Starting this Friday, January 25 at 10.00, the petition process for tickets will open for the the Real Madrid and FC Barcelona Copa del Rey semi-final showdown at the Santiago Bernabéu (Wednesday 30, 21 h). Members can request a ticket on the Club’s website www.fcbarcelona.com, the process will remain open through 19.000 on Sunday, the 27th.

This process is exclusive to Club members. Each member can request one ticket, but up to four requests can be submitted on the same petition form. Members can find the online petition form on this webpage (see below) or on the Member section of the Club’s website.

Tickets starting at 40 euros

The amount of tickets available to FC Barcelona is 598, tickets prices are set at 40 euros. As usual, 85% of the tickets are allocated to Club members (407) and Supporters’ Clubs (102). The remaining 15% are allocated to the Club (89) for institutional, athletic, and sponsor commitments.

Draw on the 28th of January

All ticket requests will be processed after the petition period closes. In the event that there are more requests than the number of available tickets, there will be a draw on the 28th of January. The Club will inform ticket-winning members on the 28th, at which point the cost of the ticket will be charged and instructions on how to collect tickets will be given.

Members under the age of five are not eligible to request tickets for away games. In addition, one charge/credit card may be used to purchase up to eight tickets. It’s worth noting that members need to collect their tickets in person. In the event that a ticket-winning member cannot collect his/her ticket in person, said member must inform the Club of the name of the person - including DNI information - who will collect the ticket in the member’s stead.

FORM Madrid-Barça

Non-season ticket holding members will have priority for available tickets for the Spanish Cup semi-final second leg against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou, with seats on sale from 12 noon on Monday January 28th.

The Club will open the ticket buying process at www.fcbarcelona.com with all the available tickets on sale. The process will continue until all tickets are sold, with a maximum of 2 tickets for each member and a 10% discount on the first purchased. All sales will be made via www.fcbarcelona.com and there will therefore be no sales at the Club’s ticket offices.

The process will be opened to other members and the general public from Thursday January 31st at 10.00, also via www.fcbarcelona.com and again with a maximum of two tickets per person.

BUY TICKETS FCB vs REAL MADRID

1. Carles Puyol, azulgrana's life

2. The best goals of formative football of last week

3. Spirit of football

4. Andrés Iniesta's press conference

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5. Messi training with the group after Malaga match

President Sandro Rosell talked about the current events surrounding the Club during the presentation of the book ‘Being a Barça fan is ... The long history of great success.’ During the event Rosell talked about Víctor Valdés’ decision to not renew his contract - which expires next season - with the Club. “The doors are open to him. We’re here to talk if he reconsiders. We would like it if he stayed at Barça.” The president also talked about the way the fans treated Valdés on Sunday: “the Camp Nou passes judgment and gives its opinion and that’s exactly what happened. The Camp Nou wants Valdés.”

A home-grown model

These statements were made during a roundtable discussion at the presentation ceremony for the book ‘Being a Barça fan is ... The long history of great success.’ The event was attended by Carles Rexach and Ferran Adrià. The moderator of the discussion was Pilar Calvo. During the debate the president praised the Club’s current operations model, which was started 33 years ago with La Masia. “They believed in this model - a home grown model - could work.” He then said that when he and his Board of Directors came into power, that they held true to the philosophy of “if it works don’t touch it. If it doesn’t work, fix it." He added: "but we wanted to follow the model that started 33 years ago.” Carles Rexach noted: “the team’s most recent managers are people that were taught this philosophy.” Ferran Adrià admitted that what he likes the most about Barça are “the consequences. Barça’s power is incredible. It’s the best outward facing image of the country and that’s thanks to talent.”

“Tito has talent”

On the decision to name Tito Vilanova as Pep Guardiola’s successor, Rosell said, “we had an inkling [that he would do well] because we knew he played a big part in the decisions made when Guardiola was manager. He’s talented, he understands Barça, La Masia, what it means to be a Catalan ... those are difficult things to understand if you aren’t from here.” In addition, the president highlighted the values that the first team players represent and how it impacts children. “The team speaks Catalan in the dressing room and that says a lot. They are all friends. You see that in the dressing room and on the pitch.”

