Montoya, Bartra, Tello, Muniesa and Thiago in Spanish under 21 squad for Euros

Barça players Montoya, Bartra, Tello, Muniesa and Thiago have been named in Spain’s Under-21 squad for the Eurpoean Championships to be held in Israel between June 3rd and 19th. FC Barcelona are the team providing most players for the Spanish squad

Julen Lopetegui announced his squad this Thursday, which also includes: Mariño, De Gea, Joel Robles, Iker Muniain, Koke, Carvajal, Rodrigo, Sarabia, Nacho, Morata, Camacho, Isco, Alberto Moreno, Illarramendi, Iñigo Martínez, Canales and Álvaro González.

Miss Malaga game

Montoya, Bartra, Tello and Thiago will all miss Barça’s final league game against Malaga, as they will have to report to the Spanish camp at Las Rozas next Monday to prepare for the tournament.Barça B’s Marc Muniesa will alos miss his team’s last two games against Villarreal and Jerez.

The squad fly out to Israel on June 3rd and play Russia (6 June), Germany (9 June) and Holland (12 June) in their first round of games.

Azulgrana RoundUp, Week 31 - Messi: "I'm only focused on staying at FC Barcelona"

Leo Messi sat down with Televisión Azteca’s Inés Sainz last week to give his take on FC Barcelona’s 2012/13 season. “I was very happy to win La Liga,” starts Messi, “the Spanish league is a very important competition because of the rivals we had to go up against, like Real Madrid; they are one of the best teams in the world.” 

Even though Barça took control of table from the first week of the competition, Messi says that the road that led the team to the title wasn’t an easy one to travel. “The truth is that this hasn’t been easy because we came into this season after a big change,” says the Argentinian in reference to Guardiola’s departure. He adds: “Things went well with Tito [Vilanova], because he practically didn’t change anything. But we noticed a change when he left, not because Roura or the training staff who stayed on didn’t do a good job but because we were missing our head manager ... It wasn’t the same. One year is a long time and it’s great that we can finish it by celebrating.” 

The tough Champions League campaign, in addition to Éric Abidal and Tito Vilanova’s absence for large swaths of the year, certainly added to the burden the players had to carry throughout an otherwise successful season. “You can’t always win,” says Messi in reference to Barça's elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich. “We’ve been playing our brand of football for years and managers and teams have studied it. But we can’t lose our heads after what happened this season. We can’t change Barcelona’s style of play because that’s what has defined the team for years. We have to stay calm and focus on next year.”

When asked about his future plans, the Argentinian superstar declared, “I’m only focused on staying at Barcelona until the end. I’d like to play in Argentina one day, but I won’t play for another European team.”

Elche return 24 years later

Elche are the first team to be promoted to the top flight this season and that means Barça will face them next year for the first time since 1989 

Bakero and Amor scored the goals in Barça’s win the last time Elche were in the top flight 

The draw between Barça B and Alcorcon on Saturday meant that Elche were mathematically promoted from the second division – the first of three who will be coming up next year. Elche will be returning to La Liga for the first time since 1989 and marking their 20th season in the top flight of Spanish football.

Stats in Barça’s favour

Of the 38 games played between Barça and Elche in the league, Barça have won 19, drawn 11 and lost just 8 – the most recent in the 1974/5 season when they lost 1-0 in Alicante.

Unbeaten at the Camp Nou

Barça’s record is even better at home, with 12 wins, 7 draws and not a single defeat. The last time Elche came to the Camp Nou was on 12 February 1989 when they were beaten 2-0 with goals from Bakero and Amor (2-0). The two have also met twice in the Cup – in the last 16 in 1962/63 and in the quarter finals three years later. Barça won both ties.

Xavi: “Footballing respect is what’s important”

The Barça midfielder reckons it’s perfectly normal that the Espanyol players offer a guard of honour to the new League champions this Sunday: “in the same way we had to when Real Madrid were crowned champions”. 

“Casilla said this Wednesday that the players would do it. I understand their fans but footballing respect is what’s important”, according to Xavi. 

The Catalan was speaking after picking up the Premi Barça Jugadors prize in recognition of his fair play during the 2011/12 season