FC Barcelona season 2007-08

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[edit] Overview

After a disappointing 2006/07 season, when FC Barcelona didn't win La Liga after leading for most of the season and were eliminated early on the UEFA Champions League, the Catalan team reinforced the squad with world-class players, like Thierry Henry, and doesn’t want to repeat last year’s experience. The players are optimistic and aim to win everything this season.
Last updated: 23 July

[edit] Events

Thierry Henry, a 24 million euros move from Arsenal FC.

25 June: Thierry Henry moves from Arsenal FC to FC Barcelona for 24 million euros.^[1]

29 August: Nike will supply Barcelona until 2017-18 season.^[2]

22 September: The Camp Nou turns 50-years old with a celebration full of music, light and colour.^[3]

22 September: A large reform for the Camp Nou was revealed. It'll make the Camp Nou bigger, with a movable roof and better facilities.^[4]^[5]^[6]

20 October: Bojan Krkić becomes the youngest ever player to score for the club in La Liga.^[7]

26 October: FC Barcelona opens a community centre for children in Senegal.^[8]

20 March: Copa del Rey ends for FC Barcelona.^[9]

8 May: Rijkaard until 30th June; Guardiola to take over.^[10]

[edit] Players

[edit] Squad information

Carles Puyol, the current captain and the player with most appearances in the current squad.

The squad has reasonably changed in the summer transfer window. The biggest addition was Thierry Henry, with a transfer fee of €24 millions. That equals the transfer fee paid for Samuel Eto'o in 2004, but just below the €30 millions paid for Ronaldinho in 2003. Other additions were Éric Abidal, Touré Yaya and Gabriel Milito that are part of the current start team. On the other end, some important players that were often used last season have left the club, such as, Gio van Bronckhorst and Ludovic Giuly. Barcelona still uses a great number of players developed in its youth system, 9 of 23, and have two new additions this season: Giovani dos Santos and Bojan Krkić (17 years old, the youngest player in the squad).
Most of the players have contracts beyond this end of season, but Deco, an important player, has his contract ending in 2008. The captain is still Puyol, who is from Barcelona's youth system, plays in the first squad since 1999 and currently is the player with the most appearances (268). Currently, the highest scorer is Ronaldinho with 80 goals. Also Ronaldinho, from August of this year, has an European passport. On mid-October, Samuel Eto'o received Spanish nationality, making him an EU player.^[11] The only non-EU player is Touré Yaya. However, because Spain ratified the Cotonou Agreement in 2007, Touré is now considered an EU player, as his native country of Côte d'Ivoire is a signatory to that agreement, and the 2003 Kolpak ruling extended the Bosman ruling to nations with an associate trading relationship with the EU.
Last updated: 21 October

EU	Country	N	P	Name	Cap	Age	Since	App		Ends	Transfer fee	Notes
	ESP	1	GK	V. Valdés	VC3	26	2002	210	0	2010	Youth system
	ITA	11	RB	Zambrotta		31	2006	74	3	2010	€14m
	ESP	5	CB	Puyol	Cap	30	1999	303	6	2010	Youth system
	ARG	3	CB	Milito		27	2007	39	1	2011	€17m + €3.5m in variables
	FRA	22	LB	Abidal		28	2007	40	0	2011	€15m
	ESP	6	RM	Xavi	VC2	28	1998	288	28	2010	Youth system
N	CIV	24	DM	Touré Yaya		25	2007	32	2	2011	€ 9m	Under Kolpak ruling
	ESP	8	LM	Iniesta		24	2002	211	17	2010	Youth system
	ARG	19	RW	Messi		20	2004	97	40	2014	Youth system
	CMR	9	CF	Eto'o		27	2004	137	89	2010	€24m
	FRA	14	LW	Henry		30	2007	40	14	2011	€24m
	ESP	25	GK	Jorquera		29	2003	17	0	2008	Youth system
	ESP	23	CB	Oleguer		28	2002	165	1	2010	Youth system
	FRA	21	CB	Thuram		36	2006	50	0	2008	€ 5m
	MEX	4	CB	Márquez		29	2003	166	8	2010	€ 5m
	BRA	16	LB	Sylvinho		34	2004	92	3	2008	€ 2m
	BRA	15	DM	Edmílson		31	2004	89	0	2008	€10m
	POR BRA	20	LM	Deco		30	2004	151	19	2008	€15m + Quaresma
	BRA	10	LW	Ronaldinho	VC1	28	2003	196	89	2010	€30m	EU passport
	ISL	7	CF	Gudjohnsen		29	2006	72	13	2009	€12m
	ESP	27	FW	Bojan		17	2007	40	10		Youth system
	MEX	17	FW	Giovani		19	2007	33	1		Youth system	EU passport
	ESP	18	CF	Ezquerro		31	2005	38	7	2008	Free
	ESP	13	GK	Pinto		32	2008	0	0	2008	Loan

