There Is Only One Sinnacle

Manchester United have been stunned by claims from Nemanja Vidic’s agent that the centre-back wants a move to Barcelona. Daily Mirror

However, Vidic’s adviser Paolo Fabbri has denied quotes attributed to him in the Spanish media that the Serbian international had been tempted by an offer to join the European champions. Daily Express

Would Vidic join Barcelona? Of course he would there is not a doubt in anyone’s mind that he would. The problem for Vidic is the fact it’s too late for Manchester United to even consider selling him. Besides if Lescott is worth 20 million Barcelona would have to cough up a lot more to make United blink.

Everton boss David Moyes is set to make a £12 million double raid for Tottenham midfielder David Bentley and defender Alan Hutton. Daily Mirror

Even after Bentley’s arrest it wouldn’t shock me if Tottenham is going to want a deal akin to the Darren Bent transfer where they got most of his original transfer fee back from Sunderland. Considering Bentley cost Tottenham 18 million and Hutton 7 million can’t see Tottenham selling them for a 50% discount.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has ruled out a move for Portsmouth goalkeeper David James. Independent

David James must not of been happy reading this news if it does indeed prove to be true.

Bordeaux striker, and rumoured target of Sunderland, Arsenal and West Ham, Marouane Chamakh is pessimistic regarding his chances of securing a move away from the French club this summer this summer. Metro

Chamakh should be pessimistic. Arsenal have all but forgotten him since their six goal outburst on the weekend. Sunderland can make do just fine with Bent and Jones up front with Campbell going off the bench and West Ham is not a step up from playing for a Champions League team in Bordeaux.

Manchester United are preparing to offer defender Nemanja Vidic a new contract amid uncertainty about his long-term future. The Times

Another reason why Vidic may be interested in a move away from Manchester is of course money. If I’m Vidic and I look over and see what Rio Ferdinand makes it would annoy me. They are equals on the pitch and at worst a 1 and 1a type deal so seeing Ferdinand make more than double what Vidic does has to annoy him.

- You can make the point the most important time of a football match in the last ten minutes but the last five minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half are often the most important times of a match. Time and time again you see a goal late in the first half change the game around. Celtic were executing their game plan trying to make sure they have something to play for in the second leg of this contest. Then William Gallas scored a goal Bobby Zamora would be proud of. From there Celtic just seemed defeated going into halftime and try as they might Celtic are not the type of team to chase a game against a team of Arsenal’s quality. Too add insult to injury Caldwell’s own goal has pretty much sealed this tie ahead of the second leg to be played at the Emirates.

- Portuguese teams have never fared well against Italian teams. By and large Portuguese teams play into an Italian teams strengths. Sporting can take some positives but they can not make silly mistakes like the ones they allowed Fiorentina to take advantage of. Right off the bat Sporting goalkeeper Rui Patrício allowed a weak goal six minutes in to grant Fiorentina the critical away goal. From there Fiorentina allowed Sporting to bring the play to them knowing a 1-1 result would still suit them. Just before the hour mark Simon Vukcevic after some nice build up play finally drew Sporting level. In a mental midget moment Vukcevic took off his jersey after already being yellow carded earlier in the game. I’ve seem a lot of things in football but I do not recall a player getting his second yellow card after taking off his jersey. Usually a player would recall he is on a card. The difference between Champions League football and the Europa league is somewhere between 20-25 million which is a lot of money for any club. I’ll give credit to Sporting who even down to ten men still took the game to Fiorentina and Miguel Veloso gave Sporting a deserved lead placing a shot into the top corner to make it 2-1. This snapped Fiorentina back to life and down a man they were not able to hold off Alberto Gilardino. Is the draw a fair result? Yes but with the two away goals it will now take something special for Sporting to come up with an away win.

- Every other game pretty much went with the form book. FC Copenhagen kept the all important clean sheet getting a 1-0 win at home against APOEL Nicosia. Olympiakos pretty much wrapped up their tie against FC Sheriff with a 2-0 road win and Aliaksandr Hleb proving there is life after the Barcelona bench scoring a lovely goal to seal Stuttgart 2-0 win over Romanian side Timisoara.

