Messi more match-ready than Eto'o

In an interview (spanish) to El Mundo Deportivo, FC Barcelona’s coach Frank Rijkaard talks about Leo Messi’s recovery and the possibility of the Argentinian playing for the first time after his injury in next Sunday’s game against Racing Santander.
Everybody knows what Leo is capable of when he’s on the ball. Watching him, one may think he’s already in top form, but if you pay attention you notice that he needs two minutes to recover after every run he makes; and that’s just in training! So I want to give a warning: Leo is ready to participate and to make the difference with his playing, but we will not take any risks with him. I’m happy about Eto’o because he is back in the team and progressively picking up pace, but from a physical point of view I think right now Leo is a bit more match-ready than him. Eto’o’s injury is different from Leo’s; you have to be more careful with a knee injury because that is a key part of an athlete’s body

If they keep on working the same way and they do not suffer any relapses, they both will probably play next Sunday; I don’t know if the entire game or just some minutes

Barca boys embarrass England and France

England and France suffered morale-sapping setbacks in their Euro 2008 build-ups when they slumped to home defeats on Wednesday.

A sublime goal from Barcelona's Andres Iniesta gave Spain a 1-0 win over Steve McClaren's England in Manchester while Iniesta's club teammate Javier Saviola was on target as Argentina beat France 1-0 in Paris.

But there were no such problems for two other Euro 2008 favourites as Germany cruised past Switzerland 3-1 while the Netherlands trounced Russia 4-1.

Substitute Iniesta settled the game at Old Trafford, England's last home game before they return to a new-look Wembley.

His 20-yard strike left debutant goalkeeper Ben Foster with no chance just after the hour mark.

"It was always going to be difficult with the players we had missing," said McClaren who was without star striker Wayne Rooney.

"When you have to make changes it is difficult to get cohesion and we struggled with that."

At the Stade de France, Saviola's delicate touch was decisive in the 15th minute to defeat the World Cup runners-up.

France pushed for an equaliser but the Argentina defence was well marshalled by captain Roberto Ayala, winning his 107th cap - beating the Argentinian record held by Diego Simeone.

France coach Raymond Domenech said the result had let him frustrated.

"We had everything: there was desire, great movement, great build-up but our last touch was missing," he said.

Argentina coach Alfio Basile was overjoyed with the result.

"It's a great satisfaction to win against France, one of the best teams in the world at the moment," said Basile.

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Ronaldinho lets the ball do the talking

Barcelona's players woke up to a downpour yesterday morning, proving that the rain in Spain does not fall only on the plain. The night before, the European champions sent out a message that, despite taking qualification for the next phase to the wire, they are alive and well in the Champions League.

Barcelona, moreover, may be about to prosper. Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi are yet to return from injury, while Ronaldinho is in such form that Eidur Gudjohnsen left the Nou Camp saying: "One of these days he will make the ball talk."

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Even by Ronaldinho's standards his was an exceptional performance, capped by a goal that had his colleagues talking animatedly about an hour after the final whistle. Seeing that Werder Bremen's players were going to jump in the wall at a free-kick, Ronaldinho struck the ball under them and Barcelona had their breakthrough in the 13th minute.

"It is fantastic how clever the guy is," Gudjohnsen said of Ronaldinho. "He seems ready for every situation and the bigger the game, the more he can handle it. He saw that they were going to jump. What he said in the dressing room afterwards was the two really big guys in the wall wouldn't jump so he put it under the smaller ones. He's a great player and I guess that makes him psychic. When you play with him and see what he does with a ball, nothing surprises me any more. One of these days, he will make the ball talk."

Giovanni van Bronckhorst was equally enthusiastic about the Brazilian: "He knew exactly what he was doing. It was all pre-meditated although I have never seen him try it before, in training or matches. He thought what the wall would do and he pulled it off. It's amazing, but that's what you get from the best player in the world."

Stabilised by their victory over Werder, or 'tranquil' as manager Frank Rijkaard put it, Barcelona can now relax and consider the next step in the defence of their title.

Gudjohnsen, however, was not about to call his new club favourites, especially as he knows how that remark would go down at his old club.

"I am sure that Chelsea anticipated us going through," Gudjohnsen said. "I don't know who are favourites at this point. We are just glad to get through and we will worry about that when we see the draw."

"Before the game, the manager just said to enjoy it. What happens, happens but he said to imagine the people who dream of playing in front of 100,000 fans and to experience a fantastic night like this. For me, playing for Barcelona has been everything I dreamed of and more. You can understand why every footballer in the world dreams of playing for Barcelona. Everything about the club, the stadium, the fans, the build-up - and the best player in the world."

One subject that went unsaid was the occasional defensive lapse and whoever draws Barcelona in the last 16 will hold onto the hope that if Diego and Miroslav Klose can work openings in the Nou Camp, so can they.