“Following on from Rafinha Alcantara’s goalscoring performance in the Uefa Super Cup final, the 22- year-old will be hoping for and expecting more opportunities in the Barcelona starting 11 this coming season. The final was a feather in the cap of Rafinha as he started such a high profile, important game in a position that is usually taken up by the great Neymar. However, due to the extraordinary condition of mumps that the member of last season’s record breaking forward trio was diagnosed with, Rafinha was somewhat surprisingly called upon to take his place as a left sided attacker alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.” Outside of the Boot

“When you think of Barcelona’s successes from 2008 onwards the three players who immediately come to mind are Lionel Messi, Andreas Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez. There’s another player though who is rarely spoken about that should receive equal praise in relation to how Barcelona perform. His name is Sergio Busquets.” backpagefootball

“It’s election season at FC Barcelona. On July 18, tens of thousands of Barça fans will hit the ballot box to choose their fearless leader. Will it be the quiet incumbent or the charismatic challenger? Because let’s face it, no one else has a chance. Barcelona is one of the handful of clubs (along with Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, and Osasuna) in which the fans vote for the president. But not just any Barcelona fan can vote. You have to be a paying socio, or member.” Fusion

“Xavi Hernandez lifted the domestic league trophy in front of the adoring Camp Nou on Saturday in what was an emotional farewell to the most influential midfielder in the Catalans’ history. Although Cules are obviously delighted to be celebrating their 23rd Liga title, their team has been forced to overcome plenty of adversity to reach their objective. Here are five reasons Barcelona won La Liga.” ESPN

“Radical. Fanatic. Ideologue. These are terms that aren’t often attributed to professional athletes, but they are the first ones that come to mind when looking to describe Xavi Hernández, the greatest Spanish player of all time and arguably the greatest midfielder to ever play the game. When Xavi speaks in public, he defends an idea with the unwavering conviction of a cult leader, eschewing the platitudes and clichés that are commonplace in professional sports interviews.” Fusion

“History warns us to be skeptical of foreign ownership in Spanish soccer. One minute we’re being told Racing Santander ‘could compete with Real Madrid and Barcelona,’ and then the man that told us that, Ashan Ali Syed, disappears off the face of the earth, wanted by Interpol. Racing is now in the second division. Malaga’s tale isn’t as dramatic, but neither did it have the happy ending Sheikh Abdulla Al-Thani had promised us. Once in the Champions League, he decided to asset strip the squad, flogging the likes of Santi Cazorla and eventually Isco, and instead let the team rebuild itself through youth. At least it’s still in the top flight.” Fusion

“At 90 minutes, when the pitch invasion started, Córdoba were staying in the Segunda Division for another year as they trailed Las Palmas 1-0 in the play-off that would send the winner to the top flight for the 2014/15 season. At 99 minutes, when order had been restored, Córdoba were heading to the big league as Uli Davila tapped in an away goal that made history; for the first time in 42 years the club from Andalusia would be among football’s elite.” backpagefootball

“You can imagine Barcelona’s directors cackling like Vincent Price at the end of Thriller as they signed off on the $309 million release clause in Lionel Messi’s contract last May. ‘No one will be able to afford that,’ they probably laughed, lighting cigars. ‘Messi will be ours… FOREVER!’ That was before the English Premier League signed a new TV deal worth precisely 1.5 gazillion pounds, though. (That converts to approximately 3.8 bazillion dollars.) Hence, with Financial Fair Play looking about as toothless as a three-month old baby, the idea of a club meeting that release clause and Messi moving on from Barcelona does not sound quite as crazy as it did a couple of months ago.” Soccer Gods

“It’s been a mad few weeks for F.C. Barcelona, turbulent and stressful in the extreme. Let’s break it down, shall we? It seems every season since Pep Guardiola left, rumors pop up suggesting Messi is fed up with the club and the board and is demanding a transfer. Obviously, these rumors have been false up until this point, and there’re several reasons why the greatest player to ever grace a football pitch will not leave the club for many years.” Soccer Pro

Roadside graffiti in Rio de Janeiro depicts a disappointed Lionel Messi, one with his head in his hands.
“Time was slipping away, yet Lionel Messi still had plenty. Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger, who committed the 120th-minute foul that offered Messi the opportunity for one last look at goal, was receiving treatment a few feet away. The Argentine maestro took advantage of the pause. He stood quietly for a moment then bent over and pressed his fingertips into the ball, testing the air pressure. Messi was calm and deliberate, as if he hoped the measured pace of his movement would help clear his mind and calm any nerves. He was about 25 yards away and to the left of Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Argentina trailed, 1-0, in the dying seconds of the World Cup final at the Estádio do Maracanã and its fading hopes for a third title rested where they always had – at Messi’s feet.” SI