2008–09 FC Barcelona season

Overview

As expectations have not been met last season, FC Barcelona is starting a new era with a new manager.
Furthermore, the 2008-2009 season will be characterized by the absence through sale of historically high-profiled players such as Deco and Ronaldinho.

As of 5 June

Players

Squad information

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	EU	Since	App	Goals	Ends	Transfer fee	Notes
1	GK		V. Valdés (VC)	42	EU	2002	190	0	2010	Youth system
2	DF		Cáceres	37	Non-EU	2008	0	0	2012	€16.5m
3	DF		Piqué	37	EU	2008	0	0	2012	€5m
4	DF		Márquez	45	EU	2003	166	8	2010	€ 5m
5	DF		Puyol (captain)	46	EU	1999	270	4	2010	Youth system
6	MF		Xavi (VC)	44	EU	1998	288	28	2010	Youth system
7	FW		Gudjohnsen	46	EU	2006	72	13	2009	€12m
8	MF		A. Iniesta (VC)	40	EU	2002	211	17	2014	Youth system
9	FW		Eto'o	43	EU	2004	137	89	2010	€24m
10	MF		Messi	37	EU	2004	97	40	2014	Youth system
11	FW		Bojan	34	EU	2007	40	10	2013	Youth system
13	GK		Pinto	48	EU	2008	3	0	2010	€0.5m
14	FW		Henry	47	EU	2007	40	14	2011	€24m
15	MF		Keita	44	EU	2008	0	0	2012	€14m
16	DF		Sylvinho	50	EU	2004	92	3	2009	€ 2m
18	DF		Milito	44	EU	2007	27	1	2011	€17m
20	DF		Dani Alves	41	EU	2008	0	0	2012	€29m
21	MF		Hleb	43	Non-EU	2008	0	0	2012	€15m
22	DF		Abidal	45	EU	2007	40	0	2011	€15m
24	MF		Touré Yaya	41	Non-EU	2007	32	2	2011	€ 9m	Under Kolpak ruling
25	GK		Jorquera	45	EU	2003	17	0	2010	Youth system
27	FW		Pedro	37	EU	2008	2	0	Undisclosed	Youth system
28	MF		Sergio B.	36	EU	2008	0	0	Undisclosed	Youth system
29	DF		V. Sánchez	37	EU	2008	0	0	Undisclosed	Youth system

• Last updated: 1 September
• Source: FC Barcelona and footballdatabase.com

Players in / out

In

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	EU	Moving from	Type	Transfer window	Ends	Transfer fee	Source
15	MF		Keita	28	EU	Sevilla	Transfer	Summer	2012	€14m + €2.2m in taxes	FC Barcelona
3	DF		Piqué	21	EU	Manchester United	Transfer	Summer	2012	€ 5m + €2m in variables	FC Barcelona
13	GK		Pinto	32	EU	Celta de Vigo	Transfer	Summer	2010	€ 0.5m	FC Barcelona
2	DF		Cáceres	21	Non-EU	Villarreal	Transfer	Summer	2012	€16.5m	FC Barcelona
20	DF		Dani Alves	25	EU	Sevilla	Transfer	Summer	2012	€29m + €6m in variables	FC Barcelona
21	MF		Hleb	27	Non-EU	Arsenal	Transfer	Summer	2012	€15m + €2m in variables	FC Barcelona
12	DF		Henrique	21	Non-EU	Palmeiras	Transfer	Summer	2013	€ 8m + €2m in variables	FC Barcelona FC Barcelona
26	MF		Crosas	20	EU	Lyon	End of loan	Summer	2010	n/a

Total spending: 88,000,000 €

Out

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	EU	Moving to	Type	Transfer window	Transfer fee	Source
15	DF		Edmílson	31	EU	Villarreal	End of contract	Summer	Free	FC Barcelona
11	DF		Zambrotta	31	EU	Milan	Transfer	Summer	€ 9m + €2m in variables	FC Barcelona
17	FW		Giovani	19	EU	Tottenham	Transfer	Summer	€ 6m + €5m in variables	FC Barcelona
21	DF		Thuram	36	EU	Retired	End of contract	Summer	n/a	FC Barcelona
18	FW		Ezquerro	31	EU	Osasuna	End of contract	Summer	Free	FC Barcelona
20	MF		Deco	30	EU	Chelsea	Transfer	Summer	€10m	FCBarcelona
10	FW		Ronaldinho	28	EU	Milan	Transfer	Summer	€21m + €4m in variables	FC Barcelona
12	DF		Henrique	21	Non-EU	Leverkusen	Loan	Summer	n/a	FC Barcelona
23	DF		Oleguer	28	EU	Ajax	Transfer	Summer	€ 3m + €2,25m in variables	FC Barcelona
26	MF		Crosas	20	EU	Celtic	Transfer	Summer	€ 0.5m + €0.8m in variables	FC Barcelona

