Schalke 04: El Hombre de Oro

August 2014

Martinez (68) – Alcolea O.G. (8), Messi (82), Bartra (89)





Iniesta (31) – Bale (41)





Messi (9, 13), Rafinha (50), Pique (56)





2-1 agg.

Ramos (37)





Messi (15), Bartra (21)

Liga BBVA Table

Barcelona’s Player of the Month

Lionel Messi

Messi, as usual, has fired on all cylinders and is constantly the centre of every attack we make. Four goals in three La Liga appearances and he’s already well on his way to yet another great season.

Maradona’s Verdict

It hasn’t been a bad start to the season at all. Despite losing the Supercopa Espana final to Madrid, we’ve got three out of three wins in the league and our start hasn’t been particularly easy either. Real Sociedad was a tough opponent but we got the win we deserved as well as versus Levante. Our game against Sevilla was vintage Barca as we had a total of 46 shots on goal. Obviously, we should be looking at tucking a few more away, but the fact that we are creating so much is very assuring.

UEFA CHAMPIONS’ LEAGUE DRAW

GROUP A

Atletico Madrid
IFK Norrköping FK
RSC Anderlecht
Arsenal

GROUP B

Bayer Leverkusen
Maccabi Haifa
Manchester City
Benfica

GROUP C

Borussia Dortmund
PSV Eindhoven
Real Madrid
GNK Dinamo Zagreb

GROUP D

Paris Saint-Germain
Kayserispor
Juventus
Dynamo Kyiv

GROUP E

FC København
FC Barcelona
Viktoria Plzen
CSKA Moscow

GROUP F

Chelsea
Stade Rennais
Inter Milan
Olympiakos

GROUP G

Valencia
FC Porto
Hamburg SV
Liverpool

GROUP H

Fiorentina
FC Bayern Munich
AS Monaco
Shakhtar Donetsk

Arsenal – Emiliano Viviano (£5m), Javier Mascherano (£10.5m), Tom Cleverley (£11m), Jan Kirchhoff (£6m)
Aston Villa – Pablo Hernandez (£975k), Oussama Assaidi (£2.2m), Vegard Forren (£975k), Francis Coquelin (£1.2m), Goran Pandev (£2.2m)
Chelsea – Christian Benteke (£33.75m), Ezequiel Garay (£11m), Radja Nainggolan (£12m)
Everton – Oriol Romeu (£1m), Jack Cork (£4.2m), Claudio Pizarro (£300k), Jonny Howson (£1.4m)
Fulham – Miguel Veloso (£6.25m), Danny Ings (£5m), Mark Noble (£2.4m), Didier Ya Konan (Free), Jack Colback (£3.4m), Jacob Mellis (£3.5m)
Liverpool – Jonathan Schmid (£22.5m), David Ospina (£2.6m)
Manchester City – Juan Cuadrado (£24.5m), Marek Hamsik (£47m), Alexandru Maxim (£12m), Nicolas Nkoulou (£11.5m)
Manchester United – Jonathan Dos Santos (£6.5m), Ever Banega (£15.25m), Mohamed El Neny (£6.5m)
Newcastle United – Ruben Rochina (£3m), Loic Remy (£6m), Luuk De Jong (£5m), Andre Wisdom (Loan)
Norwich City – Mason Bennett (£550k), Joel Campbell (£1.3m)
Southampton – Darren Fletcher (£1.5m), Miralem Pjanic (£7.5m), Lamine Sane (Free), Frickson Erazo (£5m), Mohamed Diame (£3.5m), Neil Taylor (£4.3m)
Stoke City – Kasper Schmeichel (£2.3m), Joshua King (£3.1m), Charlie Austin (£4.9m), Fabian Delph (£1.7m)
Swansea City – Tom Huddlestone (£6m), Sadio Mane (£3.1m)
Tottenham Hotspur – Alex Song (£13.25m), Gregory van der Wiel (£7.75m), Fernando Muslera (£11.5m)



AS Monaco – Antonio Candreva (£11m), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (£18.5m), Cesar Azpilicueta (£8.75m), Asmir Begovic (£9.5m), Filipe Luis (£8m), Brad Friedel (£91k), Doria (£20m)
AS Saint-Etienne – Yohan Mollo (£2.2m), Obafemi Martins (£950k)
Girondins Bordeaux – Andy Polo (Loan), Ogenyi Onazi (Loan), Bruno Ecuele-Manga (£3.7m)
LOSC Lille – Szabolcs Huszti (£2.6m), Youssouf Mulumbu (£11m)
OGC Nice – Ki Sung-Yeung (£1.7m), Romulo (£1m), Lorenzo Crisetig (Loan)
Olympique Marseille – Marvin Martin (£7.5m), Jean-Arnel Kana-Biyik (£4.7m), Alex Grimaldo (Loan), Demba Ba (£6.2m), Maicon (Loan), Vladimir Weiss (£5.5m), Cristian Zapata (£3.4m)
Olympique Lyonnais – Emmanuel Riviere (£3.6m), Miguel Lopes (Loan)
Paris Saint-Germain – Alexandre Lacazette (Free), Cristian Tello (£12m), Lewis Holtby (£12.5m), Jakub Blaszczykowski (£20m)
Stade Rennais – Wilfried Zaha (Loan), Maya Yoshida (£2m), Kim Kallstrom (Loan)
Toulouse – Maynor Figueroa (£900k)



