Barcelona announced on Tuesday the signing of Spain forward Paco Alcacer from Valencia on a five-year contract. He moves to the Nou Camp on his 23rd birthday for a fee of 30 million euros ($33.5 million) and is likely to be the Spanish champions' last signing in the transfer window.

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is expecting another gruelling game at Athletic Bilbao when the La Liga champions visit San Mames on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola will return to the Nou Camp in the Champions League group stage after his new club Manchester City were drawn against his former Barcelona team on Thursday. The two sides were drawn in Group C alongside Borussia Moenchengladbach and former European champions Celtic in one of the toughest of the eight sections. Spanish coach Guardiola, who won the Champions League twice with Barca, faced the Catalans when he was in charge of Bayern Munich two seasons ago and suffered a 5-3 defeat in the semi-finals.

Barcelona will attempt to give Luis Enrique his 100th victory in his 125th game in charge of the team when they play at Athletic Bilbao in la Liga on Sunday. A former Barca player, the 46-year-old led them to a La Liga, King's Cup and Champions League treble in his first year in charge and the domestic double last season. The Catalans started the campaign with a 5-0 aggregate triumph over Sevilla in the Spanish Super Cup and a 6-2 victory over Real Betis in La Liga.

Hrithik Roshan co-owned Indian Super League team FC Pune City on Tuesday announced former Chelsea and Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen as their marquee player for the 2016 edition of the league.

Former Brazilian great Ronaldinho feels that Lionel Messi has been the perfect senior to Neymar at Barcelona, exactly the role played by him when the Argentine stalwart joined the first team of the Catalan giants more than a decade ago. "I think so. When Messi came in, he was a young kid and there was so much potential in him. I thoroughly enjoyed playing with him and we did share a great rapport on the field and off it too.

Spanish soccer's 'El Clasico' encounters between Barcelona and Real Madrid will happen in December and April, two of the most anticipated games of the 2016-17 Primera Division season whose fixtures were announced on Friday. Defending champions Barca host Real on Dec. 4 at the Camp Nou. The reverse fixture will take place on April 23, at the Bernabeu stadium, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) confirmed after the draw. As the La Liga season kicks off, Barca will begin their title defence at home to Real Betis on Aug. 21.

New Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has come to England to prove himself and wants to produce the "beautiful football" for which his teams are famed, he told reporters on Friday. Speaking at his first news conference since joining the club, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach said his personal learning curve would be steep as he came to terms with his new team and adapted to the rigours of the Premier League. "It's the right moment to come here and prove myself," he said. Asked if he could get City to play the sort of beautiful football trademarked by Barcelona, he added. "That's why I am here. I want to play the way I want. But wherever you go you have to adapt to the quality of the players. We have to find each other as soon as possible.

Spanish champions Barcelona have exercised the buy-back clause to re-sign midfielder Denis Suarez from Villarreal, the Catalan club announced on Monday.

Brazilian striker Neymar has extended his contract with Barcelona until June 2021, the Catalan club said in a statement on Friday.

Neymar is close to signing a three-year contract extension with Barcelona that will tie the Brazil captain to the La Liga champions until June 2021, club president Josep Maria Bartomeu announced on Thursday. The 24-year-old forward is a reported target of top European clubs and his current deal expires in June 2018. El Mundo Deportivo reported on Thursday that Manchester United were launching a "total offensive" to acquire Neymar.

Barcelona right back Dani Alves has completed his move to Italian champions Juventus on a two-year contract, the Turin-based club said on Monday. The 33-year-old Brazilian had earlier announced he would leave Barca as a free agent after eight successful seasons, during which he won 23 titles.

Spain left-back Jordi Alba knows his Barcelona teammate Arda Turan of Turkey is under a lot of pressure to put in a strong performance on Friday when their sides meet at Euro 2016.

Barcelona are convinced Brazil captain Neymar will commit his long-term future to the Nou Camp as protracted negotiations between the Spanish champions and the striker continue over an extension to his current deal, which expires in June 2018.

Having returned to England after his humiliating ouster from Chelsea, it is up to Jose Mourinho to leave a positive legacy at Manchester United.

Rediff.com gives you a glimpse of the jubilant Catalan team...

Despite Barcelona's exit from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage, coach Luis Enrique said their victory over Sevilla in the King's Cup on Sunday had capped a "fantastic" season.

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta believes his team will be made to suffer by Sevilla in the King's Cup final on Sunday, but that they will emerge victorious.