Last updated: 12 April
Source: FCBarcelona.cat, Players transfer, Wikipedia players' articles, ESPN (for appearances and goals) and footballdatabase.com (for EU passport)
Ordered by start team and position on pitch (from back right to front left).
Allowed up to 3 players without EU passport.^[12]
Squad limited to 25 players.^[13]
EU = if holds or not a European Union passport; Country: when 2 flags, 1st flag = country that plays for internationally, 2nd flag = country of birth; N = number on jersey; P = position (for position name, pause mouse pointer on abbreviation); Name = name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name); Cap: Cap = captain, VC = vice-captain; Age = current age or age on the end of the season; Since = when the player started to be a permanent part of the squad (no icon for summer transfer; for winter transfer); App and = only competitive appearances and goals. See source for more detail; Ends = when the player's contract ends; = undisclosed.

[edit] Squad stats

Víctor Valdés has the most starts in this season.

V. Valdés and Abidal have been the only two players that have started all the matches (excepting Copa Catalunya, when Barcelona didn't use the same players as for the other competitions). Previously, Zambrotta and Touré Yaya started all the matches until they got injured. Oleguer is replacing Zambrotta and Iniesta is replacing Touré Yaya. Giovani and Bojan have been the substitute forwards, while Ezquerro played only Copa Catalunya and Gudjohnsen've appeared only once so far. Henry has often started matches since Eto'o got injured. He already scored his first hat trick wearing Barça's jersey, and he's the second goal scorer with four goals. Ronaldinho missed three matches due to an injury^[14]. But, the most outstanding player has been Messi with 8 goals in 9 appearances. He is the top scorer at the moment.
Last updated: 5 February

				Total			La Liga		UEFA Champions League		Copa del Rey		Copa Catalunya

Country	N	P	Name	GS	App		App		App		App		App		Notes
ESP	1	GK	V. Valdés	47	47		32		9		6
ITA	11	RB	Zambrotta	28	32		24		5		3				Also played as LB
ESP	5	CB	Puyol	38	40	1	24		9	1	7				Also played as RB
ARG	3	CB	Milito	38	39	1	26	1	7		6
FRA	22	LB	Abidal	37	40		26		8		6				Also played as CB
ESP	6	RM	Xavi	44	48	8	31	6	10	1	7	1			Also played as DM and LM
CIV	17	DM	Touré Yaya	31	32	2	22	1	7	1	3				Played in 2008 African Cup of Nations
ESP	8	MF	Iniesta	41	46	4	30	3	9	1	7				Also played as LW, DM and RM Source
ARG	19	RW	Messi	28	32	15	22	9	7	6	3				Source
CMR	9	CF	Eto'o	21	22	16	14	14	5	1	3	1			Played in 2008 African Cup of Nations
FRA	14	LW	Henry	35	40	14	25	7	8	3	7	4			Also played as CF
ESP	25	GK	Jorquera	4	4				1		1		2		Source
ESP	23	CB	Oleguer	10	15		10		2		1		2		Also played as RB Source
FRA	21	CB	Thuram	21	24		14		6		4
MEX	4	CB	Márquez	22	32	2	19	2	7		5		1		Also played as DM
BRA	16	LB	Sylvinho	15	21	1	11		4		4		2	1
BRA	15	DM	Edmílson	6	10		6		1		3
POR BRA	20	LM	Deco	20	24	1	15	1	4		5				Source
BRA	10	LW	Ronaldinho	20	26	9	17	8	8	1	1				Also played as CF Source
ISL	7	FW	Gudjohnsen	15	31	3	18	2	7		6	1			Also played as LM and RM
ESP	27	FW	Bojan	17	40	10	25	8	7	1	8	1
MEX	17	FW	Giovani	13	33	1	23		5	1	5
ESP	18	FW	Ezquerro	4	5	3	2				1	2	2	1	Source
ESP	13	GK	Pinto

