcelona,” and that his farewell was a very “emotional” moment for him. Despite everything, the strike confessed that he was leaving to have more regular playing time and that he was happy to be facing “new goals.”
“I will keep with me all the triumphant moments. I will take all those times shared with my team mates.”

FC Barcelona top seeded more than any club since 1999

Since the Champions League group stage was extended to 32 teams, the Catalans have been in pot number one sixteen times

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  FC Barcelona are no strangers to being top seeds in the Champions League / FCB

Top seeded teams since 1999/00

17 times FC Barcelona
15 Man United
14 Bayern Munich, Arsenal & Real Madrid
9 Chelsea
8 AC Milan
7 Inter
6 Liverpool
5 Porto & Juventus
4 Valencia & Lazio
3 Benfica
2 Deportivo & Olympique Lyon
1 Monaco, Dortmund, Atlético Madrid, Sevilla, Spartak Moscow, PSG, Zenit & PSV

Includes seeded teams in this season's edition of the UCL

FC Barcelona are one of the top-seeded teams in this week’s Champions League draw. But that’s nothing new. Since the group stage was expanded to 32 teams in 1999/00, the Catalans have always been among the eight highest ranked clubs, apart from in the 2003/04 season when they played in the UEFA Cup.
This season the seeding system has been changed. The honour no longer goes to the clubs with the highest UEFA coefficient, but instead to the champions of the leagues with the highest coefficients. That means that some of the clubs that are typically among the top seeds, such as Arsenal and Real Madrid, miss out on a place in the coveted pot number one.
The eight seeds on Thurday in Monaco will be Barça, Chelsea, Bayern, Juventus, Benfica, PSG, Zenit and PSV. It’s a completely new experience for the latter three, while Juventus have not been top seeded since the 2003/04 season.

Pole position

Being one of the top seeds seems to be an important factor in the Champions League. In the last 16 years, 56% of them have ended up winning their group, and only 14% have been knocked out. And 12 of the last 16 European champions were one of the eight seeds at the start of the group stage. That’s great news for Barça, who have been top seeded more than any other club!