Copa del Rey: Barcelona crushed Almeria and almost secured their place in the final

Guardiola's side got an impressive 5-0 win in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final against Almeria. Only a complete disaster in the next game would keep Barcelona from playing in the final game of the "Copa del Rey".

Lionel Messi was the star, once again, scoring twice. The other goals were netted by David Villa,Keita and Pedrito. Almeria had no chance against an inspired team.

The front men in Barcelona were extremely precise tonight. Messi, Pedro and Villa were a constant nightmare for Garcia, Pellerano and Macedo. Goalkeeper Esteban had nothing to do in the five goals.

J. Luis Oltra's team had an amazing campaign that reached the peak by playing in this semifinals. But it seems like it will be impossible to beat Barcelona for more than 5 goals in their second game.

Puyol: I don't like to hear doubts about Xavi's work

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol said today that he is not pleased with some speculations about Xavi Hernandez pretending to have an injury in order to avoid their game against Mallorca.

"It makes no sense. Xavi is always eager to play, to be there for the team. His stats prove it, and if he is not playing this game, is because he really has an injury" Puyol assured

The Spanish defender said that he does not read the news very often but those rumours about Xavi still reached him, and that is a bad signal.

Puyol is happy that Xavi as well as David Villa are recovering from their physical problems and are very likely to play agains the powerful Valencia. "They are both key players" he finished.

David Villa wanted by Josep Guardiola

Valencia super talented striker David Villa is the player Barcelona have lined up to replace Samuel Eto'o.

In fact, with no new contract talks planned until the summer with Eto'o, a newspaper says that the Catalan Club are drawing up plans in the event they're forced to sell the African talented player.

Villa is Barca's top choice ahead of Lyon forward Karim Benzema.

Indeed, Barcelona’s boss Pep Guardiola has agreed with sports chief Txiki Begiristain that Villa is the ideal striker to succeed Eto'o. For his part, Begiristain doesn't see Eto'o as critical to next season's plans and believes the market offers better alternatives - including Villa - should agreement over a new contract fail to be reached.