Chelsea have 24 hours to meet Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero’s £50m get-out clause. The Sun

Most likely this is due to Atletico playing in the Champions League tomorrow. Chelsea has already met Aguero get-out clause last summer and he didn’t jump at the chance to join Chelsea and I don’t see what has changed 12 months later.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are interested in Liverpool winger Albert Riera. Daily Mirror

I’d have no idea why aside from the fact Riera is Spanish. He had some good performances for Liverpool but it wasn’t consistent over the course of an entire season.

Aston Villa are set to make a £6m offer for Middlesbrough defender David Wheater : Daily Mirror

Really would be surprised if Middlesbrough was able to hang on to Wheater. A young player with an England call up to his name usually don’t hang around the Championship for too long.

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill is preparing a double bid for Tottenham duo David Bentley and Jermaine Jenas. Daily Mail

Never understood the interest other clubs seem to have in Jenas. One of those players who are often linked with a move away but at the end of the day always stays put. I’m sure Tottenham would love to get rid of David Bentley even after spending 18 million for him last summer.

West Ham are keeping tabs on Roma striker Julio Baptista. (Daily Mirror)

Baptista didn’t exactly love live in London when he played with Arsenal. Don’t see that changing playing for West Ham.

Everton are continuing to monitor Arsenal defender Philippe Senderos and are also interested in Middlesbrough centre-back Robert Huth. The Independent

Wonder why rumours of Everton going after defenders have heaten up? A need for a fresh start is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Senderos. It appears clear Arsenal do not think he can handle the pressure of being an every game EPL defender.

Blackburn are close to signing Real Madrid defender Michel Salgado. The Times

Sam Allardyce has has success previously signing Real Madrid cast offs such as Fernando Hierro and Ivan Campo so I’m sure Allardyce sees very little downside trying again with Salgado.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has slapped an alcoholic drink ban on his players after midfielder David Bentley was recently charged with drink-driving. (Daily Star)

Ledley King was not pleased upon hearing this news.

Everton Eyeing Valencia Midfielder Ever Banega – Report

The newspaper claims that one of these additions is the 21-year-old Valencia midfielder, who will move on a season long loan with the option of a permanent move to Merseyside.

Article

Like Banega, if his attitude didn’t over take his talent he’d be right up there with fellow Argentinians Mascherano and Gago. Don’t really see this as a coup either since Banega isn’t in Valencia’s plans and Everton and Valencia already have a previous history with loan deals as they took Manuel Fernandes on loan back in 2008.

Werder Bremen hopeful of agreeing Pizarro deal

He has since returned to the Blues, where he has vowed to take his chance to break into Carlo Ancelotti’s team, but Bremen remain confident they can lure him back to the Bundesliga – this time on a permanent deal.

Article

Chelsea I’m sure is also hoping Werder Bremen agrees to a Pizarro deal. Don’t think many Chelsea fans would notice or bemoan Pizarro’s departure.

Manchester City are set to make a renewed £20m cash-plus-players offer to Everton in an attempt to finally land defender Joleon Lescott. The Sun

It’s appeared Lescott and every other Everton player who played on Saturday also wanted to go to Manchester City with that performance. Everton’s defeat doesn’t falls solely on Lescott’s head but if he wanted to send a message about his unhappiness with Everton couldn’t think of a better way to do it.

The Reds have also enquired about Dynamo Kiev central defender Pape Diakhate and have been quoted a price of £7m. Daily Mail

Wonder why the papers have Liverpool linked with a bunch of defenders all of the sudden?

Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero, who is a target for Chelsea, will not be sold so late in the transfer window according to a report in Spain. The Times

According to common sense it should also be clear Aguero is happy with life in Madrid and Atletico have no plans to sell him. Maybe once he suits up for Altetico in their Champions League qualifier Wednesday these rumours will slow down.

Newcastle defender Steven Taylor is ready to hand in a transfer request in order to force through a move to Everton. The Sun

Taylor is in a tough spot since he is one of the few players Newcastle would like to keep. No one outside of the toon army could really blame him if he wanted to leave however.

Manchester United could beat Liverpool and Everton to the signing of Stoke centre-back Ryan Shawcross. Daily Mail

Guess when Sir Alex looked at the bench and only saw Wes Brown as a backup central defender and soon after entering the game was beaten silly by Christian Benitez that it occurred to him reinforcements might be needed.

Hull hope to complete the £12m signing of Real Madrid striker Alvaro Negredo in the next 24 hours. Daily Mirror

This would really be a coup if Hull City could pull this off. Negredo is built for English football yet still has a good eye for goal.

