FC BARCELONA

Pep did not skip the hierarchy: the coach announces the coach.
Zubi said the captains in Sant Joan Despi, after Pep talk.

The squad barcelonista yesterday heard the name of the successor of Pep Guardiola. The coach still explained his decision not to continue in office, but omitted the information regarding the succession.

Andoni Zubizarreta broke the news to the captains before heading to the Camp Nou. The captains subsequently communicated to all staff. Guardiola wanted to be scrupulous to a group that has felt very close and would not do something that belonged to Zubi.

Pep of his players said in a press conference in which he explained his motivations for leaving, "I have been privileged to train them. I have actually enjoy this job and I appreciate that there have been millions of plays and parties that have made reality. not know the pleasure of imagining a play and every day them come true. "

The coach also highlighted what will the years on the bench for first team: "I get the many emotions and details and have lived the good and bad times. Displays of affection are very large these days. I remembered Abidal, Keita, who has been my thermometer ... all these years. "

At the news conference yesterday in the press room at the Camp Nou Maxenchs Ricard, smaller than the Sala Paris, which was introduced four years ago, Guardiola was wrapped by the captains of the workforce, besides the two homegrown who came with him and stayed Segunda B, Sergio Busquets and Pedro, and Cesc and Piqué, former pupils of Vilanova. So was Messi, who nevertheless was not yesterday, apparently because of a misunderstanding. "Leo? Is here," said Pep.

Also most of the board, in addition to soccer training coach, Guillermo Amor, Guardiola also supported the day he announced his farewell, in addition to one of the most important of his career, his agent, Josep Maria Orobitg, agent also Tito. (via MD)

FC Barcelona and works fully in planning for next season. Sandro Rosell met Wednesday with Andoni Zubizarreta. And on Thursday it appears that will do so with Pep Guardiola.

Club azulgrana president, Sandro Rosell, met Wednesday afternoon with the director of professional football area, Andoni Zubizarreta, to address various aspects of what has to be Barça 2012/13.

The summit took place in the office of Rosell at the offices of the club, started about six o'clock in the afternoon and lasted a little over an hour.

One issue that surely came to the fore, was the future of Pep Guardiola. The Barcelonista coach contract ends on 30 June, and has not communicated its decision to continue or not.

The coach himself admitted, after completing the Barça-Chelsea, who once ruled the team's options in the Champions League and the theme of renewal "and tap", but did not specify in what way or what his decision.

In any case, it is clear that the mystery about its continuity, or otherwise, at Barça will be unveiled shortly. This Thursday there could be a meeting between Rosell and Guardiola to clarify the situation permanently. (via SPORT)

Mediapro – the company producing TV coverage of this Saturday’s big game- presented their plans for the match at the Camp Nou today during an event attended by Andoni Zubizarreta and Emilio Butragueño.

The event was held at the Museu del FC Barcelona, where the Real Madrid Director of Institutional Relations, Emili Butragueño spoke via a TV link from the Santiago Bernabéu.

Mediapro will be using more than 300 professionals for their coverage, with an expected audience of about 400 million viewers.

Mediapro presented their coverage of this Saturday’s game against Real Madrid at the Club Museum this Monday . The event was attended by Barça’s Director of Professional Football Andoni Zubizarreta, accompanied by the Spanish commentators Axel Torres and Josep Maria Déu, as well as Real Madrid’s Director of Institutional Relations, Emilio Butragueño, who spoke by direct video link from Madrid.

Mediapro will be rolling out an impressive array of technological and human resources, with more than 300 people working in 10 mobile units – one of which is a 3D unit- and a total of 34 cameras, 12 of which will be at pitchside. There will also be a High Speed unit –to view action too fast for the human eye- a Steadycam, for dead ball situations- and a Beauty, for aerial views of the Stadium. The coverage will also use the Epsio application to allow lines to be drawn across the image of the pitch to adjudge offside decisions.

For the first time ever on a broadcast game, coverage will also use the stat analysis tool MediaCoach, an application widely used by managers in the Spanish League.

Andoni Zubizarreta stressed the importance of Saturday’s game: “this is the only chance we have to guarantee we take three points and Madrid drop three. I hope we can continue our run of good results against Real Madrid at our ground and with our fans behind us”. Zubizarreta also commented on the importance of this Wednesday’s Champions League game at Stamford Bridge, which he reckons will be “ a good preparation for Saturday - this is a week of high voltage games!”.

Emilio Butragueño was full of praise for Barça: “they have hardly any weak points and are a formidable team with a lot of different resources. Their players have a global view of the game and a lot of that is down to Guardiola’s fantastic work”. Butragueño also warned though: “whatever happens on Saturday, the league will still not be over”.

