Three key points for September 24th Assembly

Board spokesperson Toni Freixa announced that the next Assembly of Members Representatives will take place on September 24th , coinciding with the city fiestas and the game against Atletico Madrid.

The Assembly will take place on Saturday September 24th , with a first calling at 15.00 and a second half an hour later. According to Toni Freixas, the Assembly will. “ratify the contract with Qatar Sports Investments, the initiative ‘Camp Nou sense fum’ and approve the project of the ‘grada d’animació’”. The board spokesman insisted: “we understand that the members wish to have their say and we are determined that they should have the final word”. 

Qatar deal 
Referring to the Qatar Foundation contract, Freixa explained: “there was an agreement made at the 2003 Assembly which authorises the inclusion of publicity on the shirts, so this consultation is not actually required by the statutes, but for us it is simply a question of respect and consideration for the members’ wishes”. At the same time, he pointed out that “the board believe this is the best sponsorship deal possible and that the members will agree with us on this”. 

No smoking rules 
The decision to forbid smoking at the Camp Nou will also be discussed and Toni Freixa explained: “the board recommended a ban on smoking and we announced that it would be put to the Assembly to include it in the Club regulations, as has been done in other countries”. 

New “grada d’animació” plans 
A further point for the Assembly is the creation of “grada d’animació” and Freixas pointed out: “we aren’t just bringing this up again- this is a new proposal with strict security measures”. 

Goal scoring debuts

Cesc and Alexis both scored on their league debuts on Monday night repeating the feat of Giuly and Eto’o at the start of the 04/05 season and joining players such Villa and Ibrahimovic, who scored in their first games.

Both of Barça’s summer signings hit the ground running on their league debuts, with Fabregas getting on the scoresheet first and then Alexis getting in on the act. 

Thiago too

Although he’s scored for the first team before, Thiago Alcántara could also celebrate his first league goal as a full first team squad member with his strike against Villarreal – Guardiola’s team’s third summer addition to get a goal in the first game of the season.

Repeat of 2004 success 

In Frank Rijkaard’s second season at the Club, the same thing happened, with both Ludovic Giuly, signed from Monaco and Samuel Eto’o, brought in from Mallorca in the summer, getting the goals in Barça’s 0-2 win in Santander.

Ibrahimovic and Villa 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Villa also marked their league debuts with goals, with the Swede getting the third in the 3-0 win over Sporting at the Camp Nou in 2009-10 and David Villa was also on the mark, rounding off the win at Racing last season. 

Keita latest international to leave

With Keita the latest player to go off on international duty, Barça were left with just five first team squad members in training at the Ciutat Esportiva today.

The mass exodus of international players continues apace at Can Barça with Seydou Keita off to play with Mali, making it 14 players not training with the remnants of the squad on Thursday. 

Bare bones 
Pitch number 2 saw the bare bones of the squad in training this morning and today they were not joined by the Barça B squad, who were preparing for Sunday’s game against Cartagena – with just Masip, Deulofeu, Femenía and Lobato attending. 

With Pep Guardiola attending the Elite Coaches’ Forum in Nyon, Tito Vilanova took the session and worked with Pinto, Fontàs and the injured Puyol, Maxwell and Afellay. Adriano and Muniesa both continued with their recovery programmes, whilst Piqué worked in the gym. 

Last training of the week on Friday 
The remnants of the squad will be back in training on Friday at 9.30, with the first quarter of an hour open to the public. This will be the final training of the week, as the players have been given a few days off. 

Barça have beaten four Champions League teams in August

The month of August has witnessed some authentic Barcelona victories. The last five games that Barça played have included wins against Real Madrid, Naples, Porto and Villareal, four teams that are playing in the Champions League this season.

Real Madrid in the Final of the Spanish Super Cup, Naples in the Gamper, Porto in the Final of the European Super Cup, and Villareal in the League, are the Champions League rivals that Barça have beaten this month. All four games ended in a Barça victory, and two of them bringing home the first two titles this season: the Spanish Super Cup and European Super Cup. 

First stop, the Spanish Super Cup 
Barça started the 2011-2012 season with a main course, the Spanish Super Cup, and a “Classic” against Real Madrid. 
The first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Guardiola’s men drew 2-2 in a hard fought match, with goals from Villa and Lionel Messi, was used to start to get the legs into shape, and also marked the debut of Barca’s first Chilean player, Alexis Sanchez. 
On 17th of August 2011, the Camp Nou witnessed the winning of the first title of the season. An Iniesta goal opened the scoring, and two goals from Messi were enough to overcome the goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema. Moreover, this game would have special meaning for the new Barça number 4, Cesc Fabregas, who played his first game in a Barça shirt. 