Last updated: 12 April
Source: FCBarcelona.cat
Ordered by start team and position on pitch (from back right to front left)
0 shown as blank
Country: when 2 flags, 1st flag = country that plays for internationally, 2nd flag = country of birth; N = number on jersey; P = Position (for position name, pause mouse pointer on abbreviation); Name = Name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name); GS = Game Started; App = Appearances.

[edit] Disciplinary record

Deco, the most booked player.

Country	N	P	Name				Notes
ITA	11	RB	Zambrotta	1		7
MEX	4	CB	Márquez		1	9
ARG	3	CB	Milito		1	9
POR BRA	20	LM	Deco			12	24 appearances, booked every other match.
ESP	5	CB	Puyol			11
CIV	24	CM	Touré Yaya			8
MEX	17	FW	Giovani			6
ESP	8	MF	Iniesta			5
ARG	19	RW	Messi			5
FRA	22	LB	Abidal			4
CMR	9	FW	Eto'o			3
ISL	7	CF	Gudjohnsen			3
FRA	14	CF	Henry			3
ESP	6	RM	Xavi			3
ESP	27	FW	Bojan			2
FRA	21	CB	Thuram			2
ESP	23	CB	Oleguer			1
BRA	16	LB	Sylvinho			1
ESP	1	GK	V. Valdés			1

Last updated: 12 April
Source: FCBarcelona.cat
Only competitive matches
Ordered by , and
Country = when 2 flags, 1st flag = country that plays for internationally, 2nd flag = country of birth; N = number on jersey; P = Position (for position name, pause mouse pointer on abbreviation); Name = Name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name); = Number of sending offs by a direct red card; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of bookings.

[edit] Start formations

As last season^[15], Frank Rijkaard still starting all matches using a 4-3-3 formation.
Last updated: 3 February

Qnt	Formation	Match(es)
52	4-3-3	All matches

Last updated: 12 April
Source: Match reports in Competitive matches
Only competitive matches.

[edit] Starting 11

This section show the most frequent starting 11 formation and players used in this season. So far, there is not much of a difference in the starting 11 from last season. V. Valdés, Zambrotta, Márquez, Xavi, Deco, Messi and Ronaldinho still part of it. Probably, because Puyol was injured from the beginning of this season until 28 September^[16], at this moment, Milito has more starts. Abidal has been a solid substitute for departed Gio. Touré Yaya, a big signing in the beginning of this season, has started lots of matches. Eto'o got injured after one competitive match^[17], then Henry, the second biggest transfer in England last summer^[18], has started as centre forward.
Last updated: 5 February

Country	N	P	Name	GS
ESP	1	GK	V. Valdés	47
ITA	11	RB	Zambrotta	28
ESP	5	CB	Puyol	38
ARG	3	CB	Milito	38
FRA	22	LB	Abidal	37
ESP	6	RM	Xavi	44
CIV	17	DM	Touré Yaya	31
ESP	8	LM	Iniesta	41
ARG	19	RW	Messi	28
CMR	9	FW	Eto'o	21
FRA	14	LW	Henry	35

V. Valdés

Zambrotta

Puyol

Milito

Abidal

Xavi

Touré Yaya

Iniesta

Messi

Eto'o

Henry

Last updated: 12 April
Source: Squad stats and Start formations.
Only competitive matches.
Using the most used start formation.
Ordered by position on pitch (from back right to front left).
Country: 1st flag=country of birth, 2nd flag=country that plays for internationally (if different); N = number on jersey; P = Position (for position name, pause mouse pointer on abbreviation); Name = Name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name).