A Global Event

The importance of this Saturday’s game in the context of this year’s league title has really awoken interest in the game across the world and the game will be broadcast across all the five continents, with an estimated global audience of 400 million viewers. Mediapro will also be producing a special 3D signal for distribution. (via FCBarcelona.com)

Andoni Zubizarreta expressed his gratitude to the fans of Barça for his tribute to Éric Abidal, who on Tuesday underwent a liver transplant.

Azulgranas supporters dedicated a heartfelt ovation French defender in the 22-minute number that Abidal looks back at Barça, the match against Getafe at Camp Nou.

"We appreciate the applause exciting in that minute, more than ever. Do not know anything about the operation yet," said the director of professional football's FC Barcelona.

The leader also alluded to the statements of Pep Guardiola, who yesterday said he has asked his players to run less and laugh more. "You have to work hard," he said.

Zubizarreta, moreover, would not argue with Madrid coach José Mourinho, or his deputy, Aitor Karanka: "I only know what I mean, I like football and enjoy it," he said. (via SPORT)

Andoni Zubizarreta has said that Wednesday will be “a difficult match against a strong opponent” but that Barça are ready to compete with the Italians for a place in the semi finals.

Zubi: “The two group matches allowed us to get to know each other a little better but we also know that a knockout match is played differently”.

“We have more important players missing than they do, but great teams are used to playing under any circumstances”.

Andoni Zubizarreta was speaking to the media before departing for Italy. “We know what we have to do to get to the final. It’s a great game against a great opponent. It’s one of the best games in the quarter finals. It will be a difficult match against a team we already know”, said the director of football. Of course, the sides already met earlier in the competition. “Both games in the group stages will help us get to know each other a bit better, but we also know that knockout matches are played differently” he said.

Asked about the key players that AC Milan are missing, Zubi commented that “I’m sure our missing players are more important than the ones they have. But great teams are used to playing under any circumstances … The greatest teams are made up of great players. It’s true that the such players tend to appear in big matches because they thrive on such pressure. Ibrahimovic is one of them, and he’s an important part of AC Milan”.

Zubizarreta and the team are not only ready to fight with Milan for a place in the semi finals of the Champions League, and also for three points in all their remaining league fixtures. “That’s our intention. We’ll see whether we end up winning the league or not” he concluded. (via FCBarcelona.com)

Andoni Zubizarreta says, "The Milan is a great club with great players" and that the tie will be "a reunion with old friends," two teams that know a lot.

Area director Sports of football is happy to play the second leg at the Camp Nou and appreciates the gesture of support from UEFA to Abidal.

The draw for the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Friday has brought a Milan-Barça just the computer that Guardiola preferred to avoid. "What happens is that we played against them in the qualifying group and the teams they've played not so fond of back face," said Andoni Zubizarreta after the draw. "You prefer to play against new teams, sets you can better analyze and who do not know much," added the director of the Sports Area Football in Nyon.

"It's Milan and is already" has settled Zubizarreta. From here, the fact dispute the leg at Camp Nou can be a slight advantage, although it has relativized Zubi: "This is always a debate. Football history says it's better to play the second leg at home but modern game has matched so that this element is not as crucial as before. to me, I'm a classic, I like play around at home. "

Area director Sports of football stressed that "Milan are a great club with great players." "We have to play good football and be better than them trying to reach the semifinals, which is what we want," he said.

What they do not want to hear about Zubizarreta is a hypothetical end: "We are still in the room where the draw is made. If you see the box of matches, you see so many teams and so much football to talk about the final is much speculation ".

Andoni Zubizarreta, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Amador Bernabéu have been FC Barcelona representatives in Nyon. (via FCBarcelona.cat)

Andoni Zubizarreta avoided ruling on the future of technical and respect for the work called for arbitration.

Andoni Zubizarreta entered fully into the game of comparisons between Mourinho and Guardiola. Blaugrana sporting director was positioned and left no doubt about his performance at the junction of statements that both coaches have staged this weekend. "In this case, frankly, I'm not that seem Mou and Guardiola."

The executive denied that the club FC Barcelona has profiled this week the expected renewal of coach Pep Guardiola. "There is no condition to make it this week. I understand the interest of the media, but we expect a quiet week and it will play when you play, "he said.

As for the controversies have arisen in recent days, Zubizarreta showed his usual caution. Input on the subject of arbitration. "They are the most difficult part in this profession. They have people who support them and we must respect their work. "Finally, with regard to Real Madrid, also showed his starting point. "Real Madrid should give us the same. We must win our games and the rest see it on TV. " (via SPORT)

Andoni think that Barça has earned enough credit in recent years.

