Macky Frank Bagnack celebrates his contract renewal at Barça

Macky Frank Bagnack signed his contract extension this afternoon, which will keep him at the Club until June 30 2017. His buyout clause is set at 12 million euros. 

Bagnack began his career at Barça in 2006, at the age of 13. He made the leap to Barcelona from the Eto’o Foundation, and now he’s part of Eusebio Sacristán’s Barça B team.

The Cameroonian centre back was named to the Barça B team at the beginning of the season, even though he featured for the side last season against Guadalajara. This season, he’s played a total of 14 matches and he’s shown that he can easily operate both as a centre back and as a right back. 

Macky made his debut for the first team this season against Lechia Gdansk in Poland. Last year he was part of Barça’s Juvenil A league-winning team.

 “I’m very pleased that I’m renewing my contract with the best team in the world. I’m very happy. My favourite moment was my debut in the Joan Gamper Trophy and the Asia Tour with the first team. I will continue improving so that one day I can reach my full potential.” Read more about FC Barcelona Youth soccer camps in Ontario.

FC Barcelona, subject of British press

FC Barcelona’s institutional vice-president, Carles Villarrubí, will participate in a symposium this Tuesday in London organised by the Generalitat’s Governmental Delegation to the United Kingdom and Ireland. 

Members of the British press core, Catalan correspondents to London and the UK are expected to attend.

The country’s most influential press outlets are expected to attend: The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, the BBC and STV, in addition to Irish and Scottish journalists. Catalan and Spanish reporters are also expected to attend.

Barça will be the focus during the press dinner, which is held annually in January, and the vice-president Villarubí will explain to the audience the main features that define the Club in its institutional, athletic and historic aspects.

The event, which is hosted annually by the Delegation of the Generalitat in the United Kingdom, focuses on issues related to promoting Catalonia. In the past editions of the event representatives of the Tourism Board were the main speakers, last year, for example, the president of Vueling, Alex Cruz, spoke about the importance of Barcelona’s growing aeronautical influence in Europe. Read more about FC Barcelona soccer camps Toronto.

Marc Bartra will play with FC Barcelona until 2017

The player will sign the new contract in the coming weeks and his buy-out clause will be set at 25 million euros.

FC Barcelona has agreed to renew Marc Bartra’s contract until June 30^th of 2017. 

The player’s buy-out clause will be set at 25 million euros. Bartra will sign his new contract in the upcoming weeks.

Bartra, who started playing in Barça’s youth academy in 2002, made his debut on February 14^th of 2010, against Altético Madrid and since then, he combined his work with his reserve team duties. He was promoted to FC Barcelona in the 2012/13 season.

This year, Marc Bartra has progressively earned Tata Martino’s confidence thanks to his good performances on the pitch. He has featured in 14 matches this season and he has scored one goal. Read more about youth soccer camps.

FC Barcelona is on the top 5 European leagues with the best goal average

The stats don’t lie. FC Barcelona has the best goal average of the top 5 European leagues.

No team from either the Spanish Primera, Serie A, Bundesliga, Premier, or Ligue 1 have a better goal difference than Barça (+41), with 53 goals scored and only 12 let in by Martino’s Barça in the first phase of La Liga.

The European teams who come closest to these figures are Manchester City and Atlético Madrid (goal average of +36), and Juventus and Bayern Munich (+34). The German team, however, should be in second position, as they have only played 16 league games, 3 less than Barça.

Barça is also in the top positions in terms of attack and defence. In terms of goals scored,  Barça, with an average of 2.79 goals per game, are second, behind Manchester City, with 2.81 (59 goals in 21 games). Real Madrid has the same scoring average as Barça and Bayern (2.49), Atlético Madrid (2.47), and Liverpool (2.47).  More about FC Barceona soccer camps in Ontario.

20th anniversary of the great defeat over Real Madrid

On January 8^th is the 20th anniversary of the famous 5-0 over Real Madrid. The goals from Romario (3), Koeman (1) and Iván Iglesias (1) produced a scoreline that would not be matched for another 17 years.

The most important image of Barça vs Madrid was the magnificent goal scored by Romario in the 24th minute, spectacularly dragging the ball with him as he turned Alkorta and took home the first goal of the night.

The second half was incredible. A 47th minute free kick from Koeman made it 2-0 and then Romario got the third and fourth. With four minutes to go, Iván Iglesias got the goal that completed what is known locally as a ‘manita’ (little hand), with the five fingers indicating each of the goals. The result put Barça four points clear of Madrid, although it was Deportivo who topped the table, as they would do until the very last day, when Barça finally overtook them to take the title.

The 5-0 win of January 8^th of 1994 would be repeated 17 years later on November 29, 2010, with Josep Guardiola now in charge of the first team. More about FC Barcelona Soccer camps Toronto.

Víctor Valdés is voted as the fifth best goalkeeper

Víctor Valdés is the keeper with the fifth most votes in the World’s Best Goalkeeper award. 

With 53 votes, the FC Barcelona player is only bested by Manuel Neuer (Bayern, 211 votes), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, 78), Petr Cech (Chelsea, 64) and Thibaut Courtois (Atlético, 54).

Iker Casillas, who has won the award for the past five consecutive years, finished with 23 votes.

It’s worth mentioning that this award is organised by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), and the vote was carried out by a jury of international experts.

Víctor Valdés, five-time winner of the Zamora Trophy, is also on the short list for the FIFA FIFPro World XI 2013. The all-star team will be announced on January 13^th  during the FIFA Ballon d’Or. More about FC Barcelona soccer camps in Ontario.

Tata Martino is proud of his team

Gerardo Martino talked to the press after defeating Getafe 2-5. “We are growing and that’s what we have to focus on. 

We maintained our form despite being down two goals and we ended up playing a really good game,” said the manager, who added that “we played well for 70 minutes. It’s not easy to come back from a 2-0.”

When he was asked about Pedro’s performance, Martino said: “Pedro doesn’t need to score three goals a game because he always scores. Pedro played a fantastic match and the team did as well. He has a great capacity to score, but not only with Barça but with Spain as well.” He added: “Pedro never gives up. He plays in a position that has a lot of competition.”

Martino went on to praise the team for how they played after falling behind by two goals: “When we have time and if we don’t despair, if we maintain our form, we can turn games around. This is what we can do if we’re true to our style of play.” He added: “It doesn’t always depend on us doing things poorly, the merit belongs to our rivals, they also play.”

Finally, Martino explained that despite winning that his team will always miss its big players when they are injured or suspended: “Even though we won, we always miss players like Valdés, Xavi, Messi or Neymar. In January they will all be back with the team.”. Read more about FC Barcelona soccer camp Toronto.

Messi, in the final stage of his recovery

Leo Messi is in the final stretch of his recovery. Last Saturday, the player posted the following message on his Tencent Weibo account: “I’m doing very well clinically, now the countdown begins.” 

Messi underwent tests on Friday which confirmed that he has progressed and passed to the clinical stage of his recovery. 

The player is now in the third phase of his recovery programme, which focuses on physical conditioning.

Doctor Ricard Pruna and the FC Barcelona Director of Football, Andoni Zubizarreta visited Messi this week in Argentina.

Last Saturday, Tata Martino, during the pre-match press conference ahead of the match against Getafe, explained that he intends to visit Messi during the Christmas break. “After Christmas he’ll be training in Rosario and I’m sure that I’ll go to visit him. He will be in perfect condition to join the group at the beginning of the year,” said the manager. Read more about FC Barcelona soccer camps Mississauga.