The negotiations around Ibrahimovic’s potential transfer at this point in time are relatively opaque and confusing. Why all of this has come to a head now is unclear and will still take time to figure out.

But from what has been reported, let’s take a look at where the negotiations stand and why they are proceeding in the complicated fashion they are. In other words, let’s follow the money.

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Well, this is turning into an interesting back half of the week. Today FC Barcelona announced on its official site that the club has reached a deal with Liverpool to buy Argentine MF Javier Mascherano assuming proper medical clearance and all that jazz. Terms are being reported differently everywhere, ranging from 25M euros to 21M + 3M in incentives to 16 + 3 and so on and so forth. All seem to agree that Mascherano will sign a 4-year deal with the club following medicals, photo-ops, and pledging allegiance to Lord Pep. Continue Reading

Javier Mascherano joins us from Liverpool. He’s not even 5-foot-9 inches tall, but he plays like a giant. Ramzi will post, once he is finished dancing a mambo of joy. Meanwhile, Busquets gets competition that, as with Keita and Abidal and Maxwell and Pedro!, can only make him better. More importantly, we get a thug. A flat-out. for-sure ass thug. Yes, he has ball skills galore, and is an excellent passer and handler of the ball. He’s Argentine. Come on. But more importantly, he will get all up in that ass.

Daddy likey. The happy number was a 16+6 deal, as in fee and incentives, and that’s in Pounds, rather than Euros. Watch the video, and then wonder about a Busquets/Mascherano trident with Xavi, and whether anyone would ever get the ball past midfield. Our defenders will be able to go out for Barca Xips.

Yes.

The Champions League draw is done and Barcelona is in Group D against Panathinaikos (Greece), Copenhagen (Denmark), and Rubin Kazan (Russia).

I feel fortunate at this point because I don’t think any of those teams are particularly dangerous. I think we’re in the easiest group of all of them, though I should also point out that Rubin Kazan was a very tough opponent when we played them in last year’s group stage. It’s just that this year we’ll have their number, I’m sure of it. I don’t expect us to go through undefeated, of course, but I do expect us to qualify first.

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It’s the group stage draw liiiive and in color from the BFB headquarters in sunny (finally) New York City! Join us at 12 noon EST (6pm CET) and we’ll boogie all the way through the selections, then you can have your say in the hastily thrown together post that will come after it.

Hey, I knew I’d find something that Pinto does badly, since it ain’t stopping penalties. We won the Gamper Trophy match today, a desultory, half-speed affair that nobody really cared about, because the real news was being made off the pitch. You’d have to have been a cave dweller not to know that Milan is throwing its hat in the ring for our BANGS. Ick.
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Oh snap it’s Isaiah back with a Liveblog! Are you ready for some quick polls!? It’ll get going just before kickoff. He match is on ESPN Deportes and ESPN3 here in the US.

AC Milan come to town tomorrow to play in the Joan Gamper Trophy match, a preseason ritual that is more run-out than hotly contested match (though Puyol and Eto’o two years ago would have called me a series of names for such an insulting statement). I’m not one to get too excited about it, but whereas last year it meant Ibra’s home debut (which was fun despite the 0-1 final scoreline), this year it means the return of Ronaldinho. I miss Ronnie in that nostalgic way where his presence on the field remind me of a time when I was watching all the matches from Central America and Mexico, typically while sweating and swearing in equal measure. I enjoyed those years and so–despite the modern era being much nicer for a myriad of reasons (the main one doesn’t typically read the blog, so I don’t have to worry about offending her)–I’m looking forward to seeing this one.

I expect a full round of cheers for Ronnie, what with this not being a competitive match after all, and a generally pleasant atmosphere throughout the the game. I’d rather see Ibra play with Villa and maybe even see them misfire a bit than play a serious match with serious consequences. We have Racing on Sunday, so there’s no reason to put our boys at risk for more than 45 minutes apiece (I can never remember how many subs we get, but I’m assuming infinite). That said, I certainly want to see us win this one because, as Guardiola says, it’s a good test of where we are as a team.

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The least-crappy thing about a crappy TVE feed is the lack of sound editing. So even on an even-crappier VHS tape (yes, you read that right, Millenials!), one heard tot el Camp corear their beloved champions/ campeones/ campions: Val-dés … Pu-yol … Pi-qué … Bus-quets … Xa-vi … Pe-dro!… and, later on, In-iesta … Vi-lla … who makes the best team in La Liga, and how much of whom makes the best team in the World. The afición showered affection on internationals, too: banners for a benched Ibra; a warm welcome for Adriano; and an hours-long hands-down homage to Messi at his most messianic. Everybody on the pitch pitched in, except for maybe Víctor, who had little else to do but point skyward every once in a while, as if to remind somebody that he was there, rockin’ the 80s tiger sleeves. But in a spirited game that lifted all our spirits, the SoMa Spirit Prize goes to My Man Dan.

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I love this picture. You have three players, all with “Damn!” looks on their faces. Whether it’s from something that they’ve just seen, something they’ve just done or an illusory moment that doesn’t exist in reality but that your humble author has ginned up to make a point, is immaterial. They’re in practice, and it’s hard.

I got to thinking about such things after reading a comment in the SuperCopa clincher match review thread by cliveee, which will follow the jump. But I think that the headline sums up for me why this club is so amazing. I said those very words to two employees, once. Both chose the latter option, though both had the talent to choose the former. That’s life in the big city.

But our club says that very same thing every day, with almost every match.
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