Manchester City’s Argentine striker Carlos Tevez has offered Oasis stars Liam and Noel Gallagher free Latin dance classes in exchange for a music masterclass for his band Piola Vago. The Sun

Would be a waste of time for Tevez as all Oasis would do is come in, play the Sgt Pepper album and tell Tevez to copy that.

England midfielder David Beckham has hit out at the standard of refereeing in the MLS after the LA Galaxy star was sent off for the ninth time in his career, following a studs-up challenge on Seattle’s Peter Vagenas. The Sun

Included this non EPL regardless. MLS referee’s by and large are poor but watching the game it was a needless tackle. Clip included for you to judge for yourself.

The theme for this week is going to be ‘One good week a season does not make…..but.” Not trying to pour cold water on some wonderful football played this week or on the flip side dismiss some equally bad performances but it is rare at the end of the season you look back at week one as a key moment during the year. All you need to do is look back to last year where Scolari and his Chelsea side where the short lived darlings of English football after beating defending FA Cup Champions Portsmouth 4-0 to start the season.

- Which brings us to Arsenal. What a great performance against Everton on Saturday. As suppose to last year it was Arsenal scoring from set pieces instead of conceding goals and just ran through Everton in every aspect of the game. Everton’s left back Leighton Baines made Nicklas Bendtner look like Ronaldo playing in midfield a prime example of this. The scary thing is about Arsenal’s performance is that Andrei Arshavin didn’t even play his best game. Maybe it won’t be all doom and gloom for Arsenal fans this season. Well at least for this weekend anyway. It could all be for not if they overlook Celtic in the Champions League this week.

- Nice touch by Fabregas paying tribute to fallen Espanyol captain Dani Jarque by bringing out an Arsenal jersey with his name on it. I’d like think if it wasn’t for Sir Bobby Robson richly deserved minute of applause before each game that Jarque would of received the same treatment on any other week.

- Made a joke late in the previous season that Denílson should be called by his last name as well since only good Brazilian players should only be called by one name. After his goal to open Arsenal’s goal tally Denílson can keep the to only one name for a couple of weeks. Besides the same joke can still apply for Lucas who should be called Lucas Leiva due to his play.

- Was also going to make a point with regards to the Arsenal match that you’d want to face a team like Everton early in the season before they can find their groove. It’s often tricky playing a bottom of the table side at the start of the season due to the fact that the life hasn’t been beating out of them. Teams like Hull and Birmingham played with this wide eyed belief that goes with a new season. Later into the season they may have already been beaten down due to losing. Then Liverpool walk into White Hart Lane on the final game of the week and lays an egg. Once again proving that most theories are not absolute.

- Ah Liverpool, the pre season darlings of the English press. Every pundit’s pick to dethrone United at the top of England this year. Mind you many of these pundits former Liverpool players themselves such as the BBC’s Alan Hansen. The theme of this review to be fair does also apply to Liverpool albeit on the bad side of things. There is no shame to losing against Tottenham who have played Liverpool tough the last couple of seasons. Maybe in a weird way this loss will end up being good for Liverpool as it will serve as an early wake up call that they will need to win the Championship on the pitch as it will not be given to them by the press.

- Must say I was shocked that Steven Gerrard’s mid week groin injury that forced him to pull out of England duty healed up just in time for his weekend game against Tottenham. Maybe it’s because I don’t support a club and only cheer on a country that it annoys me when a player doesn’t suit up for his country even if it’s only a friendly.

- Have a feeling Rafa Bentiez didn’t have any regrets letting Robbie Keane go after watching him play today. Great saves by Reina but Keane needs to bury those chances. Have a feeling by the end of this season Keane will be either coming off the bench or playing in a more midfield role letting Crouch and Defoe do the work upfront.

- Benoît Assou-Ekotto didn’t think you had that in you. Don’t think many Liverpool or Tottenham fans did either.

- Trying to be patience with Heurelho Gomes and keep telling Spurs fans he’ll come good but he seems to be in mid season form when it comes to making a mistake in judgment. To be fair it was a split second decision to rush out and attempt to play the ball away from Glen Johnson. The key point here is the fact it was Glen Johnson. Granted he made a great run blowing by Tom Huddlestone and getting himself in a dangerous position but he is not a striker if Heurelho Gomes played his angles Johnson would of been forced to make a perfect shot or pass at full speed instead Gomes gives up a penalty.

