SETTABLOID

Barcelona are presented with the ideal opportunity to patch up their wounds and start afresh in the upcoming clash with Real Madrid.

As Barça will be looking to make a statement and reduce the eight-point deficit in the La Liga points table, first-choice goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen will be tasked with stepping up to the occasion.

Ter Stegen could set record in El Clasico

The German has kept six clean sheets in a row in La Liga, with a strong possibility of breaking his previous record of going 636 minutes without conceding a goal.

Now, for Ter Stegen to hold a new unbeaten record, he must avoid conceding in the opening 53 minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Ter Stegen has given up 17 goals in 21 league games while keeping 12 clean sheets.

Since returning from injury, the German international has been in good form and has played a part in Barcelona’s improvement in defence.

Ter Stegen has gone over 580 minutes without conceding La Liga, having kept a clean sheet in Barça’s last six league games against Getafe, Athletic Club, RCD Mallorca, Atletico Madrid, Las Palmas, and Cadiz.

And if he goes without conceding for the first 53 minutes of the Clasico, the goalkeeper will break his previous record of most minutes without letting in a goal.

Although the Catalan giants conceded a whopping four goals in their most recent defeat to PSG, complications surfaced largely because of the team’s reduced personnel.

And the team’s inability to maintain any semblance of control with 10 men on the pitch led to a good display by Ter Stegen going in vain.

Barcelona hoping to turn over a new leaf

Barça’s Champions League exit may have blemished their promising form as of late, but the team has been in good shape in La Liga.

Coach Xavi Hernandez was observed rallying his troops in the training session to lift spirits and use the Clasico as a means to give a strong response.

A win would narrow the point gap in the league standings and restore Barcelona’s winning momentum in these final stages of the campaign.

If Barcelona have any hopes of sealing the three points, the onus will be on Ter Stegen to rise to the occasion and potentially bag a new unbeaten record.

Marc Guiu is one of the several Barcelona youngsters to have made a splash on the first-team scenes this season.

Just 18 years old, the striker made big waves, scoring on his La Liga and UEFA Champions League debuts against Athletic Club and Royal Antwerp, respectively.

While he has not seen many minutes in the second half of the campaign, Guiu is a player that Barcelona rate very highly.

Barcelona begin renewal talks

In fact, a fresh report from Mundo Deportivo states that Barcelona are very happy with Guiu’s development and performances.

As such, the Blaugrana have started initial discussions over a contract renewal for the 18-year-old centre-forward.

Guiu’s current contract, which he signed in 2022, runs until the summer of 2025, with the club retaining the option to extend it by two more years.

While that is an avenue that can be explored, Barcelona are of the feeling that Guiu is deserving of a new deal altogether as those previous terms could be outdated.

As such, there have been initial conversations with the striker’s entourage during which the club declared their intention to adapt his contract to his new status.

Guiu, who has emerged as a loan target for Real Sociedad for the summer, is happy at Barcelona and is not interested in listening to any other offers as his only aim is to succeed with the Catalan club.

Guiu is very grateful to Xavi for the minutes he has been given in the first-team setup and is not thinking about a change at this point.

Meanwhile, Barcelona also recognise the youngster’s immense potential and will try and secure his long-term future at the club, although there is no immediate hurry on either side to seal the deal right away.

It’s been a week in the spotlight for Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo, who was sent off against Paris Saint-Germain as they were eliminated from the Champions League. He then fuelled rumours of a rift between himself and Ilkay Gundogan, following the German’s comments about said defeat. Now Araujo is reportedly in talks to leave the club.

Those events aren’t related but Lluis Canut has told Onze that Araujo’s agents are in talks with Bayern Munich over a contract, should the German side complete a deal with Barcelona for him. They will try to agree terms with Araujo before opening talks with Barcelona. Just as worrying for the Blaugrana, albeit it was opinion not information, but Canut explained that the price tag

Araujo himself commented that contract talks are going well with Barcelona, and claims that he is happy at the club. While the second part is not in doubt, talks have been going on for months now with no concrete advances.

His contract with Barcelona is up in 2026, and they had promised to improve his salary as soon as possible. If they cannot find a new deal with Araujo though, it would make sense to sell him this summer, and still more so given the club’s financial situation. With few other valuable players that Barcelona are willing to sell, or are willing to leave Barcelona, increasingly a deal for the 24-year-old looks likely.

