they may have won the uefa champions league twice in three years but new signings have made "an amazing team even stronger", fc barcelona's xavi hernández tells uefa.com.
fc barcelona continued to set the standard last season when they were crowned european club champions for the fourth time after another impressive campaign. however, far from contenting themselves with a squad that has become the envy of world football, the azulgrana added to their number with the summer acquisitions of cesc fàbregas and alexis sánchez, two signings xavi hernández described respectively to uefa.com as "great" and "fantastic".
""the truth is that we have an amazing team and this year it is even stronger"," said midfielder xavi. "there are many players in the market but few that could have improved what barcelona already have. cesc and alexis have improved the team, and so they have been welcomed; they will adapt easily because of their character, fitness, and the great team-mates around them. i am sure they will be playing very soon and they will adapt perfectly and show the class that they have shown in their teams."
fàbregas came through barcelona's famous la masia academy before moving to arsenal fc in 2003, and knows many of his new colleagues from his 60 games for spain. meanwhile, xavi feels the style that earned alexis legions of admirers for his performances at udinese calcio last term will help him fit in well at camp nou – once he has recovered from a hamstring injury sustained on saturday.
"cesc has no problems because he knows us from the national side. he grew up at the club, he enjoys the technical and tactical side of the game and is adapting very easily to barcelona's style. alexis will mix it up well too because of his deep style of play. he is skilful, can go one-on-one and will be a fantastic player for us."
with such quality in the side, competition for places is sure to intensify at camp nou, but as he embarks on his 13th full season with the european champions, xavi – who turns 32 in january – does not consider the arrival of either player as a threat to his place.
"i had a rough time when people were saying that i was [josep] guardiola's successor and i did not enjoy my first years, it was hard for me to adapt," recalled playmaker xavi. "cesc needs to be cesc – he is a winner and we have different characteristics. i don't want anyone to be my successor and have to go through that pressure. let him have his own personality and show what a great footballer he is. we have shown with spain – in the final of the european championship when we both played from the start – that we are different and compatible footballers."
barça's nightmare finish after milan's dream start
thiago silva's late header earned the rossoneri a share of the group h spoils after the holders had recovered from the fastest ever goal on matchday one.
ac milan secured a gutsy 2-2 draw against european champions fc barcelona thanks to goals in the first and final seconds of an absorbing match in catalonia.
pato gave the visitors a dream start when he notched the quickest matchday one goal in uefa champions league history, only for pedro rodríguez and david villa, showpiece scorers last term, to reply either side of half-time. after a lionel messi masterclass it looked as if josep guardiola's side would top group h, only for thiago silva's added-time header to restrict them to a point.
milan's opener, after 25 seconds, was a mixture of audacity, vision and power. pato swivelled in midfield and spotted that centre-backs javier mascherano and sergio busquets were holding a high line. his explosive burst between them left the pair in his wake. pato then dealt with víctor valdés, celebrated for his one-on-one saves, by calmly slotting under the advancing keeper. a marvellous way to inaugurate the new season.
it was immediately clear that massimilliano allegri had ordered pato to unleash his pace with barcelona club captain carles puyol starting on the bench. the striker continued to cause trouble until guardiola placed éric abidal on man-marking duties. with ten minutes gone, the hosts had reasserted themselves.
messi began his personal vendetta against the shock scoreline by forcing christian abbiati's first save. for the next 24 minutes it was, simply, the messi show. his follow-up was a free-kick cracked off abbiati's left-hand post and just before the half-hour the keeper needed a strong hand to block the argentinian's low shot. then again; the breakthrough was imminent.
barcelona's mercurial no10 was, inevitably, at the heart of it, leaving mark van bommel, alessandro nesta and ignazio abate standing with a searing burst of pace before squaring for pedro to tap in the equaliser. both sides made enforced changes before the break – massimo ambrosini for kevin-prince boateng and cesc fàbregas for andrés iniesta.
within five minutes of the restart barcelona underlined their champion credentials. from 30 metres villa hammered a free-kick into abbiati's top right corner to make it 2-1. the goal brought further barça possession, but no reward as milan drew on every shred of experience to stay in the match – harassing, pressing and sniffing openings. two minutes into added time clarence seedorf's corner created one and thiago emphatically pounced.
1. ac milan...1...0...1...0...2...2...0...1 2. fc barcelona...1...0...1...0...2...2...0...1 3. fc bate borisov...1...0...1...0...1...1...0...1 4. fc viktoria plzeň...1...0...1...0...1...1...0...1
geçen sene avrupa da başarıyı pek düşünmeyen milan lig şampiyonluğuna göz dikmişti interten şampiyonluğu uzun zaman sonra almıştı... bu sene avrupa kupasına göz koydular galiba takım olarak da çok çok iyiler madrid barca üst turda ki elemeler de karşılarına çıkmazsa final oynayacaklarının sinyalini verdiler.... eski günlere dönüş gerçekleşiyor galiba...
