FCB NEWS NOW

FC Barcelona will play their second La Liga game away to newly promoted Real Valladolid. Head Coach Ernesto Valverde has announced the 18 man squad; Ter Stegen, Ezkieta, Alba, Umtiti, Pique, Roberto, Lenglet, Semedo, Vidal, Sergio, Arthur, Rakitic, Coutinho, Malcom, Dembélé, Messi (c), Suarez, Munir. Paco Alcacer was left out due to his imminent move to Borussia Dortmund while Rafinha was also left out due to technical reasons. Get 5% off when you pay for the refurbished iPhone 6 using your card. Starting from N65,000 BUY HERE Jasper Cillessen, Denis Suarez, Sergi Samper and Carles Alena are all injured and won't play. PREDICTED XI Dembélé could be left out of the starting XI for Vidal due to the state of the Valladolid pitch. Malcom is expected to join the party at some point in the game. What are your predictions?

  Despite impressing in pre-season FC Barcelona midfielder Rafinha does not seem to be in head coach Ernesto Valverde's plan for the new season. With that known, the players agent and father Mazinho is negotiating a loan with Real Betis. The 25-year-old, who has a contract with Barcelona until June 30, 2020 , went to Inter on loan last season and played 17 games in the Serie A, scoring two goals and giving three assists. According to RAC1, on Monday, he travelled to Seville in order to seal the contract with the LaLiga side.He could team up with former Barcelona teammate Marc Bartra.

FC Barcelona started their La Liga campaign with a 3-0 victory over Deportivo Alaves at the Camp Nou. This is the player ratings Ter Stegen 7/10 Didn't have much to do but he was solid. Semedo 6/10 Solid defensively but didn't offer much of an attacking threat. Taken off at half time Jordi Alba 8/10 wonderful defensively and offensively. Came close to scoring himself. Umtiti 8/10 Spotless performance Pique 7.5/10 Solid at the back Sergio 7.5/10 Kept things tidy Rakitic 6.5/10 looked a bit rusty and gave the ball away more than usual. Became better as the game grew. Sergi Roberto 7/10 Started in midfield before reverting to right back. Was solid Dembélé 7/10 combined well with his teammates and looked confident on the ball, could've scored twice. Needs to improve on his finishing. Suarez 6/10 Was simply wasteful and rusty. Messi 9.5/10 Scored an exceptional freekick to open the scoring before scoring the third. Completed 6/6 dribbles. But he had ...

Ricard "Riqui " Puig Martí is a Spanish football player who plays for FC Barcelona B. A central midfielder who is 1.69m tall, slightly less than Messi at 1.7m and Iniesta at 1.71m. He joined La Masia in 2013, after progressing through the youth teams he was finally promoted to FC Barcelona B and made his debut he made his senior debut on 24 February 2018, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 home draw against Gimnàstic de Tarragona. The 18 year old was selected by Head Coach Ernesto Valverde for the USA pre season tour and made his debut against Tottenham while donning the No. 8 shirt previously worn by Club legend Andres Iniesta. He played exceptionally well but it was his performance against Milan that won hearts. Maybe after Rafinha he has been the best Barcelona player during the pre season. Will he end up becoming a key player at the club? Only time will tell

FC Barcelona has secured the services of former Bayern Munich midfielder Arturo Vidal who joined in a €20m deal. The 31 year old Chilean almost made a move back to Italy to sign for Inter but changed his mind when Barca came calling. The main objective for the former Juventus midfielder is to win the Champions League with Barcelona having lost the 2015 final against Barcelona. He comes as a direct replacement for Paulinho who left for China.

FC Barcelona are reportedly considering a shock move for FC Bayern's midfielder Arturo Vidal. The 31 year old is a similar player to Paulinho who left earlier in the transfer window. Head Coach Ernesto Valverde is said to be sad at the departure of Paulinho and would want a move for the Chilean. Internationalze are already in contact with the midfielder regarding a move and FC Barcelona want to hijack the deal. The Catalan club would have to pay a fee in the region of €30m to land Vidal. Some reports suggest that the Club has already agreed personal terms with the player.

A creative midfielder is what FC Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde feels is the final addition needed at the club right now. After the departure of Andres Iniesta and Paulinho, Barca are still eyeing another midfielder even after Arthur joined from Gremio. Pjanic was seen as the ideal signing but Juventus refused to entertain offers. Another option is Adrien Rabiot of PSG, with PSG refusing to let him leave, Barca are looking at alternatives such as Thiago. It is believed that Bayern will accept an offer in the region of €60m as coach Niko Kovac does not see Thiago as a key member of the squad. The problem however is that some at the Club do not believe in resigning players who forced themselves out like Thiago did in 2014 to Bayern. Ernesto Valverde feels Thiago is the ideal player to replace Andres Iniesta.