Barcelona is after Australian Lucas Neill

There's an australian target in the club. Barcelona assistant coach Johan Neeskens has admitted that the club is still interested in Blackburn's Lucas Neill.

In fact, the full back has impressed for Australia during the World Cup this summer and has been linked with a host of clubs. Blackburn however hung on to him past deadline day.

Neill is in his final contract year, and Blackburn might try to sell him in January. Liverpool and Milan already expressed interest, and Barcelona now joined them.

"I can say that we have signed some great defenders, but things can change in a year and I know that Frank Rijkaard is following this player very closely," Neeskens expressed.

We must keep in mind that Barcelona already signed Zambrotta and Thuram during the summer, but are apparently still looking for options.

Barcelona squad supports Eto'o in victory over Bilbao

It was good to see the team perform like this. New striker Eidur Gudjohnsen and Javier Saviola scored to help Barcelona beat 10-man Athletic Bilbao 3-1 and take a three-point lead in the Spanish league on Saturday.

Indeed, Gudjohnsen, replacing injured Samuel Eto'o, struck Barcelona's second goal from Xavi Hernandez's pinpoint pass in the 61st minute, while substitute Saviola added the third 16 minutes later to seal his team's win on coach Frank Rijkaard's 44th birthday.

The skillful Saviola hadn't scored a league goal for Barcelona since 2004 as he was on loan to Monaco and Sevilla for the last two seasons.

In fact, Bilbao took an early lead in the fifth-round game at its San Mames stadium through Fran Yeste but was then hit by the 19th-minute ejection of left back Javier Casas, and an own-goal by Ustaritz Aldekoaotalora just before the interval.

Barcelona, which is unbeaten this season, has 13 points, while Real Madrid and Valencia have 10 points. Sevilla and Atletico Madrid have nine. Bilbao stayed 18th with just two draws from its opening five games.

We must remembert that Bilbao's new president Ana Urkijo — the first woman to take charge of the club — attended her first game in the role. Urkijo replaced Fernando Lamikiz, who resigned on Wednesday in the face of criticism of his running of the team.

Barcelona players took the field wearing green T-shirts bearing the message "Cheer up, Samu" in Catalan, dedicated to Eto'o. The Cameroon striker tore the meniscus in his right knee during Wednesday's Champions League game with Werder Bremen and is expected to be sidelined for five months.

Midfielder Yeste scored with a meaty volley in the 11th minute from a cross from the left by Fernando Llorente which took a deflection off Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez.

The visitor team equalized when Bilbao central defender Ustaritz, pressured by rival captain Carles Puyol, deflected Gudjohnsen's cross past his keeper Inaki Lafuente.

Finally, Gudjohnsen was replaced 10 minutes after his goal by Argentina's Saviola, who also furthered his claims for a first-team place in the absence of Eto'o by scoring. This three points are really important.

Eto'o lead Barcelona against Osasuna

Samuel Eto’o proved that he is the most important striker in Barcelona's squad. In order to make it clear, he scored two and set up another to steer the Spanish champions to a classy 3-0 triumph against Osasuna at the Nou Camp on Saturday.

The Cameroon star put his side in front with just over a minute on the clock, added a second after racing on to a clever lofted pass from midfielder Deco and set up Argentine teenager Lionel Messi for the third before the half was up.

In fact, this win made it two wins out of two for the Catalans, who begin the defence of their Champions League crown at home to Bulgarian side Levski Sofia tomorrow.

We must mention that Valencia also made it two from two after an early goal from Spain striker David Villa earned them a gritty 1-0 win away to Atletico Madrid.

Current Champions Barca got off to a dream start in front of their home fans with a beautifully fashioned goal.

Ronaldinho Gaucho skipped down the right flank towards the area and exchanged an intricate one-two with Deco before cutting a pass back towards the near post where Eto’o was on hand to stab the ball past Osasuna keeper Ricardo.

The Blaugrana team settled into their usual slick passing game for the next 25 minutes before Eto’o added a second goal to take his tally for the season to three.

The Barca forward hooked the ball over the advancing Ricardo after he had latched on to a deep pass from Deco that had skimmed off the head of an Osasuna defender.

In fact, Eto’o set up his side’s third eight minutes before the break when he snapped up the ball after pressing Ricardo into a mistake as he tried to clear his area.

After that move, he cut the ball back to Messi who threaded a low shot between Ricardo’s legs to make it 3-0.

It's important to notice that new signing Lilian Thuram, who was in the starting line-up in preference to skipper Carles Puyol, gave an assured performance in the centre of the back four, restricting the visitors to just one clear shot on goal two minutes from time. In the end, it was clear that Barcelona had a very good night.

Historic shirt deal with Unicef

This is a very important moment in the club's history. Champions League winners Barcelona have signed a shirt deal with international children's welfare organization Unicef.

