Faus: Messi, Neymar or Suarez could leave Barcelona

Barcelona economic vice-president Javier Faus has conceded that the club could lose Lionel Messi, Neymar or Luis Suarez to richer rivals such as Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.

The 51-year-old Catalan says that the Blaugrana have every intention of keeping the prolific attacking trio together for the foreseeable future but conceded that the Liga leaders are not in a position to the match the salaries now on offer at the likes of Stamford Bridge and the Parc des Princes.

"We can no longer pay the most in terms of wages," Faus told German publication Handelsblatt. "That's now Chelsea and PSG.

"You have to understand that players [in Spain] always compare their net pay to those of the Premier League or the Bundesliga, who have pushed costs up dramatically.

"It will be a challenge but we want to avoid letting Messi, Neymar or Suarez go.

"But if a club has the potential to take them away because of their chequebook, then they will go.

"The players have a very short career and are entitled to charge what other clubs can pay for their services."

Faus, of course, infamously clashed with Messi in December 2013 when he claimed that the Argentina international had demanded a pay rise.

The diminutive forward denied that accusation and countered by stating that the Blaugrana director "does not know anything about football".

However, despite the very public spat, Faus insists that the pair now enjoy a mutually beneficial working relationship.

"Messi is right: I do not understand football," he added. "It was just a misunderstanding that we clarified with his father and him.

"Then, we agreed a new contract and now we have a kind of partnership: we help him increase his market value and he helps us to project the Barca brand. "

Messi the best in the world, but my goals were more beautiful - Maradona

Diego Maradona says Lionel Messi is currently the best player in the world, but insists his own goals were “more beautiful” than those of the Barcelona star.

The Argentine legend, who played for the Catalan club, as well as the likes of Napoli and Boca Juniors during a glittering career, is often been labelled as the greatest ever to play the sport.

And while he believes his countryman is the best there is in the modern game, rating him above Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo, he says that Messi is still developing as a footballer.

“I think the goals come with the style. I think Messi is finding his own style, but he is killing it with the goals. This makes you accelerate the pace. Most likely, he will find his style very soon,” Maradona told CNN.

“I think that I had my own style from the very beginning, so that is the point at which I could be better than Messi. But Messi has scored 300 goals, whereas I think I scored a little over 200 in my whole career.

“But the thing is, my goals were more beautiful!”

Messi scored two goals in Barcelona’s 5-3 aggregate victory over Bayern Munich, which saw them book a spot in the Champions League final against Juventus.

Buffon labels Madrid fans 'ingrates' over 'outrageous' Casillas boos

Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon has labelled Real Madrid fans "ingrates" for their "outrageous" booing of goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

The Spain skipper has spent his entire professional career at the Santiago Bernabeu, winning three Champions Leagues trophies and La Liga five times amongst a host of other honours.

However, a slump in form over the last couple of years has seen him become the target of jeers from the stands but Buffon has leapt to his defence.

"There are certain iconic figures who don't deserve this attitude," he said at a press conference.

"It is an unpleasant and outrageous thing for a professional like him, who has always given his all. The protest against him is an unprecedented gesture from ingrates.

"For 20 years he has given so much for the Real Madrid shirt. Regardless of whether things are going well or not, there are icons who don't deserve this kind of treatment."

Juventus travel to Madrid on Wednesday with a 2-1 lead from the first leg of their Champions League semi-final  in Turin last week but Buffon says their job is only half done.

"We have gone beyond our expectations. We are 90 minutes from the final," he continued.

"I'm more mature now than when I was playing in the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin but it's still too early to dream about going through to Berlin."

Bring on Real Madrid - Pique

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique is hoping his side face arch-rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League final for the first time in history.

The Catalans reached the Berlin showpiece on Tuesday with a 5-3 aggregate win over Bayern Munich, while Carlo Ancelotti's side trail Juventus 2-1 ahead on Wednesday's second leg at the Bernabeu.

Barca remain in the hunt for a second treble triumph but the former Manchester United man is taking nothing for granted as they hope to seal La Liga on Sunday, should their game against Atletico Madrid not be postponed due to the upcoming strike.

"It would be very exciting to be the first to play a Champions League final against your closest rivals," he is quoted as saying by AS.

"It would be something historic. The treble would be the most beautiful. But we know that everything can change in a moment.

"We'll see if we have to play this weekend against Atletico Madrid due to the strike. Everything looks very good but we need to finish well.

"We've done everything right but we must close out the titles."