[edit] Players in / out

[edit] In

Status	EU	Country	N	P	Name	Age	Moving from	Ends	Transfer fee	Source
Transferred Y		FRA	14	FW	Henry	30	Arsenal	2011	€24m	FCBarcelona.cat
Transferred Y	N	CIV	17	MF	Touré Yaya	25	Monaco	2011	€ 9m	FCBarcelona.cat FCBarcelona.cat
Transferred Y		FRA	22	DF	Abidal	28	Lyon	2011	€15m	FCBarcelona.cat
Transferred Y		ARG	3	DF	Milito	27	Zaragoza	2011	€17m + €3.5m in variables	FCBarcelona.cat
Promoted Y		MEX	17	FW	Giovani	19	Youth system		Youth system	FCBarcelona.cat
Promoted Y		ESP	27	FW	Bojan	17	Youth system		Youth system	FCBarcelona.cat
Loaned Y		ESP	13	GK	Pinto	32	Celta de Vigo	2008	€500k	FCBarcelona.cat FCBarcelona.cat

[edit] Out

Status	Country	N	P	Name	Age	Moving to	Transfer fee	Source
Released Y	NED	12	DF	Gio	33	Feyenoord	Free	Feyenoord CNN.com
Contract ended Y	ARG	22	FW	Saviola	26	Real Madrid	Free	RealMadrid.com
Transferred Y	FRA	8	FW	Giuly	31	Roma	€ 3.2m	FCBarcelona.cat
Loaned out Y	ESP	28	GK	Rubén	23	Racing de Ferrol	—	lavozdegalicia.es
Transferred Y	ARG		FW	Maxi	24	FC Moskva	€ 2m	Marca.com FCBarcelona.cat
Transferred Y	BRA	2	RB	Belletti	31	Chelsea	€ 5.5m	goal.com chelseafc.com
Transferred Y	BRA	3	MF	Motta	25	Atlético Madrid	€1m+2m Variable	FCBarcelona.cat

Last updated: 1 February
EU = if holds or not a European Union passport; Country: when 2 flags, 1st flag = country that plays for internationally, 2nd flag = country of birth; N = number on jersey; P = Position (for position name, pause mouse pointer on abbreviation); Name = Name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name); Age = age on the day of the signing; Moving from = only indicate the club the player was playing before start playing for this club in this season, for the type of the moving see Status column; Moving to = only indicates the club the player is going to play next, for the type of the moving see Status column; Ends = when the player's current contract ends; = Undisclosed; = Summer transfer window; = Winter transfer window; n/a = Not applicable.

[edit] Club

[edit] Coaching staff

Frank Rijkaard, managing FC Barcelona since 2003.

This season will be the fifth consecutive season for Frank Rijkaard as FC Barcelona's manager^[19]. Even though Barça didn't win any major competition last season^[20], the president Joan Laporta confirmed his presence for this season^[21]. All staff from last season, except doctor Gil Rodas, are remaining^[22].
Last updated: 13 October

Position	Staff
Manager	Frank Rijkaard
Assistant manager	Johan Neeskens / Eusebio Sacristán
Goalkeeping coach	Juan Carlos Unzué
Fitness coach	Paco Seirul·lo / Albert Roca
Doctors	Ricard Pruna / Toni Tramullas
Representative	Carles Naval

Last updated: 19 September
Source: FCBarcelona.cat

[edit] Kit

Supplier: Nike
Features: UNICEF (a noncommercial agreement, see FCBarcelona.cat)





Home





Away

Source: FCBarcelona.cat
Notes: Socks have stripes not shown here.

