FC Barcelona News: 7 May 2019

PREVIEW: Liverpool FC v FC Barcelona | FC Barcelona
The European dream is closer to becoming reality. Liverpool at Anfield are the last obstacle to overcome to reach the final at the Wanda Metropolitano. This match will be full of challenges, despite the losses of Salah, Firmino and Keita for the Reds. FC Barcelona have won on their last two visits to Anfield: 1-3 in 2001 and 0-1 in 2007, however, Liverpool have not lost a European match at home this season.

Final session at Anfield | FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona trained on the Anfield pitch on Monday evening, just over 24 hours before the start of the Champions League semi-final second leg against Liverpool. Ernesto Valverde’s side defend a 3-0 lead from the first leg. The session saw 21 first team players involved plus Wagué and Iñaki Peña, from Barça B, and was the last activity of a day that began this morning with a flight from El Prat airport to the English city.

Van Dijk doubtful for Barcelona match after missing full training | Marca
Virgil Van Dijk may be added to the list of Liverpool’s absentees for the game against Barcelona, as he only managed to complete part of Monday’s training session. Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita and Mohamed Salah are already ruled out from Tuesday’s match due to injuries, but the Dutchman could still recover in time for the return leg of the Champions League semi-final.

Why shouldn’t Lineker and Rio celebrate a genius like Messi? | Goal
Some Liverpool fans took to Twitter on Wednesday night to show their outrage after a Lionel Messi masterclass left them with a mountain to climb in the Champions League. ”Nothing like being neutral as presenters is there?” one fan tweeted, while another asked: “What happened to supporting English teams?” But the real question is, if we can’t celebrate Messi’s greatness, why are we football fans?

Barcelona striker Luis Suarez: I will not celebrate against Liverpool at Anfield | Football Espana
Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has insisted he will not celebrate if he scores at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium on Tuesday night. The Uruguayan celebrated against his former club when opening the scoring at the Camp Nou of the Champions League semi-final first leg between the two sides last week.

Ernesto Valverde: Barcelona not in Champions League final yet | Football Espana
Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde believes: “It would be a mistake to think that we are already in the (Champions League) final.” The Blaugrana lead 3-0 in their Champions League semi-final against Liverpool following last week’s first leg victory and are one game away from the showpiece in Madrid.

Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele out for the season | Football Espana
The France international lasted just six minutes against Celta Vigo at the weekend before hobbling off and subsequently being replaced by La Masia graduate Alex Collado. Valverde told his pre-match press conference ahead of the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Liverpool that it was ‘unlikely’ the forward would feature again this season.

RAI: Umtiti rejects the interest from Juve and wants to stay at Barça | Sport
With de Ligt expected to sign for Barcelona, Juventus believed this would see Umtiti be open to a new challenge. However the defender explained that his wish is to remain at the Camp Nou next season and is looking forward to preseason and getting back to full fitness. His current plan is to stay until at least Euro 2020 before making anothet decision on his future.

De Ligt has rejected an offer from Manchester United | Sport
According to ‘The Star’, United were desperate to sign the young defender as they look to overhaul their underperforming squad. However they were met with a firm ‘no’ as the Dutch star wants to play in the Champions League.

RAI Sport: Overmars has told Juventus where De Ligt is going | Sport
According to RAI Sport, Marc Overmas told his opposite number at Juventus, Fabio Paratici, that the Dutch defender is close to signing a contract with FC Barcelona. In the same meeting, according to ‘Calciomercato’, Ajax revealed the deal for de Ligt will be worth around €80m.

‘Messi above all others by a huge margin’ - Jordi Alba says Barcelona star is ‘better than before’ | Goal
Lionel Messi sits “above all other footballers by a huge margin”, according to Barcelona team-mate Jordi Alba, with the Argentine superstar “even better than before”. Seeking continuous improvement is no easy feat for a man who has sat at the top of the global game for well over a decade.

‘Ronaldo is not a Galactico like Messi’ - Juventus star merely world class, says Gundogan | Goal
Cristiano Ronaldo is not a “Galactico” like Lionel Messi, says Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, with Barcelona’s talismanic captain “on a different level to anyone else”. Two iconic figures have spent over a decade competing for a standing at the top of the global game.

Source: barcablaugranes.com