Should the Liga strike be called off, Barcelona will face Atletico at 19:00CET at the Vicente Calderon.

Messi: Barcelona must win the Champions League

Barcelona star Lionel Messi says the club must now go on and win the Champions League after reaching the final on Tuesday.

Luis Enrique's side lost 3-2 to Bayern Munich but progressed thanks to their 3-0 first-leg win at Camp Nou last week, in which the Argentine scored twice.

The 27-year-old has won the competition three times in his career but is determined to add a fourth medal to his collection.

"We're happy as we wanted to reach the Champions League final," he wrote on his Facebook page.

"But our objective is still the same: to win it."

I would lose buzz as Liverpool sub, admits Gerrard

Steven Gerrard has revealed he is leaving Liverpool for LA Galaxy to avoid losing the buzz of playing regular football as he prepares to make his final Anfield appearance.

The 34-year-old announced in January that he would be ending his 17-year professional association with his boyhood club at the end of the season, and shortly afterwards agreed to join the MLS champions.

And as he prepares to play his final home game against Crystal Palace on Saturday, Gerrard admits his decision to leave was motivated by an unwillingness to become a fringe player.

"I'm going to come on as a sub and the buzz changes," Gerrard told reporters.

"For me, I go to work on a Monday morning and I look forward to Saturday, to prepare to go to battle with some wonderful people - with good mates – and that's my buzz.

"When a manager gets you into the office and says that's going to change and it's going to become more limited - that's when you make your decision.

"It's not a selfish thing; coming on as a sub's just not the same buzz so things have changed this year."

Gerrard admits it will be difficult to contain his emotions on Saturday and hopes he can mark his final Anfield appearance with a win.

"I'm going to get the attention at the weekend, it's not something I really like, but hopefully I can put in a good performance for the supporters so we can get a win and I can enjoy the send-off that I'm going to get," he added.

"It's going to be a difficult day but I'm going to try and enjoy it. It'll be strange, I'm sure it will. It'll be an emotional day for me and my family and friends that have followed me throughout my career.

"And also for a lot of supporters that have watched me for many, many years, not just at the stadium but around the world as well.

"Everyone's talking about it but for me I just want to stay focused on the remaining games and the training and sessions ahead.

"There's plenty of time to be sentimental and emotional after the games are done but I don't really want to listen to supporters being emotional face to face because I'm a little bit afraid of breaking down and showing too much!"

'Ronaldo and Casillas will leave Real Madrid'

Cristiano Ronaldo and Iker Casillas are "certain" to leave Real Madrid, according to the club's former goalkeeper Agustin Rodriguez.

Casillas' future has been the subject of speculation following his patchy form over the past 12 months and persistent rumours linking Madrid with Manchester United's David de Gea.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, has often cut a frustrated figure in recent weeks and has upheld a blackout with mainstream media in recent weeks.

Agustin is adamant that Madrid fans can expect both players to leave the Santiago Bernabeu at the end of the season, despite the club suggesting contrary.

"I think Iker Casillas is going to go, genuinely. And Cristiano, too. I'm certain on that," the 55-year-old, who spent 10 years at Madrid, told Radio Marca.

"We'll see in the news that comes out next Wednesday."

The European champions take on Juventus in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday, having lost the first leg 2-1 in Turin.

Barcelona are more than just Messi - Rafinha

Bayern Munich defender Rafinha has warned his team-mates not to become preoccupied with the thought of stopping Lionel Messi on Tuesday.

The Argentine scored twice in a devastating final 13 minutes in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final as Barca raced into a 3-0 first-leg lead.

Rafina, however, says it would be dangerous to forget about the strength across the Blaugrana team sheet when they attempt to overturn the deficit at the Allianz Arena this week.

"Everyone knows how good Messi is. Of course we wanted to stop him, a player like him can decide games on his own," the 29-year-old told a press conference. "But Barcelona are not just Messi. They have a great team, just think about Luis Suarez.

"For 77 minutes last week we played very well, defended very well. After that we made some mistakes and we paid for that. Now we are going to try to score three or four goals – perhaps we will even have to take it to extra-time.

"Against players like this you take a risk by playing with just three at the back, but we will do what the coach says. It's the details which will decide games like these."

Rafinha is adamant Bayern can consider their season a success regardless of the result on Tuesday but feels their stunning comeback against Porto should give them hope of keeping their European dreams alive.

