Tag: Barcelona

After doing nothing and achieving everything at Barcelona, Thomas Vermaelen joins Roma on loan

Vermaelen arrives with his suitcase full of winner's medals. (AS Roma)
Vermaelen arrives in Rome with his suitcase full of winner’s medals. (AS Roma)

In two seasons with Barcelona, frequently injured defender Thomas Vermaelen made 21 appearances and won seven trophies. Two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey trophies, a Champions League title, a UEFA Super Cup, and even a Club World Cup. That’s one trophy for every three appearances. Even the people who hand out youth league participation medals would find that obscene and excessive.

In two seasons of doing nothing and getting paid handsomely for it, Vermaelen has accomplished more than most footballers can do in a full career of playing match after match. And so, with nothing left to achieve at Barcelona, he has decided to move on to Roma on a season-long loan in pursuit of a new challenge.

Continuing his ungodly trophy haul with Roma while keeping his playing time to the absolute minimum for someone to still be considered a professional footballer will definitely be a challenge, too. But, in his infinite genius, Vermaelen is only going to Roma on loan, so if the task proves too difficult, he can simply reclaim his seat on Barcelona’s bench and get back to letting the trophies fall into his lap for the remainder of his five-year deal.

We really should be inviting Vermaelen into schools around the world to give children career advice. Of course, if we did, he’d probably just be too injured to attend and send someone else to give the talk in his place, then split the money and accolades with them.

It has long been thought that injuries can only ruin a professional athlete’s career, but Vermaelen is proving that they can also benefit it. Had he actually played for Barcelona, he could have underperformed and gotten himself sold off to some third-rate club in a city that can’t compare to the beauty of Rome. Instead, he gets to linger on at Barca and also have a glorious change of scenery for a season.

There are footballing geniuses like Pele and Maradona, Messi and Ronaldo, then there are geniuses of football. And in that class Vermaelen stands alone. Well, sits alone.

Camp Nou won’t be in FIFA 17

Though EA Sports’ FIFA series long ago surpassed Pro Evo Soccer to become the undisputed king of football video games, PES chips away at their rival’s superior resources where they can. Konami’s newly announced deal with Barcelona does that in a relatively small but significant way for Barca fans.

As part of the deal, Camp Nou will only appear in PES 2017, as will the club’s anthem. The club and players will still appear in FIFA 17 as well, but their partnership with Konami ensure that they will “be faithfully reproduced in the series using the Team ID and Player ID systems to guarantee that PES 2017 perfectly reflects both the general and individual style of play of the Barca first team.”

It’s unclear whether that means PES will have Messi’s new hairstyle, though.

Judging by the trailer above, it looks like PES is aiming to be a combination of the FIFA games and Football Manager. So if that’s what you want, this might be the game for you.

Anyway, if you’re playing FIFA 17 and wondering why Barcelona’s home matches are played at “Estadi Catalonia” or whatever, this is the reason.

Barcelona launch misguided call to support Leo Messi’s tax fraud

(FC Barcelona)
(FC Barcelona)

Barcelona have launched a bizarre campaign to rally fans into showing support for Lionel Messi because he’s being held accountable for being guilty of tax fraud.

Messi and his father were each given a suspended sentence of 21 months in jail (meaning they won’t have to serve it) and fined a total of €3.5 million for evading millions in taxes. But apparently Barcelona feel that Messi should be above the law.

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Barcelona get swarmed by fans after winning La Liga at Granada

Barcelona beat Granada 3-0 to edge out Real Madrid to a second consecutive La Liga title by a one-point margin on the final day of the season. Given that they won the title 550 miles away from home, you might think that it would’ve been a lonely celebration, but the locals got into the spirit of the day and swarmed the Barca players on the pitch after the final whistle.

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How to tell when Barcelona are actually in crisis

Barcelona were eliminated from the Champions League by Atletico Madrid for the second time in three years and have now lost three of their last four matches. This has prompted an all too familiar round of “BARCELONA IN TROUBLE” alarmism that past experience has proven is rarely warranted. So how is one to tell when we’re actually in the midst of a true Barcapocalypse? Here’s a handy guide…

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