FC Barcelona - Sporting Clube De Portugal MATCH PRESS KIT Camp Nou, Barcelona Tuesday 16 September 2008 - 20.45CET Group C - Matchday 1
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
FC Barcelona - Sporting Clube de Portugal MATCH PRESS KIT Camp Nou, Barcelona Tuesday 16 September 2008 - 20.45CET Group C - Matchday 1 Contents 1 - Match background 7 - UEFA information 2 - Match facts 8 - Match-by-match lineups 3 - Squad list 9 - Competition facts 4 - Head coach 10 - Team facts 5 - Match officials 11 - Legend 6 - Domestic information This press kit includes information relating to this UEFA Champions League match. For more detailed factual information, and in-depth competition statistics, please refer to the matchweek press kit, which can be downloaded at: http://www.uefa.com/uefa/mediaservices/presskits/index.html Match background A European champion with FC Barcelona as a player, Josep Guardiola begins his pursuit of the same prize as coach of the Blaugrana when they welcome Group C rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal to Catalonia on Matchday 1. • Only five men have won the European Champion Clubs' Cup as both player and coach and it might hearten Guardiola that two of them – Johan Cruyff and Frank Rijkaard – achieved the second part of that feat with Barcelona. • Guardiola, who replaced Rijkaard at the Barcelona helm during the close season, had first-hand experience of Cruyff's success as a member of the side that won Barcelona's first European Cup with a 1-0 victory against UC Sampdoria in 1992. • His goal will be to take Barcelona further than they managed last term when they fell at the final hurdle on the road to Moscow, following a 1-0 aggregate defeat by Manchester United FC in the semi-finals. • Barcelona's 1-0 loss at Old Trafford in the semi-final second leg was the only reverse they suffered in 12 European outings last term. After topping their section in the group stage with four wins and two draws, they recorded home-and-away victories against both Celtic FC (3-2, 1-0) and FC Schalke 04 (1-0, 1-0). • For Sporting, meanwhile, this is their third successive season in the UEFA Champions League group stage – and fifth overall – but they are still waiting to secure a place in the knockout rounds. • Sporting exited last season's competition before Christmas after finishing third in their section, behind Manchester United FC and AS Roma. Their record was W2 D1 L3. • Curiously, defender Abel's strike in Sporting's 2-1 defeat at Manchester United was the only goal conceded by the eventual champions at Old Trafford in last term's campaign. • Paulo Bento's team moved into the UEFA Cup where they overcame FC Basel 1893 5-0 on aggregate and beat Bolton Wanderers FC 2-1 overall, before going down 2-0 to Rangers FC over two legs in the quarter-finals. • While Sporting progressed automatically to the group stage as runners-up in the 2007/08 Portuguese Liga, Barcelona had to negotiate a third qualifying round tie against Wisła Kraków after finishing third in Spain. Last updated 15.09.2008 10:06:58CET www.uefa.com Match background 1 FC Barcelona - Sporting Clube de Portugal Tuesday 16 September 2008 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Camp Nou, Barcelona • Guardiola's men overcame the Polish champions 4-1 on aggregate. They recorded a 4-0 first-leg victory through goals from Samuel Eto'o, who struck twice, Xavi Hernández and Thierry Henry, before losing the return 1-0 to a Cléber effort. • Xavi Hernández was the only ever-present for Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League last season. He was one of three Barcelona players in the victorious Spain side at UEFA EURO 2008™ – along with Carles Puyol and Andrés Iniesta – and all three featured in the UEFA Team of the Tournament. • Barcelona's Lionel Messi finished as the joint second-highest scorer in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League with six goals. He picked up a gold medal last month as part of Argentina's winning team at the Beijing Olympic Games. • Barcelona beat Sporting on away goals in the club's sole previous meeting, a UEFA Cup second round tie in 1986/87. • Julio Alberto's 72nd-minute strike gave the Azulgrana a 1-0 first-leg victory but they had to fight back in the return after Manuel Negrete (41) and Raphael Meade (61) struck for Sporting. Fortunately for Barcelona, Roberto Fernández's 83rd-minute goal levelled the aggregate score and the visitors progressed. • Barcelona lost their first ever home meeting with Portuguese opposition in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup first round but have won their nine subsequent Camp Nou contests against visitors from Portugal, including a 2-0 success against SL Benfica in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. • Sporting have never won away to Spanish opponents, having recorded two draws and five defeats in seven previous cross-border excursions. The most recent brought a 4-0 reverse at Real Madrid CF in