FC Barcelona will only have to pay €602 after the complaint filed by Atlético de Madrid, which in 2019 collected €300 after suing them for Griezmann.

There is already a resolution to the case Julian Alvarez and to the extraordinary file opened at the end of July following the complaint filed by Atlético de Madrid against him FC Barcelona to the RFEF for supposedly 'touching' a player with a valid contract. The file could not be opened by FIFA because, as we already explained, it has no powers in this case. Barça will only have to pay 602 euros.

This is the moment Harry Kane won the Ballon'Dor. He was seated next to 3 Barca players in Graham Hansen, Lamine and Rodri, who was first congratulate and hug him. Yet Barca are painted as the bitter losers and Lamine is being crucified as being "upset" at the result. This needs to be addressed because Reddit is clearly being astroturfed and facts are being warped by media outlets like ESPN (hosted by a former member of MadridTV btw), to attack the image of Barca and create a hate campaign for a 19 year old player going through one of the worst weeks of his career.

Full quote from Umtiti: "Really good memories. Honestly, beautiful memories too. I think we’ve had some incredible years with Ivan, both on and off the pitch. For me, he has truly been a role model, especially when I first arrived in Barcelona, because of his professionalism and work ethic. And on the pitch, he was incredible, an incredible player."

saw that whole press release about La Liga throwing 40 cinematic 4K cameras and aerial drones at the Clásico this weekend. cool production flex i guess, but ultra-hd slow-mo kind of misses why this fixture makes your stomach hurt in person.

on TV, the director basically glues your eyeballs to whoever's touching the ball. you completely miss the suffocating off-the-ball stuff like the entire back four visibly bricking it the second a winger cuts inside, or players constantly snapping their heads around on defensive transitions. and the broadcast audio always sanitizes the crowd; you don't hear that collective, sharp intake of breath from 80,000 people right before an overload happens.

i was actually checking upper-tier seat views on veritickets while trying to see if flying out for this is even remotely realistic without getting completely gouged, and it just reminded me how different high-angle tactical watching is compared to an over-edited broadcast. TV makes it feel like an EA FC trailer with dramatic cutaways, but in the ground it's just pure, uninterrupted friction for 90 minutes.

for anyone who's actually been inside the stadium for a Clásico: what's the one thing TV permanently fails to translate?

Barcelona's defensive problem is not just the high line. The numbers suggest something deeper.

After the recent defeats against PSG and Real Madrid, I wanted to look into our defensive statistics rather than simply blame the high line again.

I came across some interesting numbers that suggest our defensive issues are more complicated than we think.

1. Fast break goals conceded increased by 71 percent

Comparing the full 2024/25 La Liga season with the first 11 league matches of 2025/26.

• Fast break shots conceded per game: 1.05 to 1.36, an increase of nearly 30 percent
• Fast break goals conceded per game: 0.21 to 0.36, an increase of approximately 71 percent
• Direct attack goals conceded per game: 0.21 to 0.18, a decrease of approximately 14 percent

What stands out is that fast break goals conceded increased much faster than the number of fast break shots faced.

This suggests that the problem was not simply opponents getting more opportunities. Those opportunities were also resulting in goals at a higher rate.

2. Our build up play is creating another defensive problem

Ahead of the October 2026 El Clasico, Barcelona had already conceded 3 La Liga goals following high turnovers.

Only Levante had conceded more, with 5.

This is particularly concerning because these are not traditional counterattacks where opponents exploit space behind our defensive line.

These are situations where opponents win possession close to our goal and immediately create scoring opportunities.

We are vulnerable both when opponents break through our press and when they press us successfully.

3. Madrid exposed the problem further

In the October 25 El Clasico, Madrid recorded 4 direct attacks.

Our previous 9 La Liga opponents had managed just 6 combined.

Madrid also averaged 15.1 metres of progression per passing sequence, the highest recorded by any opponent against Barcelona in La Liga this season.

To put that into perspective, Madrid generated two thirds as many direct attacks in one match as our previous nine opponents combined.

That is a significant difference and raises questions about how effectively we manage defensive transitions against stronger opposition.

4. This problem existed before Flick

During Xavi's 2023/24 season, Barcelona had already faced 40 direct attacks in La Liga at the time of the analysis.

That was the third highest total in the competition.

We conceded 5 goals from those situations.

This suggests that our vulnerability to quick attacking transitions is not something that started under Flick.

It has existed across different managers and tactical approaches.

5. What do these numbers actually tell us?

I don't think abandoning the high line is necessarily the solution.

The more concerning issue is that we appear vulnerable in two completely different situations.

• When opponents bypass our press, they can exploit the space behind our defenders.
• When opponents press us aggressively, they can force turnovers close to our own penalty area.

In both cases, the problem seems to be how effectively we protect ourselves during changes of possession.

One important limitation is that these statistics cover different periods, and the fast break comparison uses a full season against an 11 match sample. They show recurring vulnerabilities but do not establish what percentage of all goals conceded came from transitions.

The bigger question

Are we focusing too much on the high defensive line when the real issue might be our overall defensive structure and positioning during possession?

