UEFA.com Team of the Year 2011

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid & Spain)

Right-back: Daniel Alves (Barcelona)

Centre-back: Gerard Pique (Barcelona & Spain)

Centre-back: Thiago Silva (AC Milan)

Left-back: Marcelo (Real Madrid)

Right midfield: Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich & Nertherlands)

Centre midfield: Xavi Hernández (Barcelona & Spain)

Attacking midfield: Andres Iniesta(Barcelona & Spain)

Left midfield: Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur & Wales)

Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Forward: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid CF & Portugal).

Coach: Josep Guardiola (Barcelona)

Fábregas Finally Moves To Barcelona

Fábregas' smile says it all! How much do Arsenal get you ask? Well €14.5m (£12.7m) up-front, followed €14.5m to be given to them in October. Arsenal will then receive €5m each year of the five years of Fábregas's Barça contract, plus €6m based on appearances, goals and honours.

Barcelona v Man Utd Like French Kissing A Tramp?

An influx of thousands of articles encompassing the two footballing Mammoths Man Utd and Barcelona who spar in the Champions League final set in Wembley have appeared in every corner of the media. Of course the 'How Man Utd can beat Barcelona?' question has comically populated every newspaper and football related ink station. There are precise 'to do' lists, such as mark Messi out of the game, assign Rooney to hassle the vaudeville villain Busquets. These 'paid' journalists should be sent to concentration camps for such infantile analysis that barely penetrates the intellect of a toddler. A prime culprit of this is ex manager, player and now commentator, David Pleat who wrote the subheading " Stay disciplined and keep 11 men on the pitch" as one of his 5 points to beat Barcelona, what next "Score More Goals Than Barcelona" says top football analyst? I'm sure Sir Alex Ferguson is running into the dressing room after reading that article, proclaiming, 'there is one vital thing I forgot in our last few weeks of preparation, thank god for football punditry, don't get sent off!'

Kudos to Guardian writer Barney Ronay who wrote the line "Dipping your mouth to its innards is a two-stage experience. At first contact it felt a bit like French-kissing a tramp" as he offered a parallel between fast-food burgers and Barcelona. "So, that's that then. Applewood smoked bacon, cheese, crispy onion rings: pass-pass-pass-goal. Of course, the only real – but crucial – shared attribute between the Steakhouse Angus and the Guardiola Barça is this sense of being crushed by elite engineering. A Barcelona Steakhouse would be constructed from uniformly excellent things: truffle ham, fresh Catalan spring onions and lodged between annihilatingly fine fair trade artisan bread. But perfection is no longer the challenge for the Barcelona Steakhouse. The challenge is simpler. It is more a question of finding something to get your teeth into, as a routinely Barça-steamrollered neutral. If you don't happen to already, can you really love this elegantly relentless Barcelona?" He then went onto to refer to what it must feel like to play against Barcelona "It must feel a bit like playing chess against a Terminator. You cannot rest. Barcelona can rest: they rest while they have the ball. But you: never. This is a team with players of genius, but the real power is in its all-subsuming design, the tidal surge of its parts."

Will Ferrell, a Chelsea fan will be watching the match in a telephone booth on his iphone. The assumptions of all the media who are treating the whole affair like a pre-programmed chess game, that can be won before a ball has kicked off, will be crushed if Messi decides to score a freekick which will result in the next English opponent of Barcelona having the hoards of journalists adding their expert observation of 'Do Not Give Away Freekicks To Barcelona' sold as 'expert' advice. One hopes this final will be scintillating, lets face it finals are usually drab and boring, with two teams who don't want to lose, finals are thus a cagey affair. Hopefully the technical ability and wizard school of skills of Barcelona and the 1500 years of knowledge and supernatural powers that Alex Ferguson possesses will make this final as memorable as the 2005 thriller which read more like a Hollywood script than a football match where the underdogs triumph against all the odds, this time around though there are no underdogs.

A Short FIlm: The Roots of Barcelona's Success

Turkish airlines who signed a sponsorship deal with Barcelona for 3 years helped create this short film and first showed it on their airplanes. Thankfully it is now available to us, the film which focuses on Mr. Rexach, Johan Cruyff, Pep Guardiola, La Masia and the F.C. Barcelona players that fused tick-tack and total football to create the current poetic football of a team arguably the greatest of all time.