"If we are German champions, that means this has been a great season for us. We are still in semi-finals of the Champions League. We had had bad luck with injuries, and of course we wanted to go to the DFB-Pokal final, too.

"We did not expect to be 3-0 down at this stage, but we have another game, and when we are at out stadium we will have shown that we can score a lot of goals."

Arsenal 0-1 Swansea City: Late Gomis header stuns Gunners

Lukasz Fabianski came back to haunt Arsenal as Bafetimbi Gomis returned from injury to grab a dramatic late winner for Swansea City in Monday's 1-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium.

After a forgettable first half, Arsenal pummelled the Swansea goal after the break, but Polish goalkeeper Fabianski - who joined Swansea in the close-season after a seven-year spell in north London - made a string of superb stops to deny the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Nacho Monreal and Theo Walcott.

And Fabianski's contribution proved priceless as Gomis, who came on as a second-half substitute following a month-long lay-off with an ankle injury, headed home an 85th-minute winner, with goalline technology showing the ball clearly went in despite David Ospina's best efforts.

It was the second time Gomis has scored against Arsenal this term after he bagged in Swansea's 2-1 home win in November, and Garry Monk's side maintained their challenge for a sixth-placed finish that will offer Europa League football should Arsene Wenger's team beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup final.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have surrendered the advantage in the race for second to Manchester City with just two games remaining.

Wenger named the same starting XI for the fifth straight match, and the hosts had the first sight of goal when Olivier Giroud nodded Aaron Ramsey's cross over the bar.

Both teams struggled to create clear-cut chances, though, as Swansea's Jonjo Shelvey attempted an ambitious long-range half-volley - more out of hope more than expectation - that sailed well over.

Arsenal had tentative penalty claims waved by away referee Kevin Friend in the 27th minute when Alexis Sanchez claimed he was tugged to ground by Neil Taylor from a Santi Cazorla free-kick.

Arsenal continued to dominate possession as the half wore on, but aside from a 25-yard effort that Giroud curled wide, they failed to trouble Fabianski.

There was more intent about Arsenal's game after the restart and Federico Fernandez made a superb sliding block from Hector Bellerin's low centre from the right to deny Giroud a chance at goal.

Soon after, Giroud's clever flick was pounced upon by Sanchez who showed great strength to hold off Fernandez before shooting into the side-netting.

Arsenal continued to surge forward and Ramsey rifled into the side-netting, before Cazorla dug out a shot from the edge of the penalty area that Fabianski saved well low to his right.

Swansea were under siege, but Arsenal substitute Theo Walcott could only prod Bellerin's centre straight at Fabianski.

Fabianski was in unbeatable form, with Wenger left scratching his head when the Pole denied Monreal one-on-one before making a fine double save from Sanchez and Walcott in the 78th minute.

And Arsenal's profligacy was punished five minutes from time, as Taylor chipped in a cross from the left and Gomis leapt highest to head home, with Ospina's attempted save not enough to prevent the ball from crossing the line.

Carvajal: Madrid can't go mad against Juventus

Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal has warned his team-mates that a gung-ho approach against Juventus will get them nowhere.

The Bianconeri lead the European champions 2-1 from the first leg of their Champions League semi-final thanks to strikes from Alvaro Morata and Carlos Tevez, but Cristiano Ronaldo's away goal could prove crucial.

The former Bayer Leverkusen right-back feels his side should adopt a patient approach and look to slowly break down Massimiliano Allegri's men rather than attack en masse.

"We must keep a cool head, be patient and not go crazy," he is quoted as saying by Marca.

"We know what a game of football lasts 90 minutes. We have to make them pay a high price for suffering without possession.

"We have to learn from the game in Turin. They created danger for us. If we stay calm, have patience and move them, the game will fall to us.

"We cannot make mistakes on easy passes in simple situations. That gives them life."

Morata began his career at Real Madrid before moving to Juventus last summer and, though Carvajal is happy to see him playing well, he is not looking forward to facing his old colleague.

"To find a friend in the semi-finals of the Champions League is great but playing against him is a disadvantage because he's a great player and a big danger."

Madrid are expected to be boosted by the return of star forward Karim Benzema and Carvajal feels his comeback could shift the tie in his side's favour.

"Karim brings us a lot of things. I hope he can get to the game on Wednesday and do his bit, which is always important."

Carvajal also called upon the Santiago Bernabeu faithful to get behind the team to give them extra motivation to reach the Berlin showpiece.

"We will feel the breath of the fans; they'll be our 12th man."