Bayer Leverkusen – Dennis Praet (£3.1m), Nicklas Bendtner (Free), Eren Derdiyok (£3.4m), Sebastian Jung (£3.8m), Nicolai Muller (£3.8m), Nils Petersen (£12.75m), Bas Dost (£2m)
Borussia Dortmund – Nuri Sahin (£5m), Nabil Bentaleb (Free), Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.5m), Eugene Konoplyanka (£6.5m), Vladimir Darida (£2.5m)
Borussia Monchengladbach – Fabian Schar (£1.7m), Diego Contento (£2.3m), Shane Long (£4.7m), Ryad Boudebouz (£2.6m)
FC Bayern Munich – Robert Lewandowski (Free), Sebastian Rode (Free), Pierre-Michel Lasogga (£10m), Jetro Willems (£9m)
Schalke 04 – Dennis Aogo (£2.2m), Stevan Jovetic (£10.75m), Morgan Schneiderlin (£17m), Fagner (£2.9m), Timo Horn (£3.8m), Artur Sobiech (£5.25m)
Hamburg SV – Johan Djourou (£1.1m), Shawn Parker (£3.8m), Toby Jantschke (£2.6m)
Werder Bremen – Oscar Wendt (£1.3m), Stefan Aigner (£3.6m), Santiago Garcia (£1.3m
Stuttgart – Timothy Chandler (£1.5m), Hiroki Sakai (£2.5m), Avraam Papadopoulos (£3m), Jan Movarek (£3.1m)
Wolfsburg – Marco Hoger (£2m), Amido Balde (£7.5m), Milan Badelj (£4.1m), Christian Clemens (£5.25m), Omer Toprak (£5.5m)



Ajax – Bram Nuytinck (£2.2m), Ola John (£750k), Landry N’Guemo (Free), Alexander Buttner (£1.6m), Sylvester Igboun (£2.2m), Alexander Esswein (£2m)
AZ Alkmaar – Ben Sahar (£1m)
FC Twente – Adnan Januzaj (Loan), Angelo Henriquez (Loan), Mikael Lustig (£1.6m), Anderson (Loan), Mevlut Erdinc (£2.7m)
Feyenoord – Roberto Rosales (Loan)
PSV Eindhoven – Alfred Finnbogason (£5m), Jonathan Mensah (£3.3m), Sergi Samper (Loan), Daryl Janmaat (£2.9m), Leandro Bacuna (£2.2m)



AC Milan – Claudio Yacob (£11m), Fabio Coentrao (£8.75m)
Fiorentina – Dusan Tadic (£6.25m), Mathieu Flamini (£3m), Blerim Dzemali (£3.6m/CO)
Roma – Marko Marin (£7.5m), Andrea Bertolacci (£2.7m)
Inter Milan – Rhodolfo (£8.5m)
Juventus – Pablo Osvaldo (£19m), Jorginho (£9.5m/CO), Jose Sosa (£6.5m)
Napoli – Rafael da Silva (£15m), Abel Hernandez (£1.3m/CO), Fabio Daprela (£1.2m/CO), Luca Marrone (£1m), Lucas Romero (£5m), Jeison Murillo (£6.5m), Ivan Rakitic (£6.25m), Victor Valdes (Free), Otavio (£11.75m)
Lazio – Carlos Carmona (£2.6m), Paolo De Ceglie (£2.8m/CO), Matias Ezequiel Schelotto (£2.4m), Martin Demichelis (£1.1m)
Sampdoria – Maxi Moralez (£2.7m), Atsuto Uchida (£700k), Christian Stuani (£2.6m), Alberto Masi (£1.5m), Mauro Formica (Loan)
Udinese – Mauricio Pinilla (£1.5m)



Benfica – Juninho (£1.8m), Hector Moreno (£6.5m), Hilario (£33k)
Sporting Lisbon – Gabriel Barbosa (Loan), Cristante (£550k)



CSKA Moscow – Domenico Berardi – (£7.5m), Denis Cheryshev (£1.7m), Jean-Marie Dongou (Loan), Stephane Ruffier (£3.1m)
Dinamo Moscow – Alan Kasaev (£2.8m)
Zenit St. Petersburg – Jordan Ayew (£10.5m)