[edit] Other information

President	Joan Laporta
Vice-president and sports affairs	Marc Ingla
Technical secretary	Txiki Beguiristáin
Vice-president and institutional relations	Albert Vicens
Vice-president and economical affairs	Ferran Soriano
Vice-president and marketing-media	Jaume Ferrer
Security affairs	Alfonso Castro
Ground (capacity and dimensions)	Camp Nou (98.772 / 105x68m)
Budget	€315m

Last updated: 11 January
Source: FC Barcelona article on 31 July 2007, Camp Nou article on 31 July 2007,FC Barcelona Board Members and Budget

[edit] Competitions

[edit] Overall

As in nine out of the last ten seasons^[23], FC Barcelona is going to be present in all major competitions this season. First division, Copa del Rey in Spain and UEFA Champions League in Europe. Also, Copa Catalunya in Barça's native autonomous community of Catalonia, but using mostly FC Barcelona B's players (see matches' reports). Their goal, set at the start of the season, is to win all the possible trophies.^[24]^[25] So far, they ended as runner-ups in the less important Copa Catalunya.
Last updated: 11 October

Competition	Started round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
La Liga	—	3	26 August	17 May
Copa Catalunya	Semi-finals	Runner-up	5 September	11 September
UEFA Champions League	Group stage	Semi-finals	19 September	29 April
Copa del Rey	Round of 32	Semi-finals	13 November	20 March

Last updated: 18 May
Source: Competitions' Wikipedia articles.

[edit] La Liga

[edit] Classification

After a slow start with two draws and one win, Barcelona had improved its position in the table to second after 4 straits wins, but the first lost in the season made Barça stands fourth. However, after a string of missed opportunities, it fell to 3rd place
Last updated: 5 May

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Real Madrid (C)	36	26	3	7	77	32	45	81	UEFA Champions League 2008-09 Group stage
2	Villarreal	36	22	5	9	59	40	19	71	UEFA Champions League 2008-09 Group stage
3	Barcelona	36	18	10	8	69	37	32	64	UEFA Champions League 2008-09 Third qualifying round
4	Atlético Madrid	35	17	7	11	62	44	18	58	UEFA Champions League 2008-09 Third qualifying round
5	Sevilla	36	18	4	14	69	48	21	58	UEFA Cup 2008-09 First round

Last updated: 7 May
Source: La Liga 2007-08
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd head-to-head points; 3^rd head-to-head goal difference; 4^th head-to-head goals scored; 5^th goal difference; 6^th goals scored.
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; (C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted.
Head-to-Head: used when two or more teams need the head-to-head rules to break a tie.

[edit] Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
36	64	18	10	8	69	37	+32	14	2	2	44	9	+35	4	8	6	25	28	-3

Last updated: 7 May
Source: Competitive Matches
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

[edit] Results by round

Round	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	D	W	D	W	W	W	W	L	W	D	W	L	W	D	W	W	L	W	W	W	D	W	D	W	W	L	L	D	W	L	D	D	D	L	W	L	L

Last updated: 7 May.
Source: Competitive Matches
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Lose; W = Win.

[edit] UEFA Champions League

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Barcelona	6	4	2	0	12	3	9	14	UEFA Champions League 2007-08 First knockout round
2	Lyon	6	3	1	2	11	10	1	10	UEFA Champions League 2007-08 First knockout round
3	Rangers	6	2	1	3	7	9	-2	7	UEFA Cup 2007-08 Round of 32
4	Stuttgart	6	1	0	5	7	15	-8	3

Last updated: 17 December
Source: UEFA Champions League 2007-08
Rules for classification: 1^st points; 2^nd goal difference; 3^rd goals scored.
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; (C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted.

[edit] Matches

[edit] Competitive

Opponent

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
36	64	18	10	8	69	37	+32	14	2	2	44	9	+35	4	8	6	25	28	-3

Match	Date	Competition or tour	Ground	Opponent	Score¹	GD
1	26 July	Pre-season	A	Dundee United	1 - 0	1
2	28 July	Pre-season	A	Hearts	3 - 1	2
3	5 August	Asian Tour	A	Beijing Guoan	3 - 0	3
4	7 August	Asian Tour	A	Yokohama Marinos	1 - 0	1
5	11 August	Asian Tour	A	Mission Hills Invitation XI	4 - 0	4
6	15 August	Franz Beckenbauer Cup	A	Bayern Munich	1 - 0	1
7	29 August	Joan Gamper Trophy	H	Internazionale	5 - 0	5
8	27 May	—	A	Kazma Sporting Club

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
36	64	18	10	8	69	37	+32	14	2	2	44	9	+35	4	8	6	25	28	-3