- Wonder how quickly Harry Redknapp is going to make a call to Portsmouth in an attempt to purchase former Spice Boy David James as a result?

- As mentioned on the Tottenham telecast it was great weekend for new defenders in north London with Arsenal’s Thomas Vermaelen and Tottenham’s Sébastien Bassong scoring on their league debuts.

- Wonder if it was Fernando Torres being run over instead of Andriy Voronin would Phil Dowd called that late penalty? Also wonder if he kept the whistle in his pocket due to already giving a Liverpool a penalty previously?

- All and all not a good weekend for the blue or red side of Liverpool.

- Moving on to focus all things Manchester. Three points is three points considering last year United drew Newcastle United and the year before that drew 0-0 against Reading starting the season off with a win will make Sir Alex happy. Not a performance those in the stands will tell their grandkids about and credit to Birmingham who came to play but Manchester United will be content with the three points in their first real game after the departure of you know who.

- Oh Michael Owen you have to bury that clean breakaway late in the game. Not the type of effort that is going to get his confidence back that’s for sure.

- Deceiving win by Manchester City but a confidence building win none the less. Between Adebayor goal to start the game and Ireland great goal to kill the game it was Blackburn who were taking the game to Manchester City. Christopher Samba was robbed from a set piece by Shay Given and Blackburn were also unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty on a hand ball by Richard Dunne. It wasn’t a clear cut penalty by any means but his arm shouldn’t of been in that position when it hit the ball.

- Still a great win by Manchester City. Last year this type of game they would of only earned a point form. To go into a tough place to play at like Ewood park and keep a clean sheet will give City fans even more reason to be optimistic this season.

- Carlos Tevez sitting on the bench is too easy but I’m not going to overlook it. Nice to see City making Tevez feel right at his previous home put placing him on the bench to start the game.

- Chelsea must hate hearing the name Stephen Hunt almost as much as Manchester United hates hearing about Danny Murphy. Hunt is like that pebble in your shoe that will annoy you and cause you nothing but grief if you are lining up against him.

- A happy Drogba is still a world class striker. His first goal from the free kick must of bought back not so distance memories flooding back for any Manchester United fan who might of watch the game. The second goal be it a cross or a shot was something if you asked just about any player to try 99 times out of 100 it would not even come close to going in. Alittle bit of luck there? Sure but one of the many things you’ll need in order to win a league is lady luck by your side.

- I really felt bad picking Wigan to finish 16th this season as I’d like to see the style of football Roberto Martínez plays succeed at Wigan. Again one week a season does not make for example Paul Ince won his first game of last season with Blackburn and he was out of a job by December. With that out of the way unless your last name is Wenger no coach put on a better performance getting his team ready to play then Martinez did this weekend. Absolutely loved Wigan’s performance from the opening minute to the last. Once they scored on Hugo Rodallega beautiful thunderbolt (Who needs Zaki?) Wigan kept pressing the game to Aston Villa never given them possession or the confidence to make Villa feel they could still make a game out of it. With the departures of Valencia and Palacios former West Brom player Jason Koumas dusted himself off to score Wigan’s second goal to seal the game away.

- What was with the performance by both Aston Villa and Everton this weekend? It’s like both clubs where playing with the weight of the world on their shoulders. Between the lines they need to forget about expectations and play to there strengths.

- Sunderland fans must be happy with Steve Bruce getting a 1-0 win on the road against Bolton. Nice to see Darren Bent get away from Tottenham to chip in a goal in his debut.

- Classic Bobby Zamora goal if there ever was one with Clint Dempsey shot deflecting off his ass and past David James. Everyone thinks it’s going to be a long year for Portsmouth fans and I’m no different in this belief.

- Also nice to see Stoke City pick up right where they left off last season grabbing points at home defeating Burnley 2-0. Most years it’s tricky going up against newly promoted teams to start the season but both West Ham in their 2-0 victory against Wolves and Stoke seemed to manage it just fine.

For the first time since the 1997-1998 season the EPL is back on ESPN as late last night ESPN announced that they will be carrying games this season on ESPN 2. My first reaction to this was that it sure came down to the wire to get clearance to air these games stateside. The second reaction is that it’s great for U.S football fans to be able to see EPL games without having to shell out money for Setanta if your cable company even carries it. Below are the games ESPN 2 will carry to start the season. Not exactly the pick of the litter games wise but hey it’s better than nothing.

