.@Carles5puyol signs through 2016

Puyol and Rosell. PHOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ-FCB.
This Tuesday afternoon the Barça captain signed his contract extension that will keep him at the Club through June 30 of 2016

This Tuesday afternoon the Barça captain signed his contract extension that will keep him at the Club through June 30 of 2016. The ceremony was attended by Carles Puyol, his representative, President Sandro Rosell, vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu and sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta.

The agreement to extend the player’s contract was made public on December 18. The Puyol’s contract was set to expire on June 30 of 2013.

Clué legend
 
Puyol, 34 years old, made his debut with the first team in the 1999/00 season. Since then, first as a wide right defender then as a centre back, he’s become one of the best defenders in the world. He’s been the team captain since 2004, he’s won – among other titles – 3 Champions Leagues, 5 Ligas and 2 Cups and he’s the second player in Barça history to play the most games in the Blaugrana strip.

Club captain made his debut in a 1999 league game in Valladolid

Puyol celebra el seu gol al Bernabéu el dia del 2-6 / FOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ-FCB
Club captain made his debut in a 1999 league game in Valladolid

Puyol has led the team to three Champions League titles

Carles Puyol is the heart of FC Barcelona. The Club captain, who this Tuesday signed a contract extension to keep him at the Club until 2016, is in his 14th season with the first team squad and below we look back on ten key moments during that period:

2nd October 1999. The day that Louis van Gaal handed Puyol his debut, bringing him on for Simao in the second half of the league game in Valladolid. That was to be the first of 37 appearances during the 99/2000 season.

21st October 2000. Aged just 22, Llorenç Serra Ferrer gave Puyol the job of marking Luis Figo on his first return to Camp Nou as a Real Madrid player. Puyol put in a brilliant performance and Barça won 2-0.

11th November 2001. His first goal, just like his debut, came against Valladolid, cutting in from the right – he played at right back for the first few years in the first team- and playing a one-two with Saviola to make it 2-0 for Barça, who ran out 4-0 winners.

23rd October 2002. Nights like this helped make him a legend. In the Champions League game against Lokomotiv Moscow, Puyol stopped a ball on the line with the club badge on the chest of his shirt and the team went on to win 1-0.

14th May 2005. During Puyol’s first five years in the first team, the Club failed to win a single trophy until, in his first season as captain, he lifted the league title with Frank Rijkaard after a 1-1 draw at Levante on May 14th.

17th May 2006. Following in the footsteps of Alexanco 14 years before, Puyol lifted the Club’s second European Cup after an epic 2-1 win against Arsenal in the Paris rain.

2nd May 2009. Puyol could surely never have played in a bigger win than the 2-6 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu, when the team came back from 1-2 down and Puyol took off his captain’s armband at the end of the game and kissed it in front of the crowd.

19th December 2009. The best Barça team ever round off an unforgettable 2009 with the Club’s first World Club Cup. A great day in Abu Dhabi as Puyol lifted yet another trophy.

28th May 2011. After another quick recovery from injury, Puyol is able to play the final minutes of eth Champions League final at Wembley. The captain’s wonderful gesture as he allowed Eric Abidal – who had been diagnosed with liver cancer a few months earlier- to lift the trophy will always be remembered.

18th January 2012. Puyol has never been a prolific goal scorer – with just 16 in 573 games – but when he does score, they always really count! Of those 16, two have come against Real

Carles Puyol's top5 videos

El capità Carles Puyol, un dels nou blaugranes que ha tornat aquest matí a la feina / FOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ - FCB
Five moments in video of Carles Puyol career in FC Barcelona

– Puyol reaches 500 matches with FC Barcelona

– Puyol in the eleven homegrown players

– Revista Barça meets three myths of the club

Making of with five captains of the professional teams

– The making of the spot of ‘We are what we eat’ campaing with Carles Puyol

 

. @cesc4official: “The Malaga game is our most important so far this season – it’s our first final”

Fàbregas, durante la rueda de prensa. FOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ - FCB
Barça’s Catalan midfielder reckons that Thursday’s Spanish Cup quarter Final: “will be tough, but we have to be confident that we can get a result”

“I’m much better physically than I was last season . I’ve worked hard from the start to ensure I can get to the end in a good condition”

“I’m a very competitive player and I am always trying to improve. I look at what I have done after every game and try and take the positive things that I can give to the team, because you can always get better and do more”
“I’ve worked hard from the start to ensure I can get to the end in a good condition”

Cesc Fàbregas is very clear just how important this Thursday’s quarter final second leg against Malaga is for the team “ it’s our most important match so far this season – it’s our first final. We have to be confident that we can get a result even though they are a team who won’t make it easy for us. When you play so many games against the same opponent, you obviously know how they play, but I think the subs bench could prove decisive”.

Valdés

Fabregas echoed Andres Iniesta’s feelings about keeper Victor Valdes, who has announced he won’t be renewing his contract with the Club in 2014, insisting: “he’s given the Club time to find a solution – he’s not thought first about himself, but about the Club and the team and that seems like the right thing to me”. Cesc also insisted that the announcement hadn’t affected Valdes: “we would have been right to be worried if he wasn’t training right, but the opposite is true –he’s like a youngster the way he works in training. We have to respect his decision and close the matter there. We have titles to fight for and the game goes on and so does the Club – the most important thing is how many things we can win this year”.

Constant improvement

Cesc Fàbregas has clearly felt more at home on the pitch this season and he explained: “I’m a very competitive player and I am always trying to improve. I look at what I have done after every game and try and take the positive things that I can give to the team, because you can always get better and do more. I’m very relaxed, I’m linking up better and choosing better when to make my runs. I’m much better physically than I was last season . I’ve worked hard from the start to ensure I can get to the end in a good condition”.

Possible Clásico

If Barça do get through against Malaga and Real Madrid see off Valencia, that would set up a “clasico” between the big two in the semi finals and whilst Cesc insisted that the team was focussed first on the job in hand, he admitted: “a game between us and Madrid is always going t be close and you never know what might happen – the only thing you are thinking about is winning, not about the points that separate them from you”.

.@Guaje7Villa given medical OK

David Villa / PHOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ - FCB
The Barça striker will be available for the Malaga game on Thursday after being given the medical all clear to play today, following his recovery from a calf injury

Barça’s first team squad is gradually getting back to full strength and after the return of Isaac Cuenca yesterday, today it was the turn of David Villa to receive the medical all clear to play, following his recovery from a calf injury. Villa will this be available for the Cup quarter final against Malaga on Thursday after missing the first leg and the league game at the weekend against Real Sociedad.

With Villa fully fit, only Marc Muniesa and Éric Abidal are unavailable as they continue working on their respective recoveries.