Barcelona’s gameplan against PSG in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal second leg came unstuck when Ronald Araujo was shown a red card right around the half-hour mark.

In order to fill the gap at the back, manager Xavi Hernandez made the huge call to take Lamine Yamal off, replacing him with Inigo Martinez.

It was not the most popular call, considering that Yamal had been a bright spot in attack for Barcelona up until that point and had even set up Raphinha’s opening goal on the night.

Lamine had a tough time digesting substitution

Now, SPORT has come forward with a report stating that Lamine Yamal had a very difficult time dealing with being substituted by Xavi in the PSG game.

The 16-year-old was pumped up for the contest which was seen during his warm-ups prior to the game and in the early parts of the match itself.

Barcelona’s loss against PSG in the Champions League has severe implications for the club, both in terms of their finances, as they will miss out on an extra €60 million in revenue, but also in terms of personnel.

Ronald Araujo’s red card, for example, has clouded his future at the club, with reports claiming that the Barcelona board are now in two minds about his future.

While the president wants him to stay, some officials want the Uruguayan gone if an offer worth more than €80 million hits the table.

It has also given rise to Barcelona fans complaining about Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde’s performances, with the latter already linked with an exit in the summer.

And now, Barcelona seem to be ready to throw another player under the bus.

Cancelo’s future in doubt

According to a report published by SPORT, Barcelona are not entirely happy with Cancelo’s performance against PSG. Some people close to President Joan Laporta want the player to leave this summer after his display in the UCL.

The Portuguese fullback was responsible for stopping Ousmane Dembele on that wing. And while he did for a while during the second-leg, he did not mark the Frenchman properly during their equaliser.

He also then gave away an unnecessary penalty for PSG’s third goal, converted by none other than Kylian Mbappe.

Even while going forward, Cancelo did not offer much, creating one chance. Moreover, he also squandered a chance in the first-leg where he should have arguably passed instead of shooting.

Difference of opinion at club

While there are people at the club who want Cancelo gone in the summer, there is also a large chunk of the board that want him to continue, especially due to his performances this season.

His willingness to wear the blaugrana colours is also a huge factor in the operation. He has already rejected approaches from Arsenal, Al-Hilal, Chelsea, and Bayern Munich, which paves the way for Barcelona and Man City to reach an agreement.

There is already progress on that front, with the Premier League leaders expecting €40 million for his services in the summer.

An insight into the plans of Barcelona star İlkay Gündoğan to seek out teammate Ronald Araújo for a much-needed discussion has on Thursday been provided.

An insight into the ongoing fallout at La Liga giants Barcelona on the back of the club’s exit from the Champions League has today been forthcoming.

Barcelona have reportedly begun talks to extend the contract of one of their promising academy graduates.

Twenty-year-old midfielder Marc Casado has increased his senior experience under Xavi this term, having made his debut for the first team in a Champions League clash with Viktoria Plzen last season.

Casado has since appeared twice more in Europe’s top competition, coming off the bench in group-stage clashes with Shakhtar Donetsk and Royal Antwerp during the current campaign.

In addition, the 2003-born lynchpin earned his first La Liga minutes off the bench in last month’s win over Atletico Madrid, before also coming on as a late substitute in the recent beating of Cadiz.

Amid his frequent training and matchday appearances with the seniors, Casado has served as captain for the Barcelona B squad in the 2023-24 season, making 21 appearances in the third tier of Spanish football.

The 20-year-old has set up one goal in that time, largely playing as a defensive midfielder but also operating as a full-back, although he has also been booked 11 times in the domestic season.

As things stand, Casado could walk out of the Camp Nou door when his deal expires at the end of the season, although Barcelona can trigger a 12-month extension to avoid losing him for nothing.

Rather than just keeping him on the books for 12 more months, journalist Fabrizio Romano reports that the club have now entered discussions with Casado’s entourage over a new long-term agreement.

The reigning Spanish champions supposedly want to tie the former Spain Under-17 international down for another three years until 2027, as they consider him to be a key part of the club’s future.

Negotiations are believed to be progressing well with the representatives of Casado, who joined Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy in 2016 and was on the bench for Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final exit to Paris Saint-Germain.

Barcelona will be in low spirits after their dreary defeat to PSG in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

The Catalans were cruising up until Ronald Araujo’s red card turned the game on its head, paving the path for PSG to get the upper hand.