Rosell went on to explain that “the Club never received and offer for Messi and if one were to ever come, the player wouldn’t pay attention to it.” He added jokingly, “if the Club ever received an offer for Messi, I’m sure it wouldn’t even get past our mail filter.”

‘Being a Barça fan is ...’

‘Being a Barça fan is ... The long history of great success’  is a book written by Juanjo González and Eduard Gonzalo and it highlights the testimonies of public and Club figures like Tito Vilanova, Leo Messi, Sandro Rosell, Pep Guardiola and Josep Carreras, among others.

Blaugrana gathering

The directors Jordi Mestre, Pilar Guinovart, Jordi Moix, Ramon Pont, Joan Bladé and Javier Bordas attended the ceremony, as did Antoni Rossich, Pau Vilanova, Josep Maria Fusté, Guillermo Amor, Eusebio Sacristán, Julio Alberto, the Barça presidents Josep Lluís Núñez and Enric Reyna.

Sunday’s game at the Camp Nou against Osasuna was the first FC Barcelona encounter to go live on the official Instagram channel, the main photography network in the world. The people responsible for updating the Instagram profile (www.instagram.com/fcbarcelona) were the winners of the #igersFCB competition, @itotti69 and @pol1983, the official ‘instagramers’ of the build-up and match action against the side from Pamplona. This initiative has helped the club to foster the participation and expansion of the Barça Sentiment around the world’s social networks. The first live photo of the match became one Instagram’s most popular picture just moments after it was published.

For a photo appear on the ‘Popular’ page means that it has reached no fewer than 100 million users of the world’s most popular photography site. The first live photos of an FCB match on Instagram got 100,069 ‘likes’, which is a simply staggering figure considering that this was the first ever experience of ‘instagramming’ in the stadium.

The club has more than 65,000 official followers on the site, making it the most represented football club on the site. And this was just 15 days after the launch of the official profile.

FCBfeel.com is the new FC Barcelona digital meeting point, where members and fans will find a space to share information and interests about any part of the club. Structured into channels (each player and sport has its own), Barça fans can sign up for the channels they like and follow the players they choose.
These will keep supporters up to date with their chosen players, where they can create their own image and video galleries or follow what their favourite stars are saying in real time via the main social networks.
Users of FCBfeel.com will receive all the information they need in a totally personalised way.
FCBfeel.com is the new meeting point for fans, wherever they come from. The network can be used to share news stories with friends, to save the best photos and videos, to send private messages, to comment on news items and statements by the players, and many other features.

And ‘Wow’ it!

One of the great elements of FBCfeel.com is called ‘Wow’, the Barça social network’s own form of the ‘Like’ button. Players can use this tool to highlight their favourite comments, news, videos or pictures on the network.

FCBfeel.com is not just about football. Fans can also follow news about other sports sections at the club, with the advantage that all the information is there at your fingertips without having to go to a different site.

FCBfeel.com is also the place for fans to share their ‘Barça moments’, by for example uploading photos of celebrations of any of the clubs’ many sports titles. It’s the ideal place for fans from different places in the world to share their national and international experiences following their favourite team.

Multi language network

The official Barça network will be launched only in Catalan, Spanish and English, but new languages are soon to be added. The aim is for FCBfeel.com to become an international social network, open to any fans anywhere in the world, and in harmony with the globalisation of the famous Barça sentiment. FCBfeel.com és una iniciativa de l'empresa Tobefan Social Network SL en col·laboració amb el Futbol Club Barcelona.

FCB FEEL

The Director Responsible for the Medical Area of FC Barcelona, Jordi Monés today presented the ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ programme at the European Commission in Brussels. Mr Monés highlighted the early successes of the joint anti-tobacco initiative with the European Commission to the convened audience during the 4th annual EU Health Prize for Journalists. Since launching in December, 2012 Quit Smoking With Barça has enjoyed unprecedented success already achieving nearly 36,000 registrations to the programme’s free online quit smoking tool, the FCB iCoach www.quitsmokingwithbarca.eu.