Lionel Messi Singing In His Band

Lionel Messi the best football player in the world was seen in concert after his team comfortably progressed to the semi final of the Champion's League, where they will meet a long time nemesis in Real Madrid for a breathtaking four clashes of the El Clásico in the span of 18 Days. Lionel Messi's English is not the most polished, so he sang 16 days rather than 18 days as his latest song was inspired by the battle to come. The country twang to the song comes as a surprise as he revealed in an interview that his favourite music genres are Samba and Cumbi.

During the Copa America, he shared a room with Carlos Tevez. It was later claimed that "the music was louder than at a disco". Tevez has a band called Piola Vago, where he has some mean dance floor moves,a Tevez and Messi collaboration is planned for the future.

Justin Bieber Stops 'Messi' Spanish Brawl.

It has been an eventful week for Justin Bieber, not only did he prevent a fight from getting ugly at his concert in Barcelona with a persistent 'stop stop stop...' the very same week he was seen training with Messi and the best football team in the planet, Barcelona.

Shakira Banned From Madrid For Making Love To Barcelona Player

Before the men in white, an elite football troupe roam onto the pitch, with their multi millionaire sun tans, hair styles and pouted lips fronted by Christiano Ronaldo, all 94 million euro of him! Shakira's music usually can be heard echoing around the home of Madrid pride, The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.

This is about to about to change due to her new romance with Barcelona defender Gerard Pique whom on twitter she called "my sunshine" much to the chagrin of Madrid fans. Her song Waka-Waka was the official World Cup 2010 song which of course Spain won and Madrid play over and over at the beginning and at half time of matches to celebrate that historic national win, so here is the song, don't forget to cover your ears with your hands if you are a Madrid fan,as the love making of Shakira and Catalonian Pique is matted through the notes.

Neymar the Yellow Nemo!

So why out of the hundreds of Brazilians every year that are smooched in superlatives and compared to the high priest of the modern Brazilian game Ronalda, Zico and Pele by sensationalists is Neymer the real deal? Well for one he is already proven his ability on the world stage for his country in spectacular fashion. He has scored three goals out of his first three games for his country. And we expect him to keep his place for the next decade alongside Lucas and Ganso who according to the recently retired Ronaldo are 'the future of the green and gold' . Unlike most rising stars who are easily derailed by their desire of the cash cow that football's international marketing has rosied up the udders until they are bruised black by greed and the player are retired as young lambs feasted on by trainers and suits into the shadows of regret and digression. Neymar is not one of these vulnerable players, he has a strong personality, shown by his sentiments after the sacking of his manager which he was insinuated to be enzyme of:

It weighs very heavily on my conscience that Dorival has gone. For eight months he was practically my father. He cared for me, he gave me the chance to play and he gave me great joy. I liked Dorival a lot.

I was embarrassed (after the Atletico GO game). I was ashamed of coming home and seeing my mother cry, seeing my father cry - it was very tough.

[My mother] told me that I was not her son, that I was not the boy she had raised. She wanted the real Neymar back, she wanted Juninho back as I am called at home,

With his deep heartfelt reflection he is concerned with his continuing development and helping the team that has nourished him from childhood (although I am very critical of their selling 5% of his future sell on fees to an investment board, what kind of message does that send out to the fans and the player?) and not making the European money making move before he has developed and mastered fully his game in the yellow and green home heart beating shores.

Neymar is currently playing for Santos, he is a winner and will win whatever trophy comes into contention for Brazil or whatever top European club comes and impresses him with their ambition. Barcelona and Real Madrid seem to be the most likely destination besides the premature claims of the Chelsea camp of gossip mongers. He wants to win, he at the tender age of 18 has already won the 2010 Campeonato Paulista which is São Paulo's top professional football league.

With the changing times a new generation of skills come out of the green ocean. Neymar is a yellow Nemo, coming of age, his movement is much like that of the the Zambezi yellowfish whom swim in fast flowing water, and with their larger fins can manouvre in fast rapid moving water with poweful swimming motions, Neymar likewise is powerful and elegant, likes to play in big games, has no fear. Preys on defenders like the yellow fish preys on algae and insects. With the World Cup looming, to be held in Brazil in 2014. No doubt Neymer will be dueling with Messi, Fabregas and Ozil for his country's fate. Neymar is a classical Brazilian player intrinsically valuing stylish spectacle over efficiency, here is a reel of the poetry of Neymar.