Piqué wary of Milan and on-song Ibrahimović !!!

Gerard Piqué says FC Barcelona need no introduction to the threat posed by AC Milan, and Zlatan Ibrahimović in particular, as the holders prepare to grace the San Siro once again.

Gerard Piqué says renewed talk of a May treble for FC Barcelona is premature, especially on the eve of a meeting with Zlatan Ibrahimović and an AC Milan side he regards as one of Europe's top three.

The holders head to San Siro on Wednesday for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League tie confident of a repeat of the group stage triumph they managed four months ago, if not the 3-2 scoreline. Confident but not complacent. "It's better to know your opponents, but they know us too," Piqué warned. "We studied Milan and we'll continue to do so until kick-off. We need to figure out how to attack them."

They did not struggle to score against the Rossoneri in the autumn, having opened their trophy defence with a 2-2 draw in September. The question, though, is how to attack with caution, without being so susceptible at the back. Piqué, who did not feature in either group game, has a fair idea where to start: "It's always difficult to stop a striker of Zlatan Ibrahimović's quality. We have to be really focused; we can't give him any space. He's having a great season, scoring in every possible situation."

Indeed, the Sweden striker took his tally to 29 goals this season in all competitions for Milan with a pair in Saturday's 2-1 victory against AS Roma. Not that Piqué needs further proof of his talents having played alongside Ibrahimović at Camp Nou in 2009/10. "It was a pleasure to play with him. He's a great player and he helped Barcelona win trophies. We'll do everything to stop him, though. He's very dangerous, but we have the quality to defend against him."

Piqué was also on target at the weekend in a 2-0 win at RCD Mallorca, a timely personal fillip in what has been a stop-start campaign. "It has been a difficult season for me due to injuries," admitted the Spanish international. "The goal against Mallorca was important for me, as was my performance. We are going through a good spell even if it is too soon to talk of the treble [of UEFA Champions League, Liga and Copa del Rey] – we will take each game as it comes. First up is Milan, one of the top three teams in Europe. It will be a challenge, but we will do everything to get through."

Andres Iniesta: Barcelona will fight until the end

The Spanish playmaker has refused to throw in the towel despite the 10-point gap to Madrid, while stating that the victory over Valencia was a considerable boost to his side

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta has insisted that his side are still in the race for the Primera Division title.

The Catalan club are 10 points behind Real Madrid in the Liga standings after slipping considerably off the pace in recent weeks, with two draws and one defeat since the start of the calendar year. 

With Barca due to host los Blancos in April, Iniesta remains hopeful that his side will be able to regain top spot if Madrid drop points.

"We will fight until the end," Iniesta told reporters. "This is our only goal: to compete and collect three points every week to be ready in case of a Madrid slip-up.

"The truth is that we have dropped many points on the road and that is seen in the table.

"To win the Liga, you have to be consistent at home and on the road, and this has been hard for us."

Barca head into Sunday's game at Atletico Madrid on the back of a 5-1 victory over Valencia and Iniesta expressed his delight with the team's display against los Che.

"We played a very complete match against Valencia and the result should give us a significant boost," Iniesta said.

"Now we will visit Atletico and we know this will be a hard match because they are a good team and they have been growing after the arrival of Diego Simeone, but we hope we can continue collecting points."

Since November, Goal.com has been publishing exclusive extracts from Graham Hunter's highly-anticipated new book, 'Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World'. The very last extract looks at Andres Iniesta's risky return from injury in the 2009 Champions League Final and how he was described by Wayne Rooney as the 'best midfielder in the world'. Don't miss it!

True captain Carles Puyol

Full name	Carles Puyol i Saforcada
Nationality	Spanish
Date of birth	April 13, 1978
Place of birth	La Pobla de Segur, Spain
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Nickname	Tiburón
Position	Centre Back
Number	5

Carles Puyol i Saforcada (born April 13, 1978 in La Pobla de Segur, Catalonia, Spain) is a Spanish/Catalan footballer who is the current team captain of FC Barcelona. He is a regular in the Spanish national team.

