Barcelona 2-0 Porto: Lionel Messi does it again and Cesc Fabregas hits debut goal as Catalans claim UEFA Super Cup

The Argentine gave Pep Guardiola's side the lead late in the first half and the club's most recent signing opened his account to secure victory close to the end.

Lionel Messi's goal late in the first half and Cesc Fabregas' first for his new side gave Barcelona a 12th title under Pep Guardiola and a second already in 2011-12 with a 2-0 victory over Porto in the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco on Friday evening.

Messi, named European Player of the Year at UEFA's Champions League draw on Thursday, scored in the only competition in which he had failed to net after he was left all alone by Fredy Guarin's shocking pass-back six minutes before the interval.

Europa League holders Porto started brightly against the Champions League winners, with Hulk a lively presence up front for the Portuguese outfit. Aided by the busy Guarin, Porto rattled their illustrious opponents in the opening exchanges.

Porto was playing the Catalans at their own game, and every time Pep Guardiola's men ventured forward, they were caught out by their rivals' offside trap.

But it doesn't take long for Barca to figure out Porto.

Barca took the lead as Guarin inexplicably played a back-pass into his area where Messi, who would have been offside had the ball been sent through by a teammate, was waiting all alone to pounce, leaving Helton grounded with a glorious feint and slotting into the empty net.

Flashback to 2003, Messi had missed a similar opportunity in his Barcelona debut, but this time he left the Portuguese team with an uphill task.

Barca was the better side and continued to attack in the second half and that pressure brought a rash challenge from Rolando, already booked, who then saw red after a cynical foul on Messi.

And the Catalans took quick advantage as Mess turned provider for Fabregas, who chested down Messi's pinpoint cross and volleyed past Helton to register his first goal in some style.

It could have been three after that, but Barca was comfortable in the end as they lifted a 12th title under Guardiola - and two in two games for Fabregas.

Diego Maradona & Lionel Messi are both better than Pele - Argentina assistant coach Julian Camino

The nation's assistant boss stated his belief that the former Napoli hero and current Barcelona superstar are a step above the legendary Brazilian on the pitch

The much awaited international friendly between Argentina and Venezuela, to be held in Kolkata, is only two weeks awa, taking place on September 2, and Argentina assistant coach Julian Camino came to Kolkata on Thursday to check the security arrangements, the technical aspects of the venue and select an alternative training ground. 

Camino is being accompanied by Alberto Oscar Pernas, a technical committee member of Argentina Football Association (AFA) and Rodrigo Martin Bauso and the trio visited the Mohun Bagan ground on Thursday to check whether it is fit for training.

Earlier this Friday, they carried out an official inspection of the venue of the match – the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Salt Lake, Kolkata. They also visited the SAI complex and the five-star hotel in which the Argentina squad will be putting up during their stay in the City of Joy.

Camino and co. addressed the media on Friday evening but didn’t reveal much about their feedback on the inspection.

“We will form a report of our inspection and send it to our technical committee,” said Camino during the press conference.

Camino, who is interestingly a former East Bengal player, told the media that the Argentina team and Lionel Messi are very much looking forward to their visit to India and are expecting a big crowd at the match.

The former right-back also expressed his happiness on returning to Kolkata after more than two decades. He had played for the red and gold brigade back in 1988.

“Lionel Messi and Argentina are aware of their huge fan following here in India and Kolkata. They know they will be very well welcomed here. The whole team is looking forward to play in front of a large crowd.

“I have happy memories of playing here in Kolkata so it feels nice to be back here after such a long time.”

Argentina announced their 26-man squad for the friendlies against Venezuela and Nigeria (September 6) with Lionel Messi being named as the captain. Carlos Tevez is one notable absentee but when asked the reason for the Manchester City player’s exclusion, Camino told the media that he wasn’t in a position to comment: “We have named a strong team but I can’t answer regarding Tevez’s absence, only the technical director of AFA] can do that.”

The game against Venezuela will be the Argentina national team’s first match under new coach Alejandro Sabella and Camino stated that the two-time world champions will be taking the game very seriously.

“Any international match is important so the same applies for this game. We would look to give a good performance and get a good result,” he explained.

With Lionel Messi being the star attraction of this much awaited friendly, there were plenty of questions from the addressed media about the Barcelona star.

Camino refused to comment on Messi and Argentina's failure in Copa America 2011 but he did give an answer when he was asked to compare Messi and his former team-mate, the great Diego Maradona.

Argentina's past and present stars | Camino claims both are better than Pele

“Both [Maradona and Messi] are great players and it is difficult to answer this question as an Argentinean. But for me they are both better than Pele,” said the 50-year-old.

Camino and the other representatives are next expected to go to Dhaka in Bangladesh to inspect the arrangements there for Argentina’s friendly against Nigeria on September 6.

