The starting eleven of Barça in the derby against Espanyol contrasted, and a lot, with what Atlético de Madrid presented against Sevilla. While the Blaugranas made some small rotations but maintained the backbone of the starting team, the Mattress makers made many rotations. This is how the story ended on the scoreboard: Barça won and left La Liga almost sealed; on the other hand, Atlético de Madrid lost in Seville. While it is true that Cholo Simeone had some notable absences, he took the Champions League into much greater account, aware that in the league tournament he has nothing left to fight for and that he prefers a starting eleven with fresh legs in the second leg of the quarter-finals.

Aitana Bonmatí has received the The BestThe award for best female player of 2025. After winning her third Ballon d'Or last September, the footballer from San Pedro de Ribes has received this accolade for the third consecutive time. Former Barcelona player Ousmane Dembélé received the award in the men's category, in which Pedri, Lamine Yamal, and Raphinha were finalists. The ceremony was held in Qatar without any Barcelona players in attendance. PSG, however, was present, and they will play Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final this Wednesday.

Stone González is the latest Barça player to find love, and since this weekend he's no longer hiding his romance: the Barça midfielder was seen with his new partner during the Premier Padel Tour held at the Palau Sant Jordi. This can be seen in images published by the newspaper. Sport, the star The Barcelona fan attended the arena's VIP box with Alejandra Dorta, whom he had reportedly been seeing in recent months.

Following the defeat in London, Hansi Flick was emphatic in the press conference: "We will see a different Barça, I can promise you that."And he wasn't wrong. Since that 3-0 defeat at Chelsea, Barça has strung together five consecutive victories, allowing them to seize the lead in La Liga and keep alive their hopes of finishing in the top eight of the Champions League to avoid a knockout round (the play-offIn Europe, this is important given the tight schedule. The return of Joan Garcia, Pedri, and Raphinha—the backbone of Hansi Flick's Barça—has been key, but so has the team's defensive improvement, thanks to the stability of the center-back pairing. Without Iñigo Martínez, the German coach began the season searching for a left-sided center-back. With Pau Cubarsí a fixture in the heart of the defense—having missed only four matches this season—Araujo, Eric Garcia, and Christensen competed to see who could secure a starting spot alongside the player from Estanyol. The Uruguayan –now on indefinite leave– He has been the one who has accompanied the Catalan footballer from the start the most times, up to seven.The last time was at Chelsea's ground, when he was sent off for a second yellow card before halftime. Eric – who this season has played at full-back on both sides, center-back, and defensive midfielder – has started alongside Cubarsí five times, while Christensen has not started with the Girona native. Other pairings used by the German manager from the start were Eric Garcia with either Christensen or Araujo, each on two occasions, and the Uruguayan and the Dane, who started together against Real Sociedad.

Pedri González López has suffered an injury. The Canary Islands midfielder, a key player in Hansi Flick's Barcelona system, has a tear in the distal biceps femoris muscle of his left leg, which will keep him out of action for the next few weeks. This Wednesday he did specific work in the gym to begin his recovery from this physical problem. of Sunday's classic at the Bernabéu, in which he ended up exhausted and sent off for two yellow cards. He will miss Elche's visit to Montjuïc this weekend due to suspension and, at a minimum, the two matches before the international break against Belgian side Club Brugge in the Champions League and Celta Vigo in La Liga. One positive takeaway at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper is that Luis de la Fuente will almost certainly not call him up for the upcoming matches with the Spanish national team against Georgia and Turkey.

"Pedri was the MVP, but I think I can take half the trophy," said Wojciech Szczęsny in Lisbon with the confidence of an extraordinary player after completing His best game since wearing the Barça shirt. The goalkeeper, who had already excelled in a first stoppage of merit just seconds after the start, kept the team unbeaten in a duel in which Barça played 68 minutes with one man down after Pau Cubarsí was sent off. Barça broke the record for winning a match playing more minutes with one less player, surpassing the feat achieved by Juve at Valencia in 2018, when Cristiano was sent off in the 29th minute. Curiously, in that 0-2 the goalkeeper was also Szczęsny.

At the halfway point of this campaign, Pedri has already surpassed (35) the number of games he played in the entire eventful last season (34). The canary shines with its own light And finally, after three courses that were a real nightmare due to muscle injuries and relapses, he has managed not only to show his great talent in small parts, but to do so on a regular basis. Hansi Flick entrusted him with being the team leader, a task that the ARA already announced months ago, and to which the footballer has responded with credentials on the pitch. Correcting habits beyond the practice of football, taking care of his diet and working on physical prevention – both with muscle strength exercises and with the practice of disciplines such as Pilates – have allowed him to achieve a regularity desired by the 22-year-old footballer, by his coach and, also, by Barça, with whom at the end of January he sealed the renewal until 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 Pedri suffered up to eight muscle injuries was one of the biggest headaches for the Barça medical services and the player's closest environment. Finally, the club chose to order an exhaustive muscle analysis to know the footballer's muscle fibers in detail and, thus, be able to adapt a personalized routine that would help him prevent injuries and improve his physical performance. As advanced Sports WorldAt the end of last season, the club contacted Julio Tous, a leading international trainer – who has been the head of physical preparation for Barça's first team since the summer – to start a specific physical plan for Pedri. The procedure was coordinated with the Barça medical services and with the collaboration and approval of the player.

Although in a football match it is important to get off to a good start, the most important thing is how you finish.  The Spanish Olympic team has started losing against Ivory Coast and in less than ten minutes they have also lost Òscar Mingueza. The blaugrana footballer, who was returning to play after contracting a femoral biceps in the first match of the Games, suffered from his injury at the very beginning and the Madrid player Vallejo, who is more of a centre-back than a winger, substituted him on the right wing. But despite losing a player to injury so early on and conceding a goal after just ten minutes, the state side rallied to draw level in a match that still had a crazy twist in store. In the 90th minute the Africans went ahead again, but not a minute later, with the first ball touched by Rafa Mir, Spain drew level again in a match that was decided in extra time with a penalty goal from Mikel Oyarzabal and two more goals from Mir (5-2). They will now meet the winner of the match between hosts Japan and New Zealand in the semi-finals.