Catalan nationalists said on Friday they would hand out 10,000 Scottish flags to Barcelona supporters in the Spanish King's Cup Final soccer match on Sunday after Madrid banned the display of the Catalan pro-independence flag in the stadium.

Check out the top footballers of the weekend...

Luis Suarez could become Barcelona's highest scoring Uruguayan in Saturday's La Liga match at Granada, having equalled in only two seasons what compatriot Ramon Alberto Villaverde Vazquez aggregated in his decade-long stint with the club.

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique believes his team deserves to win "the best league in Europe" as they aim to clinch La Liga in a potentially thrilling climax to the Spanish season on Saturday.

Rafael Nadal maintained his ominous claycourt form by seizing back the Barcelona Open title from Kei Nishikori with a 6-4, 7-5 victory on Sunday, matching Guillermo Vilas's record title haul on the surface.

Neymar will play in the Olympics in August and will miss the Centenary Copa America in the United States in June, his club Barcelona said on Wednesday to end months of speculation.

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were being touted as the best strike force in soccer history a month ago as they spearheaded Barcelona's record unbeaten run but the tiring trio are now taking the blame as the club's season unravels.

'I had a tough season in the last few years, but I've had better preparation this year, even with a tough start to the season'

Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa reignited his long-running war of words with Barcelona's Gerard Pique by suggesting that the Spanish League leaders manage to win only if opposing teams have had players sent off. La Liga leaders Barca surprisingly succumbed 1-0 to mid-table Real Sociedad on Saturday, a result that not only condemned the Catalans to their second successive league defeat but also blew the title race wide open. They now lead second-placed Atletico Madrid by three points and third-placed Real by four. "Look how difficult it is to win against 11 men," Arbeloa mocked on Twitter, referring to the fact that Barcelona have often benefited from opposing players being sent off. Barca were trailing 1-0 in last Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg with Atletico Madrid but secured a 2-1 win after Atletico goal scorer Fernando Torres was dismissed in the 35th minute.

'You realise the fear when Barcelona could get knocked out. It would hurt UEFA a lot. I don't know what they have to do for someone to send one of them off'

Barcelona's Luis Suarez netted twice for a 2-1 win over 10-man Atletico Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final, first leg on Tuesday after the visitors' Fernando Torres opened the scoring and was later sent off.

Atletico Madrid will have centre backs Diego Godin and Stefan Savic available again for Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg at Barcelona.

Real Madrid's star striker Cristiano Ronaldo made up for his otherwise quiet night by scoring the winner to beat Barcelona 2-1 win at the CampNou in Barcelona on Saturday.

Memories and images of Johan Cruyff will provide an emotional backdrop to Saturday's Nou Camp 'Clasico' against Real Madrid when Barcelona pay tribute to the man who transformed the club from also-rans into one of the game's superpowers.

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique led tributes to the late Johan Cruyff in a memorial organised by the club on Tuesday and vowed to "continue copying and improving his style of attacking football".

The following is a factbox on former Dutch international who was popularly known as 'Flying Dutchman'.

Johan Cruyff, the legendary Dutch soccer striker and coach, died aged 68, according to a message posted on his website.

Holders Barcelona will face fellow Spaniards Atletico Madrid, runners-up two seasons ago, in the Champions League quarter-finals following the draw in Nyon on Friday.

Zinedine Zidane cast doubt on his long-term future at Real Madrid by saying he is unsure if he will be in charge of the club next season. The former midfielder was named as Rafael Benitez's successor in January when he signed a contract until June 2018. But when asked what role he would have in the Liga club's transfer dealings for next season, Zidane said he did not know if he would still be at the Bernabeu. "I can't know what role I'm going to have if I don't know if I'm going to be here. We'll see what happens at the end of the season," Zidane was quoted as saying by Spanish newspaper Marca. The 43-year-old was also asked if Madrid would make another attempt to sign David de Gea after their move for the Manchester United and Spain goalkeeper fell through on the last day of the transfer window last August.

After setting a Spanish record 35 matches unbeaten in all competitions, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is relishing the run-in to the end of the season with his side on course for a second successive La Liga, King's Cup and Champions League treble.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi broke free from Arsenal's shackles to score two late goals and put the Champions League holders on the brink of the quarter-finals with a clinical 2-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.

'Barcelona are super favourites for this game and tomorrow everyone is already convinced that we have to be totally focused as a whole squad'