Barcelona have perhaps the greatest forward line ever assembled, but for how much longer?
According to The Sun (so take this information with however many grains of salt you feel are appropriate), Barcelona's wage bill is 73 percent of its total revenue.
The Sun also reported that Barca are planning a £423 million renovation of the Camp Nou.
They’re rivals on and off the pitch, but the latest edition of El Clasico has provoked controversy that pushed the tension between Barcelona and Real Madrid to a boiling point.
Barcelona are currently pursuing a case against Manolo Sanchís and Poli Rincon through the Anti-Violence Commission over comments the ex-Real players made about Isco’s horror tackle on Neymar in El Clasico. The Spain starlet was given a straight red card, Real Madrid lost El Clasico, and that should have been the end of it.
Xavi Hernandez is a Barcelona legend. While in the Blaugrana, he won damn near everything there is to win. He retired on top, having been an integral part of Barca's treble win. This begs the question, though, now that Xavi is comfortably living out the early stages of his retirement in the Qatari league, where is the next Xavi? How will Barcelona replace one of the best players in its history?
Neymar's astounding string of performances has managed to get him in the mix to be one of the top players in the world. Nonetheless, off-the-field issues keep the superstar's future very murky.
As successful as Barcelona have been with the current Messi, there is no doubt that they are constantly on the lookout for the next Messi.
And they just might have found what the're looking for in Carles Aleña, a 17-year-old Spaniard who plays for the Barcelona U-19s and has already trained with the first team because of injuries. There is serious speculation that he could be the next big thing out of the academy that produced Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, Xavi Hernandes, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Thiago Motta, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Sergio Busquets.
It’s long been said that opportunity makes the man, that the big occasion grants its greatest performer an indelible place amongst legends. In today's world of soccer, one man has become synonymous with such moments. Andres Iniesta has consistently provided for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team during their times of greatest need.
The eyes were on Lionel Messi ahead of Barcelona's Champions League match vs Roma. And of course, La Pulga delivered. Scoring the second of Barcelona's 3 first half goals with a classic chip over the goalkeeper. But the person who continued his perfect form? Lucho Suarez. The Uruguayan not only assisted Messi's goal, but he also gave fans a volley for the ages, when he wound up from just inside the box, and curled a left to right rip past the goalkeeper.
He's baaaaaaaack. In his first start since injurying his knee back on September 26th, Lionel Messi found the back of the net with a classic chip over the goalkeeper. The Messi goal vs Roma came after 29 straight touches from Barcelona, with the final 6 coming in no surprising fashion: Neymar-Messi-Neymar-Messi-Suarez-Messi-GOAL. Neymar and Suarez were already in perfect form while Messi was gone, combining for 21 goals and 10 assists.
Barcelona didn't have to twist the knife. But they did.
Leading Real Madrid 3-0 in the Bernabeu, and making a powerful statement in the first Clasico of the year, the Blaugrana could have easily killed the game off and returned to Catalonia the triumphant victors, the clear favorites in La Liga and the masters of El Clasico.
FC Barcelona stars participated in a FIFA 16 tournament and the resulting video is comedy gold. Claudio Bravo, Arda Turan and Dani Alves faced off against Neymar Jr., Jordi Alba and Marc-André ter Stegen in a winner-takes-all matchup.
Who’d the Barcelona players choose to play as? Well, themselves, naturally. With Neymar’s team sporting Barca’s away kits and the Alves squad in the traditional Blaugrana home shirts, the stage was set for a mini half-Clasico on FIFA 16.