The EU Health Prize for Journalists is established to stimulate high-quality journalism raising awareness of issues related to healthcare and patients' rights. This valuable event celebrates the journalist as a critical vehicle for health messages and is a prestigious forum in which to recognise FC Barcelona’s recent campaign.

‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ is the product of a unique partnership between FC Barcelona and the European Commission, formed for the purpose of helping Europe’s 28 million smokers within the 25-34 year old age group to quit smoking and kick the habit for good. ‘Quit Smoking With Barça’ harnesses the power of the European Commission’s award-winning “Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable” campaign, and Barça’s pioneering ‘Sense Fum’, to address millions of fans of Barça, of football and of sport in general with the encouragement and support to become unstoppable ex-smokers for life.

Tickets for the Cup semi-final return leg in the Camp Nou went on sale to members and the general public alike on Thursday 31st. The match will take place in the Camp Nou on 27th February (day and time to be confirmed).

The Club has put all tickets on sale via www.fcbarcelona.cat. Precise availability will depend on the numbers of tickets that are released by season ticket holders via the ‘Seient Lliure’ system.

Individual purchases are limited to a maximum of 2 tickets and members will receive a 10% discount on the first ticket (offer open to members only). Please bear in mind that tickets may only be purchased from the website www.fcbarcelona.cat and will not be available from the ticket offices.

Also, please remember that, as from Monday 28thJanuary, members who do not have a season ticket for the Camp Nou will be given priority in purchasing any available tickets for the Cup Clásico.

TICKETS FCB-R.MADRID

Dani Alves will become the fourth Barça player to take part in the #CampNouLive project – the Club’s latest project aimed at getting close to their fans all over the world. This time around, we will be using Google+ Hangout - a live, simultaneous videoconference which will give the fans the chance to ask the Brazilian full back questions.

Any fan who wants to ask a question has until 17.00(local time) next Tuesday, February 5th to leave their question on any of the Club’s social networks - Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Tencent) by using the hashtag #CampNouLive. On Thursday February 7th, the Hangout will be shown live on the Club website www.fcbarcelona.com for about 30 minutes, with the best questions selected from the fans’ suggestions.

Established project

The #CampNouLive project has become established as a great way to strengthen the participation of Barça fans. Last October, the Club launched the project, also with a Hangout, when Gerard Piqué answered the fans’ questions in a video conference that was held in three languages and became the most seen event of its type ever held by a sports organisation. The next two #CampNouLive events involved appearances from Xavi Hernàndez and Javier Mascherano, as the project really took off.

60 million registered fans

The Club uses the social networks to keep in contact with its more than 60 million registered fans around the world and continues to be a 2.0 benchmark, both in terms of volume and use. In addition to Facebook (39,7M), Twitter (14,5M), Google+ (3,1M) and Tencent (1,8M), the Club has recently joined in the Instagram network and after just 15 days has already become the most popular football club on the site.

The academy teams’ best goals and the Ballon D’Or ceremony which saw Leo Messi receive his fourth award as the World Number One were the most popular videos in January on the Club’s YouTube channel.

1 - The academy teams’ best goals

2 - The academy teams’ best five goals (10 January)

3 - Messi wins his fourth Ballon D’Or

4 – Zurich award winners return to Barcelona

5 - The academy teams’ best 10 goals (23 January 2013)

1.Historical goals in Cup Clasicos

2. FC Barcelona - Xavi signs through 2016

3. Barça Legends: Bakero

4. Eternal Xavi Hernández

5. Top-5 formative goals of the week

FC Barcelona President Sandro Rosell and the Club’s Director of Football Raül Sanllehí participated this Tuesday afternoon in the General Assembly of the European Club Association (ECA), which was held in Doha, Qatar. The General Assembly is scheduled to convene through Wednesday.

The 160 European clubs represented at the assembly will discuss, among other things, a potential change to the ECA statutes, ownership of players by third party entities (investment groups), and Financial Fair Play. The relationship between FIFA and UEFA was also discussed in addition to the structure of UEFA tournaments from 2015 through 2018.