Sat., 7:40 a.m. Chelsea vs. Hull City
Sat., Aug. 22, 9:55 a.m., Wigan Athletic vs. Manchester United
Mon., Aug. 24, 2:55 p.m. , Liverpool vs. Aston Villa
Sat., Aug. 29, 7:40 a.m., Chelsea vs. Burnley
Sat., Sept. 12, 9:55 a.m., Liverpool vs. Burnley
Sat., Sept. 1, 7:40 a.m, Burnley vs. Sunderland
Sat., Sept. 26, 7:40 a.m., Portsmouth vs. Everton
Mon., Sept. 28, 2:55 p.m., Manchester City vs. West Ham

The night before the EPL season opener and NFL week one are just about the best times of the year for a sports fan. As I don’t not have an NFL website my sole focus will be centered around the upcoming EPL season.

Below will be my predictions for the upcoming EPL season. I’m sure a couple of these predictions will come back to haunt me later on.

1. Chelsea – Carlo Ancelloti is one of the few coaches who can claim to have success against Sir Alex Ferguson. While this Chelsea team has pretty much stayed the same and being a year older is often not a good thing these same Chelsea players know what it takes to win over a demanding 36 game campaign.

2. Liverpool – Liverpool seem to be the it choice to win the league this season. While it will be a day late and a dollar short but until Liverpool actually get that monkey off their chest I won’t be picking them to win. Liverpool did give their fans hope last season that they can keep it together over the course of an entire season going neck and neck with Manchester United until the final weeks of the season but I still question how they would react if they were leading down the stretch with a couple of teams breathing down their neck.

3. Manchester United – How do you replace the irreplaceable? This team spent the last three years relying on Ronaldo to grab United a win when they weren’t at their best. What will happen now that he is gone? I’d put nothing past the brilliance that is Sir Alex Ferguson coaching techniques but I feel it will take another season for these United players to get use to the fact that Ronaldo is gone.

4. Aston Villa – In Martin O’Neill previous three seasons at Aston Villa the club has gotten better each season and I’ll buck that trend to continue. O’Neill clearly has a smart game place remaking this team signing some the best and brightest young English players before they catch the eye of the traditional big four. Featuring the likes of Young, Milner, Downing, Agbonlahor, Davies, Reo-Coker and new recruit Fabian Delph from Leeds. Villa had a taste of life in the top four last year before fading towards the end of the season. Hopefully they learn from that experience and are ready to play at a high level over the entire season.

5. Arsenal – In a move I quickly regretted Arsenal were my pick to win it all last year. I’m not repeating that prediction going into the 2009-2010 season. Just can’t see how the loss of Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Adebayor make Arsenal better even if they have several young promising players. Arsenal have been promising these talents for many a year but unless they are named Beckham, Butt, Giggs, Scholes, and Neville just see their lack of experience playing a big roll in their downfall this season.

6. Manchester City – May actually regret picking them this high in the standings. Many people are looking for Manchester City to break into the top four but I’m taking a wait and see approach to this. There is no question Manchester City has shaken up the EPL by signing establish players from other top teams but I still question Mark Hughes being able to mix and match all the talent he has into a winning starting 11 at least right off the bat and in England if you don’t come out of the gates quick you usually get left behind.

7. Tottenham – All things considered it’s been a pretty quiet summer for Tottenham who haven’t been in the headlines this summer unlike last with Robbie Keane’s ill fated move to Liverpool and Dimitar Berbatov is he or isn’t he move to Manchester United playing out until the final day of the transfer window. When Harry Redknapp took over last year his first goal was to get Tottenham out of the regulation spots, once that was accomplish have a feeling he took the rest of the year planning what he wanted his club to look like going into the 2009-2010 season. This should start to bear fruit for Tottenham this season as it wouldn’t shock me to see them finish higher in the standings but as it seems something always goes off the rails for Tottenham I’ll keep them in 7th place.

8. Sunderland – Few coaches did a better job last season as Steve Bruce did with Wigan which earned them a move to Sunderland and the ability to spend money on the likes of Frazier Campbell, Darren Bent, Lee Cattermole and former Marseille captain Lorik Cana. Still question which midfield player will supply the creativity for the strikers upfront but unlike Roy Keane if I was a Sunderland fan I’d trust Bruce to get it right at some point this season.

