Barcelona v Athletic Bilbao - Preview

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique says he is fully behind his players' decision not to attend the inaugural Best FIFA Football Awards in Zurich in order to focus on Wednesday's Copa del Rey clash with Athletic Bilbao.

Several members of the Barca squad were expected to be at the FIFA ceremony in Switzerland on Monday night, including Lionel Messi who was in the three-man shortlist for the top men's award.

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo claimed that accolade ahead of Messi and Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann.

However, Barca had issued a statement on Monday morning saying the players nominated would be instead focusing on preparations for the cup last-16 second leg against Athletic at the Nou Camp - where Barca will try to overturn a 2-1 deficit - with the Spanish giants represented by officials led by president Josep Maria Bartomeu in Zurich.

Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta and Luis Suarez were all named in the FIFPro World XI along with Messi.

Manager Enrique, however, offered his full support to his players, telling a press conference: ``In principle, the idea to go or not is individual. As their coach, I can only back their decision. There is a sporting situation that is more important.

``There are certain commitments the players must take into account. I back their decision 100 per cent.''

Enrique expects an improved performance at the Nou Camp, when his side will be out to secure a first win in three matches.

``We have to be very effective, very precise, and improve our percentage of getting out with the ball and beating their pressure,'' he said.

``The scoreline from the first leg makes for a very attractive game.

``We are going into the game a goal down, but the fact that we scored in the first leg has given us the confidence we need to get through the tie.

``If we score a goal, we will be ahead on aggregate and Athletic will have to take risks.

``It will be difficult because of the way Athletic play and what this match means to them.''

Enrique is hoping home advantage can see Barcelona through, his side having now slipped to third in LaLiga after only scraping a 1-1 draw at Villarreal at the weekend with a stoppage-time effort from Messi.

``We must make the Camp Nou a decisive factor,'' he said.

``The fans' support is vital and I hope they come in huge numbers to give us the backing we need.''

Athletic striker Inaki Williams was on the scoresheet in the first leg - where the Basque side finished with nine men - and he is hoping they can finish the job off on Wednesday.

He told Radio Marca: ``At San Mames we played a great game and we hope that the work we did bears fruit. We're really keen to face them because they are one of the best teams in the world. It would be great for us to get through this tie.''

Live Update: Ath. Bilbao vs Barcelona, 11-1-2017, 9:15 PM

Ath. Bilbao vs Barcelona

Copa del Rey Round of 16, Game 2

Today, 9:15 PM

Camp Nou, Barcelona

Barcelona

vs

Ath. Bilbao

 

Ronaldo won FIFA Best Player ahead of Messi, Griezmann

Ronaldo got 34.54% of total votes, while Messi finished second with 26.42% and Greizmann was third at 7.53%

“I’d like to thank my team, national team, Real Madrid, my trainer, my family that came here, my son, my brothers,” Ronaldo said while accepting the award.

“2016 was the best year of my career, the trophy shows that people aren’t blind and watch the games.

“With everything I won with my national team and club, with great individual performance, I can’t forget this incredible year. Thanks for voting for me.

“I don’t have much more to say, I think the awards speak for themselves. I’m not going to do the scream, just the motion”, he added.

Ronaldo, who earlier won the Ballon d’Or award , scored 61 goals and registered 20 assists in 60 games for club and country during voting period.

Dont Enlarg the World Cup- Germany's football president Reinhard Grindel

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Germany’s football president is against enlarging the World Cup.

Reinhard Grindel says in an interview published on the federation’s website that FIFA proposals to enlarge the tournament from 32 teams to 40 or 48 “have considerable weaknesses that are also clearly shown in FIFA factsheets.”

Grindel says, “At the DFB, we’re fundamentally convinced that the tried and tested model of 32 participating nations should be held. The world championships were always tournaments that inspired, why should that change?”

The DFB president warns that the quality of the tournament could suffer in soccer’s core markets if more participants are added, and that conflicts could emerge between national teams and clubs “if we overburden the players.”

9 Men Atletico Bilbao Sink Almighty Barcelona In Copa del Rey

The referee was the focal point as Barcelona fell to Athletic Bilbao 2-1 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey matchup.

Goals from Aritz Aduriz and Inaki Williams downed the Catalans, while a free-kick from Lionel Messi gave Barcelona life heading into the second leg.

There were a number of key refereeing decisions that led to the result. The most scrutinized was a pretty awful no-call in the first half after a challenge by Xabier Etxeita that left Neymar in a heap in the penalty area, but instead the referee shook his head.

Later, the referee was back in the spotlight after he sent off both Raul Gardia and Ander Iturraspe of Athletic in the second half for questionable second yellow cards. Despite the two-man advantage, Barcelona was never able to level things up. There was also a heated exchange between Aduriz and Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti which saw them both receive yellow cards.

Despite all this, Barcelona only had itself to blame. The second Athletic goal, from Inaki Williams in the 27th minute, came from absolutely nothing, when Jordi Alba gave the ball away and the hosts pounced swiftly, as Aduriz delivered a back-heel to Williams who hammered the ball with blistering pace into the back of the net.

The two will play the second leg at the Camp Nou on January 11th.

Chelsea FC: Who can rival Chelsea in EPL- Opinion

LONDON — Antonio Conte wasn’t too unhappy despite Chelsea’s 13-game winning streak coming to an end at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.

The Blues tasted defeat for the first time since September as they lost 2-0 in the London derby following Dele Alli’s headers either side of half time which scuppered their chances of setting a new record for consecutive wins in the top-flight.

That result blew the title race wide-open at the halfway point of the season as Chelsea now have just a five-point lead over Liverpool and are seven points ahead of Tottenham and Manchester City with Arsenal eight points back and Manchester United 10 points behind the current leaders. It’s tight.

Speaking after their defeat at White Hart Lane, Conte revealed who he believes can win the title.

“I think the situation is very clear. There are six teams that can fight for the title or for a place in the Champions League,” Conte said. “I am sure one of these six teams will be champions.”

Before the festive period it appeared that just Liverpool or Man City would seriously challenge Chelsea for the title this season but with their winning run coming to an end, plus a few hiccups for Man City and Liverpool coupled with winning runs for Tottenham and Man United, the entire top six may now believe they can win the title.