Atletico Madrid – Sergi Roberto (£6.5m), Vicente Guaita (£2.2m), Christophe Jallet (£750k), Augusto Fernandez (£9m), Haris Seferovic (£6m)
Celta Vigo – Diego Ifran (£600k), Jordi Xumetra (£1.9m)
Levante – Joel Valencia (Free), Kiko Femenia (£330k), Vitolo (Free)
Espanyol – Tomas Rosicky (Loan), Jose Antonio Reyes (£700k), Antonio Barragan (Loan), Yacine Brahimi (Free)
Malaga – Raul Garcia (£1.9m), Milos Krasic (Loan)
Real Madrid – Mario Mandzukic (£32.5m), Xherdan Shaqiri (£33.5m), Eduardo Salvio (£7.5m)
Real Sociedad – Mario Suarez (£3.2m), Esteban Granero (£4.6m), Alberto Botia (£2.6m)
Sevilla – Nicolas Douchez (Free), Nicolas Pareja (£2.9m), Daniel Carrico (£800k), Javi Garcia (Loan), Javi Aquino (£2.1m)
Valencia – Etienne Capoue (£5.25m)



Celtic – James Chester (£3.7m), Aaron Cresswell (£3m), Nick Powell (Loan), Juraj Kucka (£1m)

1

INIESTA OUT OF EL CLASICO

Barcelona star Andres Iniesta has been ruled out of contention for the ‘El Clasico’ clash versus Real Madrid in a fortnight through injury.

The Spain international sustained a knee problem in Barcelona’s 2-0 away win to Levante and will be out for at least four weeks.

Iniesta’s injury will mean that he will definitely miss out on Barca’s highly anticipated game versus Real Madrid and Villarreal as well as their first UEFA Champions’ League game against FC Copenhagen.

The Spaniard will also miss Spain’s first UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier away to Serbia and is likely to be replaced by Atletico Madrid’s Koke in Vicente Del Bosque's squad.

Iniesta had to be substituted on the 31st minute against Levante as scans later revealed the extent of the 30-year-old’s injury.

‘Los Cules’ doctors have also confirmed that Iniesta may not be fully until approximately two months from today, making his first game back away to Valencia on the 2nd November 2014.

1

1

September 2014

Pique (66), Sanchez (83)





Adi (3) - Pedro (36), Busquets (75), Messi (85, 87)





Messi (pen 6), Mario O.G. (26), Bartra (56), Alba (82)



Costa (21) – Bartra (36)



Neymar (21, 43, pen 56), Messi (75), Pique (82)





Bartra (2, 30), Cisovsky O.G. (6), Deulofeu (18), Montoya (43), Pedro (51), Rafinha (81) - Cisovsky (66)

Liga BBVA Table

UEFA Champions’ League Group E Table

Barcelona’s Player of the Month

Marc Bartra

Marc Bartra has been immense so far and he’s slowly proving to be the perfect defender for our team. He’s got great feet for a defender; he’s contributing with goals and keeping our defence solid at the other end. Carles Puyol may never get his spot back at this rate.

Maradona’s Verdict

Everything about this month was about our game versus Real Madrid so it’s great that we won. However, we must not forget how brilliantly we played elsewhere. We are creating so many chances so it is really no wonder we are scoring plenty at this stage. We still are a little rough around the edges and that was proven when we played versus Atletico. With Matic coming in for the fatigued Busquets, I sensed it was difficult for the midfield and defence to work as a unit, which meant Diego Costa and David Villa could really hurt us when they dropped deeper. Nevertheless, it is still early days and the players are still getting to grips with my style. On that note, I think we are playing really well and I hope we continue.

1

1

1

October 2014

Pedro (34, 38), Puyol (37), Messi (39, 73)



Messi (14, 19), Puyol (40) – Muniain (49)





Doumbia (50) - Neymar (45, 74, 90+1)





Pique (62), Sanchez (71), Neymar (88)



Neymar (32), Sanchez (41) , Bartra (60), Sortres O.G. (74)

Liga BBVA Table

Barcelona’s Player of the Month

Neymar

There were a few worried faces concerning Neymar’s inability to score early in the season but he is a world class player and it’s important to remember he is still a bit jaded from his home nation’s World Cup heroics. He is also young, so I expect a few more barren spells for him to overcome but he did contribute massively in front of goal this time and it’s nice to see him share the burden with Messi.

Maradona’s Verdict

We experienced yet another great month with big wins in all our games. We are playing really well at the moment and kept the ball brilliantly, regardless of who played. We just have to keep this up because Real are right on our tail. Our UEFA Champions’ League position looks good at the halfway point. Two more positive results and we should top the group as expected.