9. Everton – When you have a few clubs moving up in the standings a few clubs have to move down as a result. With Everton having to spend so much time fighting off advances from Manchester City over Joleon Lescott feel it will distract them at the start of this season and they will struggle as a result.

10. Blackburn – Sam Allardyce knows how to get the best out of his teams. While they may not be pleasing on the eye playing a Ewood park is never easy for the opposition and can see this Allardyce side taking enough points from their home matches to place them comfortably in mid table this season.

11. Fulham – Last year thanks to some great Roy Hodgson tactics Fulham earned themselves a place in European football catching many teams by surprise and being very difficult to break down. Just don’t see clubs over looking Fulham this season and unlike past seasons many clubs are going to gear up when they see Fulham on the calender.

12. West Ham – Considering all the uncertainty at the ownership level with West Ham if Gianfranco Zola can lead West Ham to another mid table finish both club and fans alike should be quite happy with the result. It was clear last year that just about all of these West Ham players both liked Zola as a person and coach. When you have that going for you players trend to run through a wall for their coach which should avoid any regulation fears this season.

13. Bolton – When I think of Bolton the first thing which comes to mind is does anyone like Gary Megson? If you are happy with the status quo Megson isn’t the worst choice but feel this will be the year where his players will start to turn on him. With their EPL experience still can’t see them dropping out of the league considering the question marks other clubs have to deal with.

14. Birmingham City – Didn’t like how Alex McLeish steered this club into regulation after taking over from Steve Bruce during the 2007-2008 season. Credit to McLeish however who did get Birmingham back up a year later which isn’t always easy to do. After McLeish’s six month taste of the Premiership back in 2008 just feel that he will learn from his mistakes and see Birmingham to safety this season.

15. Stoke City – Tony Pulis didn’t get his due last year managing Stoke City to safety. Not a glamour side by any means Stoke did the two things you must do when you are new to the top flight. They took points from their home matches and a very tough side defensively to break down. Neither I see changing this season.

16. Wigan – I hope Roberto Martínez gets a chance to succeed at Wigan but when you are changing the football culture at a club it takes some time in order to do so. Steve Bruce was able to cover up the departures of Emile Heskey and Wilson Palacios last season but when to add the departure of Antonio Valencia to Manchester United this is the season those losses will start to show in the standings.

17. Hull City – They hung on last season by the skin of their teeth and feel they will do so again this season. The main thing was that Hull were able to stay up so if they can get off to another decent start it should put away memories of there horrible finish to last year.

18. Portsmouth – Portsmouth fans must be cruising their luck having the only owner from the middle east who isn’t pumping money into this club. With just about every valuable player sold off during the last eight months just don’t see the players remaining being able to maintain a top flight status with a Championship budget.

19. Wolverhampton – The last time Mick McCarthy was in the top flight his Sunderland side managed only 15 points the entire season. A season he didn’t see out. Don’t see him getting the sack or only getting 15 points but I’m not going to pick Wolves to avoid the drop.

20. Burnley – Picked Hull last year to finish last and they avoided the drop. Maybe I’ll be wrong again this season and Burnley stays up.

I’ll also include my list of who will be included in the PFA Team of the Year

Goalie – Pepe Reina Liverpool

Defenders – Jose Bosingwa Chelsea John Terry Chelsea Rio Ferdinand Manchester United Ashley Cole Chelsea

Midfielders – Steven Gerrard Liverpool Frank Lampard Chelsea Andrei Arshavin Arsenal Ashley Young Aston Villa

Forwards – Fernando Torres Liverpool Robinho Manchester City

Messi could miss start of La Liga campaign

Messi’s participation in Barca’s first game of the Primera Liga season, at home to Sporting Gijon on August 31, is also uncertain because Argentina face Brazil at home in a World Cup qualifier five days later.

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No offense to Athletic Bilbao but even without Messi, Henry and Ibrahimovic Barcelona has enough talent to defeat Bilbao. Considering Barcelona’s first game is against Sporting Gijon I’m also sure Barcelona is going to try and sit him out so they have a reason to pull him from National team duty. With Argentina playing there biggest game of the year against Brazil I’d except to see a tug of war over Messi services in the coming weeks.