“Time will tell whether Barcelona has assembled the greatest front three ever seen in the club game. But for now, there is little question that this forward line is the most hyped in soccer. That’s what you get when you take Lionel Messi and Neymar and add Luis Suarez to the mix, as the Catalan club did over the summer. Messi, 27, is in the conversation as the greatest player ever and is a four-time Ballon d’Or winner. Suarez, also 27, was the joint-top goalscorer in Europe last season and won both the writers’ and players’ awards as the English Premier League Footballer of the Year. Neymar, still just 22, is the man on who carried Brazil’s World Cup hopes and arguably the most credible candidate to take the “Best Player in the World” crown once Messi and his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo are ready to hand it over.” WSJ

“Although he’s vowed to keep his famous chops to himself, the world will soon find out if Luis Suarez can keep bagging goals without literally leaving his mark on defenders. This weekend, the 27-year-old forward will complete his four-month ban for a third on-pitch biting offense, and could make his Barcelona debut in the battle known as ‘El Clasico’ against Real Madrid on Saturday. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t do that again,’ the gifted Uruguayan promised, soon after arriving at his new club. But will he?” CNN

“Barcelona’s signing of Luis Suarez from Liverpool was arguably the biggest deal of the summer. But, given the Uruguayan cannot play until late October, it could be Luis Enrique’s defensive reinforcements that make the difference as they look to win back the Liga title. The club’s first trophyless season in six years has sparked an overhaul with new coach Enrique bringing in fresh faces for many positions ahead of a campaign that kicks off on Saturday; Barca’s opener against Elche is on Sunday night.” Yahoo

“‘There are stadiums great by reputation and association which, when first encountered, disappoint. The Nou Camp is not among them’. So said Simon Inglis, the doyen of all things ‘stadium’. I must admit that I was, from a distance, a little underwhelmed by the Camp Nou. Then I paid a visit and I got it loud and clear. In the couple of hours I spent wandering around the stadium, the museum and the whole complex, I started to comprehend the size, the history, the symbolism and above all the fact that it is ‘Més que un club’. Back in the early fifties when the Camp Nou was first conceived, there was something of a “Stadium War” being conducted by the big clubs in Iberia.” Estadios de España

“As Barcelona’s board convened at the Nou Camp earlier this summer, flicking through CVs and debating who should replace Gerardo Martino as manager, it is highly unlikely that anybody suggested “that guy from QPR” as a possible contender. Indeed, as admirable as Harry Redknapp’s achievement of guiding the Hoops back to the Premier League was last season, it is hard to imagine any English coach swapping Shepherd’s Bush for the beaches of Sant Sebastia again.” BBC

“FourFourTwo’s Spanish football expert Tim Stannard assesses Barcelona’s big summer signing… And there you have it. A fine lesson in being very careful what you wish for. Barcelona had not signed a centre-back for five years, but the Catalan club went and ended that dry spell on Wednesday by bringing in Valencia international Jeremy Mathieu. Of course, La Liga Loca is being a tad literal with the term ‘international’. The ginger stopper has turned out twice for his country, probably back in the last century, so old is the doddery Mathieu.” FourFourTwo

“The year is 2010. The La Liga offseason. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is grappling with his late-season outburst at Barça manager Pep Guardiola — and plotting his way out of one of the most storied clubs in European Football. What follows is an exclusive excerpt from I Am Zlatan, on sale this week from Random House.” Grantland

“Playing first out of the three title contenders, Barcelona needed nothing less than a win to keep any title aspirations they have alive. After a moving tribute to Tito Vilanova, including a minutes silence, Barcelona started the game on the front foot.” Barca Blaugranes

“Wednesday’s Copa del Rey final defeat by Real Madrid, coming on the back of a Champions League exit to Atletico Madrid and a La Liga upset at Granada, marked the first time Barcelona have lost three consecutive games in more than a decade. More importantly, it left Barca’s chances of claiming a major honour this season hanging by a thread, meaning they are likely to end a campaign without serious silverware for the first time since 2008. It has been a disappointing few weeks for the Catalan club, who face a period of uncertainty and a likelihood of significant changes in the near future.” BBC

“For many years, Barcelona enjoyed a golden image around the globe. But that image has been shattered by a series of negative episodes – of which a transfer ban is just the latest. On Wednesday, Fifa announced that it had banned Barca from signing any players for the next two transfer windows. It was another significant blow to the club’s global reputation. It didn’t used to be like this. Barca’s ‘More Than A Club’ motto suggested a club morally superior to their rivals, who turned down big corporate deals to emblazon Unicef’s logo across their shirts while entertaining the world with an attacking style of play led by whiter-than-white superstar Lionel Messi and his fellow academy graduates. That perception has been shattered by a series of off-field events. It has all happened astonishingly quickly.” BBC

“At the end of Barcelona’s 1-0 defeat at Valladolid on Saturday afternoon, Víctor Valdés took refuge in the bathroom. Somewhere in the distance, along the passageway, the Serbian central defender Stefan Mitrovic was smashing his way through the door of the home dressing room in celebration. But here, in the visitors’ bathroom, all was quiet. Valdés positioned his camera and filmed a video résumé of the game, a kind of selfie press conference with a wall of white tiles replacing the usual collage of sponsors. This was, he said looking at the camera, a ‘bad game.’ The video is 30 seconds long and towards the end there is a suspiciously familiar noise. It is the noise of someone flushing Barcelona’s title challenge down the pan.” Guardian

“From the ecstasy of beating Manchester City 2-0 on Tuesday night, to the agony of losing 3-1 against Real Sociedad on Saturday, FC Barcelona has had a roller coaster of a week. In this article, Xoel Càrdenas gives you his take on the loss, Tata’s mistakes, and why this is the turning point for FC Barcelona’s season.” Barca Blaugranes

La Liga: Real Sociedad 3-1 FC Barcelona: Match Review
“A passionless Barcelona stepped on the historical inhospitable pitch at Anoeta in San Sebastian and were ran over by Real Sociedad. Gerardo Martino’s rotation policy backfired in Basque Country as goals from Alex Song (o.g.), Antoine Griezmann and David Zurutuza were more then enough to see of Barcelona whose only reply came from Lionel Messi.” Barca Blaugranes