Ransacked by Barcelona - why continental cousins Arsenal & Udinese need the Champions League this season

The two clubs may have very different views about finishing fourth last season, but they are more alike than many believe, suggesting a superb contest ahead over the next 10 days

COMMENT
By Kris Voakes

They come from separate countries, have very different reputations and boast hugely contrasting infrastructures, but when Arsenal and Udinese clash at the Emirates Stadium tonight they will be sharing a very common goal.

With a pass to the Champions League group stage up for grabs, the two sides go in to perhaps their most important game of the season having only played one competitive game between them in the campaign so far. However, Arsene Wenger and Francesco Guidolin will need to have their players fit and firing, as both coaches will be more than aware of the consequences should their respective club miss out on the glamour ties that lie in wait for the winners.

However, their desire to reach the elite final 32 is not the only common ground between the two clubs, as Arsenal will look to take a vital first-leg advantage to Udine next week to take on an outfit with whom they can draw countless parallels.

Pass masters

It has always been an aim - nay, an obsession - of Arsene Wenger's that his team must play good football, and it took him little time after his arrival in 1996 before his side became notorious for being the most attractive club in the Premier League.

The trophies may have dried up, and the big name players may be less prevalent in the Gunners' squad these days, but they are as committed as ever to playing their football in the right way.

Over in Udine, the Zebrette have become widely renowned as the best team to watch in Italy over the last couple of years. Though they don't dominate games in the same way as Arsenal, and until last season their win column was nowhere near as jam-packed, their excellent approach on the break, superior command of the ball, and their technical and tactical ability in managing to constantly stretch opponents, has seen many draw comparisons between them and the north Londoners.

No case for the defence?

In recent times Arsenal have become almost as well known for their defensive issues as they are for their wonderful style of play. Missing Thomas Vermaelen for the majority of last season, the Gunners struggled when choosing between Laurent Koscielny, Johan Djorou and Sebastien Squillaci. The side conceded 43 league goals - 58 in all competitions - despite the comparative lack of possession afforded to opponents.

Arsenal's defensive record in the league matched that of the Friulani, whose 43 conceded tended to come in clusters against sides who were able to ask serious questions of their back-line. They went down 4-0 to Juventus and 5-2 against Fiorentina, while they also squandered the lead twice to draw 4-4 with AC Milan, proving that they can be found out at times. They lost perhaps their best defender this summer when Cristian Zapata was sold to Villarreal, though one bright star last term was Moroccan centre-back Mehdi Benatia. He will be joined in the new campaign by Danilo after his purchase from Palmeiras, but it will be an untried partnership which takes on Arsenal's rapid-fire front-line over the two legs.

A talent school

While Arsene Wenger's masterplan based around the acquisition of young stars for the future has drawn praise and criticism in almost equal measure, Udinese have built a model over a number of years that is not too dissimilar.

With an excellent worldwide scouting network having been set up, the Friuli side have become known for their ability to groom players and sell them on for huge profit. Even before the summer sales of Alexis Sanchez, Zapata and Gokhan Inler there were names such as David Pizarro, Sulley Muntari, Vincenzo Iaquinta and Asamoah Gyan who came on the cheap and brought in a pretty penny when they left. The great imponderable as to when is the right time to stop selling and start building the club's future around such players is a difficult one to address.

Although Arsenal do not see themselves as a selling club, there is no doubting they have a similar ability to spot and recruit young talent from across the globe. Some recent sales suggest that they are finding the long-term part of Wenger's vision hard to pull off, but while they still have the likes of Jack Wilshere coming through, the justification for the approach remains firmly in place.

Talismen checking in at Barcelona

On Sunday night we got our first glimpse of Alexis Sanchez in a Barcelona jersey after his €37.5 million switch from Udinese, while Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas joined him at Camp Nou in a deal worth around €39m on Monday.

The double swoop for the Catalans has left the two sides without their best player going into the new season, and Tuesday's clash is the kind of game in which they would normally have been looking to their respective talismen for a big Champions League performance. As a result, it may well be the side that best fills the recently vacated spot in their line-up who progresses.

Arsenal will look to the likes of Andrei Arshavin and Aaron Ramsey to drive the side, while for Udinese it will be down to Mauricio Isla and Giampiero Pinzi to provide the extra support to the right of Antonio Di Natale where Sanchez once caused havoc.

Must-win tie

Arsenal are a staple of the Champions League nowadays, having progressed to the knockout stages of the competition for 11 years in succession. Udinese, meanwhile, have qualified for the competition only once before.

The English side were finalists in 2006, standing only 15 minutes away from victory before Barcelona foiled them, and have since made another semi-final in 2009. But their recent trend in the league has seen them slip away as a title challenger, and the result this year is a tricky tie with a club looking to go the other way. Defeat is unthinkable as it would be a major blow to the bank balance in a season when they need to restate their intentions to be title hopefuls once more, or else it may be a long way back.

