A Barça Blog

Usually the moments of game-changing magic are saved for Lionel Messi but in his absence, one man stood up to take centre stage. 38-year-old Aritz Aduriz had been on the pitch for little over a minute before he was bicycle-kicking his team into a shock win. In La Liga's opener, Barcelona looked tepid. Antoine Griezmann may have hoped it would be he would provide the magic but in the opening stages it was Iñaki Williams, albeit for the other team. For a manager already under fire, it was the worst possible start to the new campaign. Points dropped in the opening games used to be no major cause for concern. Chalk it up to pre-season not being quite right or players not being fully fit and relax in the warm comfort that you have 30+ games to rectify the mistake. Nowadays, with the relentless nature of modern football, a defeat is approaching terminal. Aside from Barcelona, every Champions League semi-finalist from last year won their opening game and their old foe Real Madri...

For most FIFA career mode players, there will come a point where you simply have too many superstars to fit into the starting XI. Antoine Griezmann playing in the Joan Gamper trophy Due to practical issues such as money and the fact real humans can not be told to go away by the mere tap of an A button, this is rarely a luxury afford to real life managers. But for Ernesto Valverde, going in to what could potentially be his final season at the club, this is his reality. He can boast one of the most star-laden teams in Europe but the problem remains the same. How does 23 fit into 11? Barcelona's summer recruitment involved the arrivals of Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong to an increasingly busy forward line and midfield three, meaning Valverde must begin the plate-spinning akin task of trying to keep everyone happy. His preference for a 4-4-2 last season could either have been one of choice or one of necessity as Ousmane Dembélé struggled with injuries but it seems u...