the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League first group stage. • Sporting's Brazilian midfielder Fábio Rochemback – who rejoined the club from Middlesbrough FC in May – spent the 2001/02 and 2002/03 seasons with Barcelona, making 45 league appearances, before embarking on his first, two-year spell at the Estádio José Alvalade. • Guardiola made 56 European Cup appearances as a player for Barcelona and also won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup with the club in 1996/97. He faced another Portuguese side, FC Porto, three times in the UEFA Champions League as a player – and finished on the winning side on each occasion, including the 1993/94 semi-final. • The other Group C fixtures pits FC Basel 1893 against FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Match facts Barcelona UEFA milestones • None UEFA Champions League statistics • Twelve Barcelona players appeared in both qualifying games: Víctor Valdés, Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol, Daniel Alves, Eric Abidal, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Seydou Keita, Aleksandr Hleb, Yaya Touré, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o. Disciplinary information • Barcelona have no players suspended or within a booking of a ban. Latest domestic information • Saturday 13 September: FC Barcelona 1-1 Real Racing Club Santander (Messi 71pen; Jonathan Pereira 77) Barcelona's poor start to the season continued as they were held by Racing in their second Spanish Liga outing. Daniel Alves almost gave the home side the lead just after the break when his chipped shot from inside the area came back off the crossbar and Pedrito and Samuel Eto'o subsequently drew good saves from Racing goalkeeper Toño. Substitute Lionel Messi finally scored from the spot after Christian had handled a Daniel Alves cross but the lead was short-lived, Jonathan Pereira deflecting an Ezequiel Garay free-kick past Víctor Váldes to deny Barça victory. • "I don't have anything to reproach my team for because we were the better side," said coach Josep Guardiola. "I'm very happy with the attitude of the players. The draw wasn't a good result but that's the only thing I feel bad about. The team played better than they did in the first game. We had good chances but I realise that all my arguments will lack impact because of the result so there is little more I can say." Last updated 15.09.2008 10:06:58CET www.uefa.com Match facts 2 FC Barcelona - Sporting Clube de Portugal Tuesday 16 September 2008 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Camp Nou, Barcelona • The Barcelona coach omitted Sylvinho and Thierry Henry from his squad with Rafael Márquez and Martín Cáceres also left out after international duty. Guardiola opted to start with Messi, Andrés Iniesta, Bojan Krkić and Touré on the substitutes' bench although the first three all came on during the second half. • Central midfielder Sergi Busquets has been promoted to Barça's first-team squad after impressing Guardiola with the youth side last season. Busquets – the son of Carles Busquets, who played for the club during the 1990s and is the youth team goalkeeping coach – made his Liga debut against Racing. Also in the starting lineup on Saturday was winger Pedrito, who also played for Guardiola's Barcelona B team last season and made two first-team appearances. • Barcelona suffered a surprise 1-0 home defeat by CD Numancia in their opening league game of the season in Soria on 31 August. Mario struck the only goal after 13 minutes for the promoted club. Injury news • Gabriel Milito – out since 29 April (knee) • Albert Jorquera – out since December (knee) • Aleksandr Hleb sprained his left ankle in the 41st minute against Racing after a heavy challenge from Pablo Pinillos. He was replaced by Iniesta. Summer transfers •In Gerard Piqué (Manchester United FC) Martín Cáceres (Villarreal CF) Daniel Alves (Sevilla FC) Seydou Keita (Sevilla FC) Henrique (SE Palmeiras) Aleksandr Hleb (Arsenal FC) •Out Lilian Thuram (retired) Henrique (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) Santiago Ezquerro (CA Osasuna) Iago Falqué (Juventus) Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan) Edmílson (Villarreal CF) Giovani dos Santos (Tottenham Hotspur FC) Deco (Chelsea FC) Oleguer Presas (AFC Ajax) Ronaldinho (AC Milan) Marc Crosas (Celtic FC) International news • Bojan made his senior debut for Spain in the 4-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 5 win against Armenia in Albacete on 10 September. The 18-year-old appeared as 64th-minute substitute in a game that Puyol, Iniesta and Xavi all started. The latter three had previously lined up for Spain in their 1-0 defeat of Bosnia-Herzegovina four days previous. • Henry featured for France in Group 7 as they lost 3-1 to Austria on 6 September in Vienna. However, he helped Les Bleus recover from the setback by scoring the opener four days later in a 2-1 win against a Serbia side presided over by former Barcelona coach Radomir Antić.