#barcelona-fc

#barcelona-fc

Barcelona's already complicated search for defensive reinforcements in January appears to have suffered another setback, with a report from SPORT pointing towards what is effectively the end of the road in their pursuit of Nathan Ake. Ake had emerged as a serious option for Barcelona as they explored short-term solutions to reinforce the back line. The Dutch international is open to leaving Manchester City, and the idea of playing for Barça was particularly appealing to him.

Work at Spotify Camp Nou continues to move forward at pace, with Barcelona determined not to lose momentum even during the Christmas period. In fact, according to a report from SPORT, construction has not slowed down, which largely explains the club's urgency to increase stadium capacity as soon as possible and boost matchday revenue. Barcelona's objective to bring fans back in larger numbers at the earliest opportunity and the next major step could arrive very soon.

Pau Cubarsi's ascent to prominence and integration as a regular in Barcelona's plans has gone somewhat under the radar because of Lamine Yamal's concurrent meteoric rise to superstardom. Despite being barely months older than his teammate, Cubarsi has not quite seen the same level of fame as Yamal has, and a lot has to do with the position he plays in. Yet, it is quite widely accepted and understood that the teenager is now the pillar of Barcelona's defence and his numbers only prove the same.

He's an Atlético player. We won't talk about players from other teams, because when we do, some people get upset. We have to talk about our own.

Marcus Rashford scored his first two competitive goals for Barcelona as Hansi Flick's team opened their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win at Newcastle United. The Blaugrana were without teenage sensation Lamine Yamal for their trip to St James' Park, but Manchester United loanee Rashford made his mark after being selected to start alongside Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha. After Newcastle missed a pair of great first-half chances, Rashford planted a header into the bottom-left corner just before the hour mark,