For Francesco Guidolin's side qualification for the group stage would be seen as a vital step towards justifying their 'long game' model of shopping in the youth market. Now could be the time for them to hold onto some of their better players and become the biggest of the provincial sides looking to challenge Serie A's traditional big three. While Roma, Lazio and Napoli have threatened to break up the triumvirate at the top - and have all even claimed titles in recent history - none have been able to stick around with the bigger clubs.

If Udinese are to ever have any chance of winning silverware, they can't pass up an opportunity like this one. Add to that the lessons learned from Sampdoria last season, who imploded after losing to Werder Bremen in this same fixture and were eventually relegated to Serie B, and it's easy to see the fine lines in Italian football. The Friuli have never known a game this big.

ALEXIS WHO? | Udinese's biggest threats to Arsenal

Antonio Di NataleStriker	Kwadwo AsamoahCentre-midfielder	Pablo Armero Left winger
Scorer of 57 league goals in two years	Club's best midfielder in successive seasons	A breakout star in 2010-11 campaign

With the signing of Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas, Barcelona could begin the next great tactical revolution

Pep Guardiola has become adept at using midfielders 'out of position' at centre-back. But what if that was the plan all along?

 

Cesc Fabregas - Barcelona

ANALYSIS
By Peter Staunton

Arrigo Sacchi, the innovator who coached AC Milan to a pair of European Cups, once declared that the next step in the evolution of football would be the conversion of the entire pitch to one midfield area. The teams at the vanguard of tactical rejuvenation would be able to count on players to line up in a range of positions on the field of play but actually function as midfielders; closing space and passing accurately within their sectors, using the ball intelligently, moving well off it.

In an interview with the author Jonathan Wilson for the prize-winning book, 'Inverting the Pyramid', Sacchi stated that the proliferation of ‘specialists’ in certain positions has only served to inhibit the fluidity potentially contained within a group of players. For example, a playmaker, such as a Zidane, demands an enforcer like Makelele.

In order to progress football, Sacchi told Wilson, universality was integral; it was necessary to eliminate specialists and forge a collective of performers capable of functioning as one liquid unit, no matter their nominated position of play. The Dutch model of Total Football, formulated and implemented by Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff at Ajax in the 1960s and 70s, brought with it interchangeability. Players would nominally be named at a position but would be competent and clever enough to press high, read the nuances of the match, fill in for absent colleagues and pick up the slack in many areas of the field.

“It’s become all about specialists. Is football a collective and harmonious game? Or is it a question of putting x amount of talented players in and balancing them out with y amount of specialists?” - Arrigo Sacchi

The players at Pep Guardiola's disposal, their utter adherence to the ideal and a work-rate unmatched by any team in Europe mean that Barcelona could be about to bring Sacchi's prediction to bear. And the acquisition of Cesc Fabregas, quite aside from being a trophy signing, could prompt the evolution. With Cesc in the ranks, Barcelona can play, in effect, with a team of midfielders; amalgamating the separate strands of defence, midfield and attack into one. Total domination of possession, total domination of space.

Fabregas' arrival could mark the gradual elbowing from the first team of Carles Puyol, not Sergio Busquets or Xavi or Thiago Alcantara. A natural leader, a primordial tour-de-force, the heartbeat of the team he may be, but Puyol is irrevocably in decline. Each passing year chisels another chip from the man of granite. His replacement in the team, gradually at first, totally later, will be Fabregas.

Dani Alves and Lionel Messi have been integral components in this Barca transition. They have redefined their positions. Cesc will bring the evolution further.

How Barcelona could look with Fabregas replacing Puyol

GOALKEEPER

Victor Valdes

RIGHT-BACK	CENTRE BACK	CENTRE BACK	LEFT-BACK
Dani Alves	Sergio Busquets	Gerard Pique	Adriano

CENTRE MIDFIELD	CENTRE MIDFIELD	CENTRE MIDFIELD
Cesc Fabregas	Xavi	Andres Iniesta

RIGHT FORWARD	CENTRE FORWARD	LEFT FORWARD
Alexis Sanchez	Lionel Messi	David Villa

Pep’s preference for playing a ‘defensive midfielder’ in an auxiliary centre-back role has raised eyebrows in the past although Yaya Toure, Busquets or Javier Mascherano have yet to prove they can’t actually do it. Barca have even done it, twice, in Champions League finals when orthodox central defenders were available. Moreover, the utilisation of midfield players in the back-line has been deliberate, measured and it is in line with Sacchi's heralding of tactical evolution.

Busquets has featured in the centre of defence extensively in pre-season, Mascherano played there at Wembley while the ball-playing capabilities of Gerard Pique are not matched by many of his stature. The role of the central 'defender' will become obsolete in the Barcelona system; making way for one more passer, one more ball retainer, one more playmaker.