The sports director of FC Barcelona , Andoni Zubizarreta , made ​​a measurement at rest that it may be true for the final match, when defeat had already occurred. Zubi said that "neither the grass nor the wind helped us a lot. This field is very narrow and must be very precise, but to be irregular and so cold, makes it difficult to play in it. It is true that the conditions are the same for them, but have adapted much better than us. " Former goalkeeper Basque stated that "between the first and the second goal we have had sufficient opportunity to have the game had developed differently, but no luck or success." Finally, Zubizarreta sent a message that can serve for the future. "Let us have faith in this team," he said. One of the officers who traveled to Pamplona, ​​Josep Ramon Vidal-Abarca, also commented that "there is still a lot Liga. " (via MD)

Zubizarreta denied the contacts by the Welsh.

Andoni Zubizarreta , sporting director of FC Barcelona , flatly denied yesterday who traveled to London recently to negotiate with Tottenham and the representative of Gareth Bale the signing of Welsh left-back. "It is true that London has been in talks with anyone and I said a thousand times that 90% of players are in Barça fichables or the subsidiary," said former goalie at halftime of the game last night denying it published on Friday by the Daily Sport . Furthermore, although the club sees a player Bale interesting, in any case would be willing to pull the boat out when it is 'common knowledge' that it Tottenham descolgaría asking 40 million euros at least.

As for the game against Real Sociedad, Zubizarreta was pleased by the attitude of the players. "For the game could take some more goal but also plays Real and this is football," he said before the second half. (via MD)

Barca sporting director has "a perception that is within the project".
'Zubi' has prioritized the cantera rather than to seek reinforcements from outside: "The first market is ours".

Andoni Zubizarreta , sporting director of FC Barcelona , has said in an interview with the program 'El club de la mitjanit' of Catalunya Radio that does not yet know if Pep Guardiola with Barça renewed.

"Pep has not told me whether to continue or not" , said the former goalkeeper before ensuring that it has "the perception that it is within the project" . Zubizarreta has even joked about if the time in which the wish to renew Santpedor "may cross the 60 meters that separate it from my office" , but has made ​​clear that "up to June 29 have time."

Given the numerous injuries that are affecting the first team, azulgrana sports director wanted to prioritize the players that are in the cantera rather than to seek reinforcements from outside. "At home we have very good players, is our primary market" , has said 'Zubi'.

About the Clásico last Wednesday, in which they qualified for the semifinals of the Copa del Rey , has acknowledged that "we saw an excellent version of Real Madrid" but that the Barça "knew how to compete" .

The next opponent in the Copa , the Valencia , Zubizarreta Unai Emery has stressed that "whenever we face a very complicated games like chess games with Pep" , something the former goalkeeper has described as "wonderful" . (via MD)

Reporting on work in the Ciutat Esportiva.

The latest issue of the Journal devoted his report Barca stellar work done by technical services in the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper in Sant Joan Despi. It realizes the transformation that has experienced since that within less than two years there have moved all equipment, including Pep Guardiola, Medical Services and Reponses of the areas of professional football and Formative Football. Also, it is also already installed permanently in the Sant Joan Despi new Masia.

Andoni Zubizarreta says that through all these changes "is now easier to exchange information, share knowledge. We also know better and access information more quickly and directly." The athletic director added that "the concept is not discussed football, develops. We have a way of doing and understanding the different and unique soccer. And the first team takes the best."

The report also details the process of finding talent, ongoing work of the technical secretariat by Albert Valentine. In fact, there is a photograph are working side by side Valentin Zubizarreta, Narcis Julia, Albert Puig and William Love A flash of commendable transparency in a group (with the exception of Love) does not give interviews. Of course, if there is a book of the champions of the quarry by making an exception. (via MD)

Despite qualification for the Club World Cup Final, the Director of the Sports Area for Football was dismayed about the injury to the Asturian forward.

After the game with Al-Sadd, Andoni Zubizarreta spoke to the media, and particularly about the injury suffered by David Villa. He was clearly upset by the news that his star striker has fractured his left tibia. "Whenever there's an injury like Villa's, the rest is secondary," he said. Indeed, despite qualifying for the world final on Sunday against Santos, for the moment, it is as if nothing else matters. Zubizarreta didn't want to go into details about the incident that led to the injury, merely saying that "in football there is always going be that kind of risk," and neither did he want to discuss the idea of using the winter transfer window to bring in somebody to take Villa's place.

Turning to the game with Al-Sadd, Zubizarreta confessed that the Qatari outfit "showed us a lot of respect right from the start, and camped ten players in their penalty area. They defended tightly and committed fouls if need be." He also observed that although the stadium was packed to the rafters "there wasn't much of an atmosphere." Given all that, he commented that "it is difficult to play games like these and I think we dealt with it all very professionally."

As for the final against Santos, Zubizarreta said that what he admires most about the Brazilians is that they "combine skill with tactics, and individual talent ... We'll compete by doing what we know how to do, keep hold of the ball." (via FCBarcelona.cat)