Barça brilliant in the Gamper 
From there, wins have been coming one after the other. Naples were the rivals in the Joan Gamper Trophy, the official presentation of this great Barça team. The players achieved their first big win of the season, 5-0. Cesc Fabregas scored the first goal, and his first for Barça. The other 4 goals were scored by Keita, Pedro, and Leo Messi, with another 2. 
After the Gamper, Barça travelled to one of the more glamorous cities, Monaco, to play for their second title of the season, the European Super Cup, against Porto. A goal from Messi in the 38th minute and another from Cesc in the 87th, were enough to crown Barça, Super Champions of Europe. 

First game in the League with a big win against Villarreal 
The Camp Nou was again witness to another big win against a team that will be playing in the Champions League, Villareal. Gambling on a 3-4-3 formation, the players decided the game with a 5-0 victory, in an exhibition that helped Thiago, Alexis Sanchez, and Fábregas reaffirm why Barcelona signed them. Their 3 goals, along with another 2 from Leo Messi, demonstrated Barça’s most competitive side, which, despite having won everything, remains intact, and the team have the same desire to continue making history. 

Internationals off again

Fourteen first team squad members, plus B team full back Montoya are off on international duty, with just seven players left at the Ciutat Esportiva - and five of those are injured.

When the squad comes in to train on Wednesday there will only be seven players available - Pinto and Fontàs, as well as the injured Puyol, Piqué, Maxwell, Adriano and Afellay, as the international calendar again cuts swathes through Guardiola’s squad.

Friendlies and qualifiers 
Éric Abidal will play two European Championship qualifiers with France – against Albania on September 2nd and Rumania four days later. Valdés, Montoya, Busquets, Cesc, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Villa and Thiago are in the Spanish squad for the friendly against Alexis Sanchez’s Chile in Switzerland and the qualifier against Liechtenstein, in Logroño next Tuesday. Sanchez will be in action for Chile on Sunday in another friendly –against Mexico at Espanyol’s Cornellà-El Prat Stadium.

Keita back with Mali 
After a year’s absence, Seydou Keita will reappear for Mali against Cape Verde in an African Cup of Nations qualifier. Leo Messi and Javier Mascherano both make long journeys for the friendly against Venezuela in Calcutta on Friday and against Nigeria in Dhaka four days later. Finally, Dani Alves’ Brazil face Ghana in London on September 5th.

Guardiola to attend Elite Coaches’ Forum

Pep Guardiola will be attending The 13th UEFA Elite Coaches' Forum in Nyon later this week.

The forum will be held on Wednesday and Thursday and as well as the Barca boss, 
other big names such as Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson, Chelsea’s André Villas-Boas, Arsenal’s Arsène Wenger. Ajax’s Frank de Boer and Valencia’s Unai Emery will also be attending. 

The Forum begins at 17.00 on Wednesday and will close at noon on Thursday, with the managers dealing with a number of issues, including group management, the importance of making substitutions and injury trends, their effects on performances and the factors which lead to them. 

Messi’s 101 goals at the Camp Nou

Messi just doesn’t stop – he seems to score with ease and with the two he bagged against Villarreal he made it 101 goals at the Camp Nou, with 63 in the league, 20 in the Champions League, 11 in the Cup and 7 in the Spanish Super Cup.

Leo Messi has begun the new season just as he finished off last year, with 6 goals in 4 games, with his two against Villarreal taking him past the100 mark at the Stadium. 

Messi’s goals at the Stadium: 
11/12 season; 2 League, 3 Spanish Super Cup and 1 European Super Cup 
10/11; 15 League, 6 Champions League, 6 Spanish Cup and 3 European Super Cup 
09/10; 16 League, 7 Champions League, 1 Spanish Cup and 2 Spanish Super Cup 
08/09; 8 League, 4 Champions League and 1 Spanish Cup 
07/08; 9 League and 2 Champions League 
06/07; 8 League and 2 Spanish Cup 
05/06; 4 League, 1 Champions League and 1 Spanish Cup 
04/05; 1 League 

Debut strike 
Messi’s first goal at the Camp Nou came at the end of the 2004/05 season when at the age of 18 he scored with a brilliant chip against Albacete. 

Wonder goal against Getafe 
There have been many memorable goals from Messi, but perhaps the most famous one was against Getafe in the Spanish Cup semi-final in 2007, when he picked up the ball in midfield and slalomed through almost the whole of the Getafe defence for a goal that drew comparison to Maradona’s famous strike against England in the 1986 Mexico World Cup.