Fabregas will come into the starting XI in midfield while Busquets or Mascherano will revert permanently to the rearguard. Those two have their defensive deficiencies; slow on the turn and uncomfortable under the high ball. But even specialist centre-backs suffer those blights. And, in all honesty, how much defending are Barcelona likely to do? They routinely keep the ball for 70 per cent of any given match so aerial onslaughts and rapid, repeated raids on their defensive lines are unlikely.

Barca's shorn specialists

Martin Caceres	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	Dmytro Chygrynskiy

Martin Caceres, Henrique and Gabriel Milito have all been shown the exit door this summer; specialist defenders. They have been cast on the scrapheap onto which Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Dmytro Chygrynskiy were thrown last year. Zlatan is not compatible with the Barcelona system. Chygrynskiy never looked like a Barca player. Neither is adaptable. Neither has a second function. Guardiola is gradually ridding the team of 'specialists', in a positional sense, and nurturing a squad who will treat the entire pitch as a midfield area. Rapid possession win-backs, quick passes, every man, potentially, the playmaker.

Puyol and fellow veteran Eric Abidal, as well as David Villa, will be the only exceptions to the rule this season. The two defenders will be phased out. Indeed, the signing of the versatile Adriano two summers ago could in hindsight be seen as Pep's first attempt to implement a midfield of sorts in his preferred back-line although it has not quite worked like that as yet. Villa, a centre-forward by trade, has been reinvented as a wide attacking player capable of devastation in front of goal when on form. Even he is now a midfielder.

Cesc has not come home to replace Xavi, that honour will eventually be bestowed on Alcantara. He has come home to eventually supplant Puyol and take Barcelona, tactically, to another realm. We stand on the precipice of Total Football, Cruyff’s Barcelona dream-team and 30 years of Masia graduates drilled to do things the Barcelona way being assimilated together in one team.

The best team in the world, playing in sync, playing fluidly, using the entire pitch as their personal fiefdom, closing the spaces high up the field, perpetually recycling the ball once they seize it. It's complex and it keeps the ball and it tires you out. A Barcelona team which are far, far ahead of their rivals will evolve the game as we know it.

Arsenal are in good hands with future England captain Jack Wilshere & Aaron Ramsey - new Barcelona signing Cesc Fabregas

Arsenal are in good hands with future England captain Jack Wilshere & Aaron Ramsey - new Barcelona signing Cesc Fabregas

Getty New Barcelona signing Cesc Fabregas believes Arsenal are in good hands and has tipped midfielder Jack Wilshere to be a future England captain. The 24-year-old moved back to the club he grew up with on Monday in a deal understood to be worth an initial €29 million (£25.4m).

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Fabregas says he was disappointed to have been unable to speak publicly to Gunners fans to clarify his intention to move back to Barcelona, but praised the current squad and wished them well.
“I'm sorry I could not speak to them and I'm sad about leaving as I spent one third of my life there,” Fabregas told reporters at a press conference held at Camp Nou.
“It was a sad moment for me but life goes on. It was very emotional saying goodbye to my team-mates and particularly when I said farewell to Arsene.
“Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey are great players and one day Jack will be England captain.
“I wish them well, especially in qualifying for the Champions League against Udinese and I thank the fans and club for the last few years.
“And I also want to thank Pep Guardiola for the effort he made and the confidence he gave me.
“I wasn't ready two or three years ago but I'm prepared now.
“But I knew I wanted to be with the best in the world. I've waited a long time for this but it was worth it. It's a special day, one of the best of my life.”
He was named William Gallas’ successor as skipper for the Gunners in 2008 but was unable to bring silverware to the side, a feat that he admits was devastating not to achieve.
“The biggest regret I will have in my career is I did not lift a trophy as Arsenal captain,” he added.
“More than just not winning trophies and medals, it was the routine fact of doing the same things over and again, trying to win and then always finding, one way or another, that we just didn't have enough to get over the finishing line.
“We just didn't seem to have what it took in the final sprint for a trophy. But Arsenal are a great club and they will push on without me just like they did when Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry left.
“The club is always bigger than the player and I am sure they will be strong again.”
The Spain international, who already has 58 caps and six goals to his name for his country, made the move to Catalonia after a long and protracted transfer saga which began last summer.
Despite his move away from the Premier League, the midfielder confessed he will always have a deep respect for Arsenal manager and mentor Arsene Wenger.
He added: “I will never have enough words to describe what he has done for me. I will always have him in my head and my heart.
“People who ask about why I renewed my contract with Arsenal for so long need to know I renewed four years ago when I was only 20.
“[Barcelona manager] Pep Guardiola was not in charge at Barca then and there was no 'sign of life' in terms of what Barca thought about me. I was still just a kid.”