Puyol played for Spain at the 2000 Olympics, 2002 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2004 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup; Puyol has been capped over 60 times. He has also played for the unofficial Catalonia national football team in one friendly.

He went to FC Barcelona B at age 17 in 1996 and in 1999 Coach Louis van Gaal put him into the first team and his debut came on October 2, 1999 against Valladolid, a game FC Barcelona won 0-2. He started as a regular for Barcelona in the right back position but has since converted to center-back.

He was first chosen as the captain for Barcelona in the 2003-04 season. Puyol has also been called upon to captain the Spanish national team.

May 17, 2006: Barcelona, with Puyol as captain, won the UEFA Champions League, defeating Arsenal FC 2-1 in the final and became the first Catalan captain to raise the UEFA Champions League Trophy.

He was awarded "Best Right-Back in Europe" by UEFA in 2002. He is currently under contract with Barcelona FC till June 30, 2010.

Puyol was awarded the title of UEFA Champions League Defender of the Year 2005-06 on Thursday 24th August 2006.

Puyol is a tough, aggressive defender who has the versatility to play both as a full-back and in the centre. His holistic approach makes him a favourite at his club side, Barcelona. Puyol is a vital member of Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard's team, and his tactical ability and know-how also means he is not a man to pick up many yellow cards or, indeed, injuries, both of which factors have meant that he is an ever present in both Europe and domestic competition. His attacking mentality is a result of him playing as a striker in the early years in his boyhood club La Pobla de Segur, after injury problems with his shoulders forced him from his original position of goalkeeper. His energy and athleticism is vital in defense, for the high backline, attacking style that Barca plays

Probably the best midfielder in the world

Xavier Hernández Creus and (b. January 25, 1980, Terrassa, Catalonia, Spain), also known as Xavi is a Spanish footballer who plays as a midfielder at the club Barcelona and the Spanish national is selected. He won the 2008 European Football Championship, 2010 World Cup, La Liga with Barcelona 5 times and was nominated for the FIFA Golden Ball 2010, where his competitors were even his Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta. (Source: wikipedia). Was told not to play Barcelona on Spain's national team and would not be the same without the guidance of Xavi. An outstanding personality in the game is almost all action Xavi and his team beat all records on the number of passes, accurate passes and number of passes away. It is said that when he was promoted to first team Guardioala knew immediately that Xavi will be next to Barcelona's midfield.Even I would have said Xavi: "I will be who will kick the team". Enjoy as Xavi is in activity. Unfortunately, he reached 31 years and is approaching the end of his career.

Messi, the best scorer in the history of Barcelona

Argentine striker Lionel Messi became Tuesday the best scorer in the history of FC Barcelona, ​​after he scored twice in the game with the band Granada, thus managing to reach 233 career achievements and overcome him and Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), with 33 goals in La Liga. 

The goal scored in minute 17, Messi equalized Cesar's record of 232 successful, and then scored again in the 68th minute, when he overtook footballer who played for Barca in the years \ '40-\ '50. Messi now has 53 goals in all competitions. He needed 314 games to equal the record of Caesar, who scored 232 times in 354 games. Goals are divided as follows: 152 in the championship, 19 Spanish Cup, 49 in the Champions League, Spanish Super 8 in, 1 in 4 European Super Cup and World Club Championship. \ "Cesar Rodriguez is the top scorer in official matches, but the absolute record belongs to Paulino Alcántara, but 369 goals in 357 official matches and friendly \" said FC Barcelona. 

WIN! A Pair Of Lionel Messi’s Super Swish Gold AdiZero F50 Boots!

By Chris Wright

It’s competition time here again on Pies folks, and this prize is going to take some beating!

As you’ll be aware, Lionel Messi nabbed his third-straight Ballon d’Or gong earlier this week, and to celebrate Adidas have produced a very special pair of boots for him to wear during Barcelona’s La Liga tie against Real Betis on Sunday…

The customised adizero F50 boots have been produced in a celebratory gold colourway and feature the flag of Argentina, the years of Leo’s Ballon d’Or successes and a thank you message to his fans.

