The Ramparts, Alberta, Canada (Jim Catley)

Liga Preview: Atletico Madrid – Barça, Sunday 3pmEST, ESPN Deportes/ESPN360

We’re invading Madrid again. It’s been a while. Last time we came out 2-0 winners and before that, I’m sure there was something else that happened in the capital that was memorable. I don’t know what it was. No clue whatsoever. This time, though, we’re going in with a makeshift defense that is one part injured and one part suspended. And like three parts baby canteranos. Whatever. We beat Manchester United with a makeshift back line and we can beat an on-again off-again Atleti with a makeshift back line.

Still, missing Pique and Marquez (suspension) and Abidal, Alves, and Chygrynskiy (injury) and with Puyol still not 100% (though back to working out with the squad), we’re facing up against Kun Aguero and Diego Forlan with, um, Gabi Milito? Really? That guy is still around? And maybe Marc Muniesa, or Marc Bartra? Maxwell on the left, Puyol on the right? Puyol in the center and Maxwell on the right? Keita on the left? What the hell is going on? Last week we had too many defenders and now we don’t have enough?

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To explain: The chutaculo is precisely what it sounds like: you test your fancy new boots by taking shots at your friend’s backside. On deck we have a passel of canteranos, including Muniesa, Dos Santos and Assulin, laughing their asses off as they try to hit each other’s …. well …. asses.

Have fun.

BUY BUY BUY!!!!

Rumors have been rampant about our transfer targets for the coming summer. Who will we sign? How much are we willing to spend? Will cules be suckered into voting for a particular presidential candidate based on who he promises to bring to the club? Well, it’s been narrowed down a bit, so here we go, let’s compare the two major players currently in the Barcelona orbit to see who is the better fit.
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The future looks bright...

If you think we’ve got it bad with injuries and suspensions for the upcoming match at Atletico Madrid, just remember this one word that should ease most of your angst and cause you to sigh in relief: Portsmouth. They’re facing some serious problems over in Jolly (and doubtlessly sunny) Blighty over debt accrual and failure to pay taxes. Of minor consequence (at least to those considering putting them in administration) is their failure to pay the full sum of transfer fees to other clubs. So while we’re moaning about missing out on Alves, Pique, Marquez, Chygrynskiy, and possibly Puyol, we’re at least not faced with relegation, points deductions, debt that could put our club out of business entirely, and we don’t have a coach that looks like Boss Nass from Star Wars (h/t 2ndCitySophia and Chelsea Offside).

Instead, we have one of the most financially stable, if not the most financially stable, clubs in the world with virtually no debt, a cantera filled with gems, a first team filled with superstars, a 5 point lead in the domestic table, a good shot at winning the Champions League, and a coach that rocks the hell out. And yes, we happen to have some serious injury and suspension issues before the next match, which is generally one that gives us problems, and we’re surrounded by vile rumors from a bad luck charm, but at least we’re not Portsmouth. I think that all teams who aren’t Portsmouth can at least say that, right? Real Betis and Real Sociedad fans are probably even saying that at the moment.

Don’t forget to send your pictures to bfbackground@gmail.com for our background project!

So, to the actual news:

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I am wearing all black, because I am a jinx.

So. Here’s what we officially have to say on the Cesc Fabregas matter:

“Given the exceptional repercussions created by the stories that have appeared in different media with respect to an agreement with Arsenal FC player Cesc Fabregas, Barca flatly deny that there have been any negotiations or agreements with the player.

“In accordance with FIFA regulations, FC Barcelona’s contract policy has always made it a priority to negotiate with the club of origin before making any particular agreement with the player. FC Barcelona wishes to stress that it has always maintained excellent institutional relations with Arsenal FC.”
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First off, we have a pretty big project started, so don’t forget to read about it and then email your submissions as soon as possible.