Barcelona's president Joan Laporta announced the historic deal in Paris on Wednesday - Unicef's will be the first name to appear on front of the club's jersey.

"Indeed, it's an historic agreement which shows the world our club is more than just a club," said Laporta, who was re-elected as Barcelona president in August.

"It's an initiative with soul. Barca can help the children of the world."

He expressed: "It's an historic moment as it is a prestigious logo and not just a publicity brand.

"I think it's an honour to wear the Unicef logo because it's an agreement without precedent for Unicef as well."

We must keep in mind that founded in 1899, Barcelona have always resisted the temptation to have a paying shirt sponsor, although the club has advertised Catalan station TV3 on the left sleeve since 2005.

Important victory against Celta in the opener

FC Barcelona started their defence of the Spanish league title with a dramatic 3-2 vicotry Monday at hapless Celta Vigo. Their first game of the season was faced without Ronaldinho.

Indeed, the reigning Spanish champions needed a spectacular late volley from debutant Eidur Gudjohnsen to break the resistance of Celta de Vigo.

"It was a heart-stopping game," Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard admitted. "I think we just about deserved to win, but Celta made things really hard for us."

It's important to mention that the late win leaves Barca second in La Liga behind Getafe, who surprisingly won 2-0 Sunday at Osasuna.

A tight first half in Vigo saw few chances for either side. Five minutes before the break, Fernando Baiano opened the scoring for Celta after Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes had spilled a previous shot.

Then, Barca came out for the second half breathing fire and quickly turned the score around.

In a very good move, Samuel Etoo made it 1-1 with a shot from the left. It was the minute 55, and four minutes later Lionel Messi put Barca ahead from a similar position.

In the 65th minute, Gustavo Lopez made it 2-2 for Celta after the shaky Catalan defence failed to clear a free-kick.

However, Barca refused to settle for the draw and laid siege to the Celta goal, encouraged by the sending-off of local midfielder Jose Iriney.

The pressure paid off in the 86th minute, when Gudjohnsen - who had come on as a late sub - made it 3-2 with a powerful shot. It was a really good result in order to gain confidence.

Excellent victory over Espanyol to win Super Cup Title

The season is about to start but Barcelona already won an important title: they are the Spanish Super Cup Champions after defeating Espanyol 3-0 in the second-leg of the Final on Sunday.

It's important to mention that a goal from Xavi and a brace from Portuguese international Deco at Nou Camp gave Barcelona a 4-0 aggregate victory over the King's Cup winners.

It's also fair to say that Ronaldinho Gaucho's magic helped stun the visitors with an early opener.

The Brazilian talent bedazzled Espanyol defender Sergio Sanchez before sending an inch-perfect cross to Xavi who headed home the opener three minutes into the match.

And nine minutes FC Barcelona were up by two after some brilliant teamwork.

Brazilian defender Belletti raced down the right flank after connecting with a deft through pass from Xavi. The player cut back with a baseline pass to Deco who drilled home the second for Rijkaard's side.

Once again Deco connected with a Belletti cross to add Barcelona's third goal with a brilliant bicycle kick on the hour mark. It was the most spectacular moment of the encounter.

We must remember that this win gave Barcelona their second successive Super Cup title and seventh overall, matching the record of rivals Real Madrid. Good for them.

Barcelona tour in Mexico: 3-0 win over Tigres

In a very good game, Ronaldinho and Eidur Gudjohnsen both scored as FC Barcelona recorded a convincing 3-0 win over UNAM Tigres in Mexico for their second victory in the pre-season campaign.

We must keep in mind that a number of first team players have only trained for a few days, but the majority were given a run out as Barelona proved that they are as strong as ever. Coach Frank Rijkaard did use a number of youngsters as he fielded 22 players in the win. The Blaugrana's Mexican duo Rafael Márquez and Giovanni dos Santos were named in the starting line-up and were warmly applauded by the home supporters in a packed Estadio Universitario in Monterrey.

The Catalan team scored 6 minutes into the match following a free kick by Mexican Rafael Marquez, who plays for the Spanish team. Defender Marquez hit a soft ball past the Tigres' barrier into center of the crease where Balderas tried to clear the ball but kicked it into his own net.

And in a very good move, the second goal was scored with a free kick by Ronaldinho. At the 70th minute, the Brazilian sent the free kick over the Tigres' barrier and beyond the reach of the goalie into the net.

Ronaldinho Gaucho also assisted in Barcelona's 3rd goal at the minute 77. Indeed, he slipped a pass to Eidur Gujohnsen who put it past the Mexican goalie.

"This victory is positive because we won and managed to get almost all our players in the game," Frank Rijkaard expressed in the end of the game. "The Tigres had bad luck with their definition, but for us it was an interesting match and we had to work a bit."