Barcelona legend Luis Suarez has now come out to lend words of encouragement to his international teammate Araujo, who would understandably be taking the defeat to heart after his critical error.

Suarez uplifts Araujo with encouragement

The pair played together briefly at Barcelona, but they continue to be acquaintances with the Uruguay national team.

Offering his teammate supportive words, Suarez affirmed that football always provides a chance to take revenge, and Araujo must continue to be optimistic about the future.

“Let’s go Ronald! We know that on the field we always want to give the best and try to help our team.

Araujo opens up following his mistake

Touching upon his error, Araujo admitted the consequences of his actions hurt him, having also publicized an apology on his social media platforms.

But Araujo does not appear to be needlessly ruing his performance, as he has shown optimism ahead of the team’s next game.

After all, Barça’s season is not done yet, and they will shortly square off against Real Madrid in what could prove to be a decisive game in the context of the La Liga points table.

As such, the team will be expected to recover their morale immediately and be ready to rectify themselves.

Ronald Araujo offered a blunt response to Barcelona team-mate Ilkay Gundogan‘s comments that his red card had ‘killed the game’ against Paris Saint-Germain which saw Xavi Hernandez’s side knocked out of the Champions League.

The Catalan hosts were leading 3-2 on aggregate before scoring in the 12th minute to give them an important cushion, but momentum began to shift when the Uruguay international was sent off for fouling Bradley Barcola.

Down to 10 men, the Blaugrana were unable to stem the tide of goals from Ousmane Dembele, Vitinha and Kylian Mbappe to see them fail to win a spot in the competition’s semi-finals.

Gundogan had damning criticism for his team-mates after the final whistle as he lamented the side having ‘given the game away’ after the sending off, with the former Manchester City captain also calling them out for allowing Vitinha to claim PSG’s second.

Speculation has abounded that Gundogan’s comments have fostered a rift in the dressing room, and in remarks on Thursday, Araujo’s blunt response to his team-mate’s assessement appeared to confirm that the pair were yet to make up.

I prefer to keep to myself what I think about Gundogan’s statements,’ Araujo told press at a Barca Foundation charity event. ‘I have codes and values that must be respected’.

When questioned further as to whether his team-mate lacked those codes and values, he said: ‘I’ve already responded to that question.’

When asked if he felt responsible for receiving the red card, Araujo disagreed.

‘Responsible, responsible, no,’ he added. ‘Obviously it conditions the game because we were left with ten, (but) then there are many things about the game itself.

Gundogan had previously called out his team-mates after they were defeated in October’s Clasico by Real Madrid, having been incensed by their apparent disinterest in the loss.

At the time, he received a backlash for his comments, but in the months since, a number of team-mates are believed to be in agreement with the midfielder.

While Gundogan did not mention other players by name on Tuesday evening, it is thought that the Germany international held Robert Lewandowski at fault for allowing Vitinha to score.

‘I mean, it isn’t anything we haven’t trained to be honest. The closest man to the player, to the ball, has to step out. We were three with three and Vitinha was the fourth man.

‘Someone has to step out but no one did, or did too late, it was a good shot and the second goal. Again, it was not necessary at all but it’s too late right now.’

Gundogan’s wife Sara doubled down on his comments, sharing a post in support of her husband on Instagram which claimed that he was displaying his ‘Treble winning mentality’.

‘This man is a working hard guy and his football opinions are about improving and he is giving everything to this team,’ Sara captioned her Instagram Story.

‘His mentality is a treble mentality’.

Barcelona have scant time to lick their wounds before they are back in action in LaLiga, a fact that Araujo acknowledged on Thursday.

The side are eight points off league leaders Real Madrid, but focus will shift fully to the league with no other honours still in play.

‘We are very sorry,’ Araujo said of the defeat to the Ligue 1 serial champions. ‘Obviously, we are all sad, the children, the families. But this is football, there is always revenge.

‘We are going to try again next season. I am convinced that this generation is going to win the Champions League.

‘(This season) we have mathematical options (in the league) and we have to fight until the end. If we win on Sunday, we will cut points and fight for LaLiga, which is the tournament we have left.

‘We have a chance at revenge. Madrid is our biggest rival and we have to change our mentality. We will give everything on Sunday.’