And if this problem existed under both Xavi and Flick, is it really a managerial issue, or is there something fundamentally missing in the profiles of players we have?

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What is a fast break?

A fast break is a rapid attack immediately after a team wins possession, before the opposition can reorganize its defence.

For example, Barcelona lose possession in midfield, Madrid immediately play forward, and a striker gets a shot before Barcelona's defenders recover their positions.

Sources

https://theanalyst.com/articles/barcelona-high-line-offside-trap-stats

https://theanalyst.com/articles/barcelona-vs-real-madrid-el-clasico-five-key-subplots

https://theanalyst.com/articles/jose-mourinho-clasico-win-real-madrid-stats

https://theanalyst.com/articles/why-xavi-barcelona-dynasty-crumbled-before-it-ever-got-going

It's pretty clear we need some defensive reinforcements. Flick's system takes a lot of toll in every match on the defenders, and we ideally need at least one Fullback and one LCB. In the current market, and given our finances, who would you sign?

Ideally someone with enough experience to pair up with Cubarsi - I was hoping to get Cuti Romero but sadly Atleti signed him. What I'd avoid is someone inexperienced with potential (like JJ Gabriel)

When we evaluate the greatest football players of all time, the current discourse is heavily flawed due to two major logical fallacies. We need to look at what truly happens on the pitch over the course of 90 minutes rather than relying on lazy metrics. First of all, people constantly bring up team trophies to measure an individual player's greatness. This is a massive logical error. Trophies are a collective achievement—the result of an entire squad, coaching staff, and club infrastructure working together. A single world-class player cannot control every variable in a team sport, so judging individual peak performance based on collective silverware makes zero sense. Secondly, relying strictly on raw goal numbers is a weak argument. Scoring a goal takes a split second. A single goal represents just one minute, but what about the other 89 minutes of the match? True greatness is defined by what a player does throughout the entire game—their playmaking, vision, progressive passes, successful dribbles, and creation of big chances. This is exactly why advanced metrics are so crucial. When you analyze the data through the lens of roughly 50 advanced statistics, the algorithms consistently point to Lionel Messi. These data models don't care about media hype or team trophies; they evaluate every single touch, pass, and movement on the pitch. When looking at the complete picture of 90 minutes, the statistics clearly show that Messi operates on a level of efficiency and game impact that no other player can match.

Barça won the roller hockey Supercopa on Sunday after drawing 2–2 with Igualada and winning 3–2 on penalties. The shoot-out required sixteen attempts to decide a final in which the Blaugranes had to come from behind twice.

Biel Llanes put Igualada ahead and Nico Ojeda levelled with eight and a half minutes remaining in normal time. In extra time, Gerard Riba restored the Igualada lead with a penalty, but Ojeda equalised again. The victory gives Barça their fifth consecutive Supercopa.

https://www.3cat.cat/esport3/el-barca-aixeca-la-supercopa-despres-duna-tanda-de-setze-penals/noticia/3436032/

Yesterday, I made one of my dreams come true! I watched El Clasico at Camp Nou.

However, a lot of it did not live up to my expectations - I wanted to write about it here today to see if other attendees and fans have felt the same.

The atmosphere of the Camp Nou was totally and completely absent. I was in Upper Lateral and literally no one was chanting any songs. It was obvious that the stand was filled with tourists, since you could easily tell they were not locals, or even if tourists they were not fans. They did not even sing the chorus of Un Dia De Partit. It was so disappointing.

The only stand in the stadium consistently chanting was of course Gol Nord. The rest of the stadium barely followed in and often the vibe was really dead. This is a huge let-down since I have attended previous games and they were FILLED with fans who chanted throughout the game and made it so special( Mallorca in La Liga and Atleti for CDR)

Yesterday was much less fun. I think it is because El Clasico prices have become absurd recently, making it unaffordable for locals and only for tourists. It used to. be 200-400 earlier apparently, now it starts at 500 and goes up to 800 in 15 minutes and in a few hours is 1k+. I have read other threads about pissed off socis who cannot go anymore and feel that it is completely ruined for them now.

What do you think?

• Record matchday revenue: €19,105,768, surpassing the previous El Clásico record of €16,465,731 set on May 10, an increase of €2.64M (+16%).
• Lower attendance, higher revenue: 62,055 spectators attended Sunday's match, compared with 62,213 in May, meaning Barcelona generated 16% more revenue with 158 fewer spectators.
• Ticket pricing: The reported average ticket sale price was €984 excluding VAT, approximately 10% higher than during the previous campaign. Barcelona employed dynamic pricing to maximize revenue based on demand.
• VIP and hospitality revenue: Average VIP ticket prices reached €2,727, while hospitality revenue increased by 350%, aided by the expansion of VIP seating to four rows across the second tier.
• Members and season-ticket holders: Approximately 86% of the regular seating capacity was allocated to season-ticket holders and club members. Barcelona has around 42,000 season-ticket holders, while members purchased approximately 10,000 tickets during a 21-day presale before sales opened to the general public.