-It is with a heavy heart that I bring you all news of Eric Abidal’s thigh injury that could rule him out for up to two months. Even given his extraordinary recovery capacity, he will be out for a while, having, as I understand it at the moment, torn an adductor muscle in his left leg. That’s a fairly severe injury, especially to have sustained in practice and I’m hoping that the immediate fears pf a long recovery are proven unfounded after more tests are done. In a comment, Kevin pointed out that the matches Abidal is expected to miss are: @ATM, Racing, @Malaga, Valencia (home), @Zaragoza, Osasuna, @Mallorca, Athletic Bilbao. That is not such a bad run to miss if you’re going to miss an 8 match section. The problem is that we’ve also got Stuttgart home and away in the CL during that stretch.

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For all you fans out there, here’s a note from reader Patrick:

While I’d like to think my biggest contribution to our little community is distracting Isaiah via gchat—for some reason he seems to trust my aesthetic opinion. It’s a terrible mistake, but one that you’ve all made too, so ha!

With that said, the powers that be approached me last week about ideas for a new background for the site. While I can understand if you’ve grown a bit attached to our awesome lightning-bolt-circles-winged-gift-from-god-Messi, change is good. Besides, I like excuses to not work that involve my beloved club. So I took up the challenge and came up with 3-4 truly terrible ideas. True, some of them looked cool. But, none of them ended up being very unique.

Then I got an idea. An awful idea. That is to say I got an awfully wonderful idea. But to implement it, I need your help.

See, one of the reasons why I love this club—and this site—is because of the wonderful culés I get to meet and interact with on a daily basis. What would our lives be like without getting Hectored in the comments, liveblogging, or reading just about anything soccermom thinks to write. So I want to integrate all of you, my fellow readers and writers, into the design. To do this in the way that I think will work best, I need pictures. Lots of pictures. Several hundred to be precise.

The pictures can be of you be rocking the colors, visiting Barcelona, watching the game at a bar, showing off your scarf collection, or even reading this blog. They can even be pictures of your home city, the camp nou, or the rave/party/riot you may or may not have participated in after that last trophy win. Get creative. Have some fun. I’ve posted some examples of myself below so you can see what I want. Feel free to send multiple different images. All images should be sent to BFbackground@gmail.com .

As a final note, I want to assure you of the respect I have for your privacy and the seriousness with which I will approach the use of these photos. They will not be put to any other use, nor will they be posted anywhere on the internet. As soon as they are no longer needed, they will be deleted from my hard-drive and the email account used to collect them will be deleted as well. The basic technique I will use is called photomosaic so even when they ARE used, the image will be small enough that you don’t have to worry about any possible privacy infringement, or the bags under your eyes from staying up all night reading about Barça.

Thanks!
Patrick

I hope everyone had a good weekend, or at least a better one than Pique and Marquez. Hopefully your buddies/life partner/imaginary friends bailed you out and despite your horrid tackles, you were able to come away with all 3 points. I had a good enough time trying to find a place to watch the match–we went first to Woodwork (whose name I suddenly understood as I walked from the subway to there in the cold), but they apparently don’t have ESPN Deportes despite promising me on the phone before that they would have the match. So then we returned to my house and watched the match on the DVR, which was fun. Damn you, DirectTV and your nonsensical positioning of ESPN Deportes in a different package than all other things. Also something happened in Miami. You may have noticed. So a pretty good weekend, yeah.

To the random things we keep track of on this site…

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Watch and love.

Miku and Soldado have no idea what’s going on.

It's you, baby! It's you, all day and all night!

How excellent it was that this glorious moment, captured after the goal that, in effect, put this match away for good, features two of our best players, on a day in which everybody who took to the pitch was very good, and in some cases magnificent.

This was right after the second try that Messi had at feeding Xavi, the successful one, for a butter-smooth goal that came off a counterattack that was kick-started by the man people love to hate these days, Rafa Marquez, who was having one hell of a match. But more about that later. For now ….
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