Before the general assembly convened, Rosell chaired a meeting with a marketing firm. The Blaugrana president, who is also the vice-president of the ECA, and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (president of the ECA) then visited the Qatar 2022 Legacy Pavilion, where the Qatar World Cup project is on display. The Asian country will host the World Cup in nine years.

More meetings on the agenda

On Wednesday President Rosell will attend a meeting with the ECA and the 65 non-European clubs invited to the general assembly, like Boca Juniors (Argentina), Santos (Brazil), DC United (U.S.A), and Kashima Antlers (Japan).

At the conclusion of the meeting, President Rosell will attend the match between Uruguay and Spain. Nine FC Barcelona players have been named to the Spanish national team.

Estrella Damm, one of FC Barcelona’s premium partners, is expanding internationally. The company currently sells its beer in 47 countries. Estrella Damm is closely tied to the Mediterranean living and culture, which defines the company and makes it different from other breweries.

To help in the company’s international expansion and help preserve the brand’s Meditereanan identity, Estrella Damm featured Cesc Fàbregas in its most recent television spot alongside the world-renowned Japanese chef, Hideki Matsuhisa.

To celebrate Chinese New Year, FC Barcelona has launched a new episode of Barça Toons with a very special character. He’s a Chinese boy called Xiao Sao, who celebrates the biggest event of the year in China with the Barça players.

Xiao Sa represents a 12-year-old boy from Beijing with a love for football, and especially for Barça. He goes to La Masia in Barcelona with the dream of playing for Barça and spends New Year outside of his country. In the cartoon, the Barça players celebrate the event with him. Xiao Sa and his new friends decorate the house with traditionally red decorations and enjoy some typical Chinese dishes.

This special episode with the Toons is a special gift from FC Barcelona to its supporters in China, and is our way of celebrating the event with them.

Chinese New Year takes place next week, on February 10, the same day that Barça have a Liga fixture at home to Getafe. The game kicks off at 12.00 noon CET, which gives supporters in the Far East the rare opportunity to watch a Barça game kick off in what will be the evening in that part of the world.

In China, the game is going out live on public channel CCTV-5 and on the Tencent Sport website, so Chinese supporters will be able to celebrate New Year while enjoying FCB live on television! The club is working on a number of ideas to promote the match in China and providing especially extensive coverage on the Chinese section of the club website (www.fcbarcelona.cn) and also on the most important social networking site in the country, Tencent Weibo (t.qq.com/fcbarcelona).

The Apple Store in Passeig de Gràcia, Barcelona was the venue on Wednesday for the presentation of the very latest official FC Barcelona app, FCB Toons Town, available for Smartphones and Tablets using the Apple iOS and Google Android operating systems. FCB Toons Town is the first app to feature the Barça Toons, in which the idea is to build the perfect town in which to create a football club with the very best possible facilities.

FCB Toons Town

FCB Toons Town takes place in a city modelled on Barcelona, including high detail representations of some of its most important sights. Naturally, FCB’s own installations are there too. As the game progresses, you get to build your own Camp Nou, Miniestadi, Palau Blaugrana, the Nova Masia Oriol Tort, the Ice Rink, Museum and club store.

In this new construction game, which can be downloaded for free, the Barça Toons eventually start coming to live in your city and use the Barça facilities you have created. You have to provide the players with the best living and playing conditions in order to ensure that they play well and win matches.

The FCB Toons Town app also features a series of mini-games that help generate XP and the skills required to make your city even better.

MUF and the Barça Toons

In 2003, the MUF conceived the idea of the Barça Toons, the cartoon versions of the FC Barcelona players, who have enjoyed many adventures, campaigns and activities aimed at the club’s younger supporters. The Barça Toons videos have proven extremely popular and are attracting huge numbers of visits. The new FCB Toons Town app is aimed at consolidating the presence of then characters and hence the club itself in the digital realm of Smartphones and similar devices.

Development of NO2

This new FC Barcelona app has been developed by NO2, a company dedicated to the design of mobile apps and games. NO2 has more than three million users of its different products.