To celebrate Leo’s big win, Pies has teamed up with Adidas to give away a pair of these shuper shexy gold adizero F50 boots to five – count ‘em, FIVE lucky winners.

To be in with a shout of snagging a pair of gold-coloured boots (personalised with your name through miadidas.com) all you need to do is email us at waatpies@gmail.com with the correct answer to this question:

Q: Which Argentina coach gave Leo Messi his full international debut?

Five correct answers will be chosen at random after the competition closes at midnight (GMT) on Monday 16th January.

T&Cs: Competition is open to Pies readers worldwide. One entry per person. Five winners will be picked at random (by me) once the competition closes

History of FC Barcelona!

November 29, 1899, Hans Gamper, along with ten other enthusiasts founded football club Barcelona. In those days, Hans Gamper, being a Swiss by birth, he played for the Zurich Club Excelsior. Club colors were chosen in such a simple way: blue and red - the colors of Excelsior, and red and yellow, respectively, in Catalonia. From the first years of its existence, the proud Catalans under the direction of his best player and the club's first president Walter Wilde began to make progress. Interestingly, his first match December 8, 1899 Barcelona lost 0-1 team with a score of British ex-patriots on the velodrome Bonanova.In 1910 takes Barca Spanish Cup, and in 1922 the club comes first own stadium Les Corts, where Barcelona won the opening match of the Scottish St Mirren 2-1. The next event in the history of Barcelona dates from the year 1929: Hector Scarone leader of world champions Uruguayans became a member of the world's first transfer from Nacional Montevideo in the red and blue. In the 30s became the symbol of anti-Franco Barcelona coalition in Spain in general, and football in particular.In the late 40's and early 50's team won five national championships in a row because of the legend of those years Kubalia Ladislav, who played for Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Spain. In 1958 she began in Barcelona, ​​the format of which we are accustomed to seeing so far.In 1957, specifically September 24th game against a team of Poland opened the famous stadium Camp Nou Camp Nou, or as they call him the proud Catalans. In this match Eulogio Martinez from Paraguay became the first player to score the ball at the new stadium. Barcelona won that match 4-2. Stadium, an unremarkable-looking gray building, located away from major attractions of Barcelona, ​​keeps the fire of several generations of fans. If there is a stadium in the world, which is called the boiler, the Camp Nou is one of them. Tribunes fit directly to the edge of the field, and for the fans is not created by an imaginary and a real sense of presence. The stadium, by the way, the biggest in Europe and second in the world after Brazil's Maracana, even an empty impression of a giant funnel, so when 120,000 fans explode with emotions, then they cry like a weird buzz like a wind tunnel effect.Barcelona's policies since the late 50's to the present day has always determined the legionnaires. As part of Barcelona during this time acted as a global star, that they would be enough for several teams in the world. In the 60 team leaders were Hungarians and Tsibarov Kochesh and Brazilian Evariste. In the 70 Barca forever glorified "Flying Dutchman" Johan Cruyff and his friend Johan Niskens. This period was the first Dutch period in team history. Over the years, a mega star Barca were all over the world, many of them, Catalonia became the prelude of a large success. Here are some names: Allan Simonsen, Diego Maradona, Gary Lineker, Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov, Ronald Koeman, Romario, Ronaldo, Hadji, Luis Figo. In addition to the legionnaires were from Nigeria, Serbia, Scotland, Wales and even the Russian Igor Korneev. In the 97-98 season, the number of foreign players has reached its peak, 17 people! We should not forget that home-grown stars Barca gave enough: Salinas, Subisareta, Enrique, etc. Naturally, with such an abundance of foreigners they are in a sort of "honor roll" of Barcelona.The only Barca won the Champions Cup only in '92 led by Cruyff and cannon strike Koemana, literally "knocking out" Sampdoria in extra-time final.