Total income: 49,500,000 €

Last updated: 1 September

Squad stats

				Total			UCL		La Liga		Copa del Rey		Copa Catalunya
No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Sts	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls
1	GK		Valdés	5	7		3		4
20	DF		Dani Alves	5	7		3		4
5	DF		Puyol	5	6		3		3
4	DF		Márquez	3	5	1	2	1	3
3	DF		Piqué	3	4		3		1
22	DF		Abidal	4	6		2		4
16	DF		Sylvinho		1		1
6	MF		Xavi	5	7	3	3	2	4	1
24	MF		Touré Yaya	2	5		3		2
15	MF		Keita	4	7		3		4
8	MF		Iniesta	4	7	1	3		4	1
21	MF		Hleb	1	4		2		2
28	MF		Sergio Busquets	1	3				3
9	FW		Eto'o	5	7	6	3	3	4	3
14	FW		Henry	4	4	2	3	1	1	1
27	FW		Pedro	2	3		2		1
10	FW		Messi	2	6	8	2	2	4	4		2
7	FW		Gudjohnsen		3	1	1		2	1
11	FW		Bojan		5		1		4
13	GK		Pinto
25	GK		Jorquera
2	DF		Cáceres		2				2
18	DF		Milito
29	DF		V. Sánchez

Last updated: 16 September
Source: Competitive matches
Ordered by
0 shown as blank

Disciplinary record

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name				Notes
8	MF		Iniesta	2	0	0
28	MF		Sergio B.	2	0	0
14	FW		Henry	1	0	0
5	DF		Puyol	1	0	0
9	FW		Eto'o	1	0	0
3	DF		Piqué	1	0	0
24	MF		Touré Yaya	1	0	0
1	GK		V.Valdés	1	0	0
6	MF		Xavi	1	0	0
15	MF		Keita	1	0	0

Last updated: 3 October
Source: Competitive matches
Only competitive matches
= Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.

Start formations

Qnt	Formation	Match(es)
5	4-3-3	1, 3, 5, 6
1	4-4-2	2

Last updated: 16 September
Source: Match reports in Competitive matches
Only competitive matches.

Starting 11

No. Pos. Nat. Name MS Notes 1 GK Valdés 5 20 RB Dani Alves 5 5 CB Puyol 5 3 CB Piqué 3 22 LB Abidal 4 15 DM Keita 4 6 CM Xavi 5 8 AM Iniesta 4 10 RW Messi 3 9 FW Eto'o 5 14 LW Henry 4

Valdés Dani Alves Puyol Márquez Abidal Xavi Keita Iniesta Messi Eto'o Henry

Last updated: 16 September
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).

Club

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	Josep Guardiola
Assistant coach	Tito Vilanova
Goalkeeping coach	Juan Carlos Unzué
Physical fitness coach	Lorenzo Buenaventura
Lead fitness coach	Paco Seirul·lo
Field work	Aureli Altimira
Strength work	Francesc Cos

Last updated: 30 June
Source: FC Barcelona

Competitions

Overall

As in nine out of the last ten seasons, FC Barcelona is going to be present in all major competitions. First division and Copa del Rey in Spain and UEFA Champions League in Europe. Also, Copa Catalunya in Barça's native autonomous community of Catalonia, but, usually, Barcelona mostly uses FC Barcelona B's players in this competition.

As of 30 May

Competition	Started round	Current position / round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
La Liga	—	5		31 August
Copa Catalunya	Semi-finals	—	Semi-finals	9 September
UCL	TQR	GS		13 August
Copa del Rey	—	—

Updated to match played 3 October
Source: Competitions

La Liga

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
5	3	1	1	12	6	+6	10	1	1	0	4	3	+1	2	0	1	8	3	+5

Last updated: 21 September.
Source: Competitive Matches

Competitive

La Liga

All kickoff times are in CEST.

31 August 2008

19:00

Numancia	1–0	Barcelona
Mario 13'	(Report)	Puyol  41' Eto'o  79'

Los Pajaritos, Soria

Referee: Fernández Borbalán

---

13 September 2008

20:00

Barcelona	1–1	Racing de Santander
Messi 71' Iniesta  87'	(Report)	Pinillos  37' Munitis  60' Óscar Serrano  62' Lacen  66' Christian  70' Pereira 76' Valera  88' Luccin  92'

Camp Nou, Barcelona

Attendance: 54,678

Referee: Rafael Ramírez Domínguez

---

21 September 2008

21:00

Sporting de Gijón	1–6	Barcelona
Cámara  7' Carmelo  41' Maldonado 50' Gerard  56'	(Report)	Xavi 26' Eto'o 32' Jorge 48' (o.g.) Iniesta 70' Messi 85' 88'

El Molinón, Gijón

Referee: Carlos Megía Dávila

---

24 September 2008

20:00

Barcelona	3–2	Betis
Touré Yaya  13' Eto'o 17' 23' Gudjohnsen 80' Sergio B.  84'	(Report)	Vega  43' Monzón 59' José Mari 67' Capi  73' Mehmet Aurelio  85'

Camp Nou, Barcelona

Attendance: 55,727

Referee: Daudén Ibáñez

---

27 September 2008

22:00

Espanyol	1-2	Barcelona
Nenê  12'  45' Coro 20' Román  53' Chica  55' Jarque  98'	(Report)	Sergio B.  6' Valdés  20' Henry 83' Messi 100'

Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona

Attendance: 31,660

Referee: Luís Medina Cantalejo

Other Matches

Game	Date	Tournament	Round	Ground	Opponent	Score1	Report
1	13 August	UCL	TQR	H	Wisla Krakow	4 – 0	Report Report link Kick off 21:45 CEST Attendance 56,786 Referee Claudio Circhetta Barcelona Wisla Krakow 17' Eto'o 25' Xavi 50' Henry 83' Eto'o  15' Cantoro
2	26 August	UCL	TQR	A	Wisla Krakow	0 – 1	Report Report link Kick off 20:45 CEST Referee Ľuboš Micheľ Barcelona Wisla Krakow  92' Henry  44' Brożek 51' Cléber  53' Boguski
4	9 September	Copa Catalunya	Semi-finals	A	UE Sant Andreu	1 – 3	Report Report link Kick off 22:00 CEST Referee Israel Simón del Pino Barcelona UE Sant Andreu 20' Sergi Busquets  37' V. Vázquez  55' Jony 10' Edu Oriol 29' Dani Martí  37' Rueda  53' Abraham 78' Edu Martí  80' Moyano
6	16 September	UCL	GS	H	Sporting CP	3 – 1	Report Report link Kick off 20:45 CEST Attendance 58,354 Referee Laurent Duhamel Barcelona Sporting CP 21' Márquez 60' Eto'o  70' Piqué 87' Xavi 71' Tonel  85' Rochemback
10	1 October	UCL	GS	A	Shakhtar Donetsk	2 – 1	Report Report link Kick off 20:45 CEST Referee Howard Webb Barcelona Shakhtar Donetsk  41' Xavi  77' Keita 87' Messi  92' Iniesta 93' Messi 44' Ilsinho  46' Srna  58' Fernandinho  69' Chyhrynskyi  87' Brandão
13	22 October	UCL	GS	A	FC Basel		Kick off 20:45 CEST Referee
16	4 November	UCL	GS	H	FC Basel		Kick off 20:45 CEST Referee
20	26 November	UCL	GS	A	Sporting CP		Kick off 20:45 CEST Referee
23	9 December	UCL	GS	H	Shakhtar Donetsk		Kick off 20:45 CEST Referee

Last updated: 3 October
Source: FC Barcelona
¹Barcelona goals come first.
National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different from that of Barcelona.
M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.

Pre-season

Game	Date	Tournament	Round	Ground	Opponent	Score1	Report
1	24 July	Friendly	—	N	Hibernian	6 – 0	Report Report link Kick off 19:45 BST Attendance 23,390 Referee Craig Thomson Barcelona Hibernian 5' Guðjohnsen 15' Messi 17' Guðjohnsen 27' Pedro 48' Bojan 69' Yaya Touré
2	26 July	Friendly	—	A	Dundee United	5 – 1	Report Report link Kick off 16:00 BST Attendance 13,000 Referee Dougie McDonald Barcelona Dundee United 27' Henry 51' Messi 61' Eto'o 75' Messi 78' Messi 26' Buaben
3	30 July	Memorial Artemio Franchi	—	A	Fiorentina	3 – 1	Report Report link Kick off 20:45 CEST Attendance 40,428 Referee Saccanni Dimantova Barcelona Fiorentina  10' Touré Yaya 28' Puyol 47' Jeffrén 72' Bojan 68' Pazzini
4	3 August	US Tour	—	N	CD Guadalajara	5 – 2	Report Report link Kick off 18:00 CDT Attendance 40,717 Referee Alex Prus Barcelona CD Guadalajara 25' Xavi 45' Hleb 48' Eto'o  55' Bojan 72' Eto'o 89' Cáceres 58' Padilla  69' Araujo 88' Hernández
5	6 August	US Tour	—	A	Red Bull New York	6 – 2	Report Report link Kick off 19:00 EDT Attendance 38,152 Referee Kevin Stott Barcelona Red Bull New York 17' Xavi 18' Eto'o 23' Márquez 43' Eto'o 80' Jeffrén 84' Pedro 30' Stammler 60' Rojas
6	16 August	Joan Gamper Trophy	—	H	Boca Juniors	2 – 1	Report Report link Kick off 22:00 CEST Attendance 71,210 Referee González Vázquez Barcelona Boca Juniors  30' Córcoles  57' Sergi Busquets  89' Piqué 92' Puyol 95' Eto'o  44' Castromán  52' Vargas  55' Roncaglia 72' Viatri

Last updated: 16 August
Source: FC Barcelona
¹Barcelona goals come first.
National flags for Ground and Opponent columns are only shown when different from that of Barcelona.
M = Match; Ground: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral, HR = Home replacement, AR = Away replacement.

References

1-2

External links

• FC Barcelona official website
• English Speaking FC Barcelona Supporters
• ESPNsoccernet: Barcelona Team Page
• Footballdatabase.com: FC Barcelona (Spain) profile
• UEFA Champions League
• Web Oficial de la Liga de Fútbol Profesional
• Federació Catalana de Futbol