Thus, FC Barcelona is continuing to develop its presence in the mobile market. FCB Toons Town has come hot on the heels of other apps such as FCB Team Cam, FCB Fantasy Manager 2013, FCB Starscup, FCB Regal Shootout, FCB Live!, FCB World Tap and FCB Watch.

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19.00 CET - BARÇA REGAL VS REAL MADRID ACB CUP

And then at 19.00 CET we’ve got yet another Barça v Real Madrid match, this time in the quarter finals of basketball’s Copa del Rey.

17.00 CET - ALVES' GOOGLE+ HANGOUT AND MESSI RENEWAL

Early in the afternoon, Leo Messi will be extending his contract with the club until 2018 and Dani Alves will be the latest of the Barça stars to chat to the world at #CampNouLive in a Google+ Hangout (17.00 CET).

14.00 CET - Jordi Alba welcomes new Messi deal [+] MORE INFORMATION

11:00 - First team returned today from international duty [+] MORE INFORMATION

Dani Alves, FC Barcelona’s right back, sat down with FC Barcelona fans this afternoon and answered their questions through a Google+ Hangout. This is the second such interview with a FC Barcelona player, the first was Gerard Piqué. Here’s the full interview.

FC Barcelona has prepared a series of events to promote the league game against Getafe on Sunday, which coincides with the celebrations for the Chinese New Year – the Year of The Snake. Fans can watch the game via the Chinese State TV channel CCTV-5 and the web site Tencent Sports.

The Club would like to greet the Chinese fans watching the game live and the captains of both Barça and Getafe will come out onto the pitch accompanied by children wearing commemorative T-Shirts for the New Year. The Barça team will then pose for a commemorative photo with a banner celebrating the New Year.
The game will be shown at 19.00 local time in China on what is a very special day for families to get together and celebrate the New Year.

As well as the events mentioned above to be held at the Camp No, the Club has prepared a series of events via its Chinese website (www.fcbarcelona.cn) and the social networks. The Club’s Chinese website – which has already achieved a fantastic number of visitors in its first six months – has prepared a number of special features for the game via several promotional videos.

Chinese users can enjoy the latest news, commemorative wallpapers and screen savers, photo and video galleries and a special Barça Toons episode featuring, Xiao Sa (‘Little Barça’ in Chinese).
The Club has also posted these contents on its official Tencent Weibo account (t.qq.com/FCBarcelona). Barça’s account on the leading Chinese social network is now followed by nearly 2 million fans.

February’s BARÇA MAGAZINE includes a special celebration of the fourth Ballon d’Or won by the great Leo Messi, with the player appearing outside the new Masia, close to the training fields at the Ciutat Esportiva. A terrific combination of the best player in the world and one of the most iconic places of modern FC Barcelona.

This month’s issue takes a look back at the Argentinian’s glittering career and all that he has done to deserve the honour of being the only man ever to win the Ballon d’Or four times. Vincent Machenaud of ‘France Football’, who has interviewed the player several times in recent years, examines the life of the Barça star from the first time he was nominated for the award through to his astonishing fourth consecutive win.

Head to head between Messi and Iniesta

Never before has the same club produced different winners of the awards for best player in the world and Europe in the same year, even less so two players that were brought up in the same system. BARÇA MAGAZINE brings together Leo Messi and Andrés Iniesta for an unprecedented meeting. The interview shows elements of the personal sides of these two men who have captivated the world not only with their football, but also with their humility. Chatting casually, the players talk about the Barça style and the pride they share for having enjoyed such a marvellous education. They both agree that the Barça philosophy will endure much longer than any individual player.

But they are not the only Barça players to feature in this issue. Busquets, Pedro, Thiago and Bartra all became models for a day to present the new Nike range of casual clothing. It’s a vintage collection involving four players that represent the present and future of the club.

There are also two articles celebrating a couple of centenaries associated to our club. The first is a testimonial to Edelmira Calvetó, the first ever female member of the club, who was enrolled a hundred years ago. And the other is to Nicolau Casaus, a man who dedicated his life to FC Barcelona, and who was born a century ago.