Barcelona are now so used to winning by large margins this season that their post-match press conferences are becoming quite predictable. On Saturday night, the squad once again stressed the need to avoid getting carried away.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Samuel Eto'o said, "We needed the victory and although it was complicated, we won the game at a difficult ground. At the end of the day, all the games are worth three points just like this one."
The Cameroonian then spoke of his impact on the game: "I was alive for the goal and when I struck it Palop was badly placed. I want to play not just as a forward but all over the pitch and I enjoy working hard." Eto'o made seven tackles last night, an impressive number for a forward.
Finally, the striker spoke of his sadness at being suspended for next week's match against Valencia: "It is a pity but I am going to work hard in training to help my team mates win the game."
The only consolation for Eto'o will be that his suspension should ensure that he is available to play against Real Madrid, an opponent he loves to score against.
Lionel Messi was the man of the match, and he said, "Sevilla are a great team that made life complicated. I believe that we are in the middle of a great season and we need to continue like this."
Messi then revealed that the squad knew about Real Madrid's loss before the match, but stated, "We have to continue winning and if they also lose, then it's even better."
Finally, club captain Carles Puyol had his say: "These three points are important because they will give us confidence. If we continue like this then things will work out well."
Fans of Valencia and Real Madrid will be hoping that the press conferences in the coming weeks are not similar to this one.
Arjun Miglani
Lionel Messi returned to the side and started the game in the centre of the three attacking players for Barça in the José Alvalade, but then went to flanks after the team went ahead. Guardiola explained why the change was made. “Messi played in the number nine role because Sporting played with a diamond formation and I thought that if he was in the middle then he could take on their centre-backs directly,” the trainer said. “Playing out wide is more demanding and we wanted to protect him.” 
After that, at the Unicef headquarters, the inauguration will be held in the Danny Kaye Visitors Centre of a photography exhibition titled Impact of HIV/AIDS: Life and hopes of orphans in Swaziland, with photographs by Majorcan Pep Bonet. The display, which was promoted by the Foundation and already went on show a few months ago at the Camp Nou, is the work of renowned photographer Pep Bonet and depicts the lives of the orphaned children living in remote rural regions of that country.
Barcelona's next opponents, Recreativo, are a "very organised team" accordnig to Guardiola and he believe that they will defend well and be well marshalled by coach Lucas Álcaraz. "They are a team that concede very few goals and they organise themselves very well with two lines of four," Guardiola explained. 
During this period, the Foundation has been working in almost fifteen projects, through its International Network of Solidarity Centres (XICS) and Solidarity Sports Days (JES). Also, its ‘Sport and Citizenship’ programme has helped the Foundation promote educational, cultural, scientific and social initiatives. 
All of these programmes support Barça’s other action area, which are those based on collaborations with the United Nations through trendsetting alliances with UNICEF, UNESCO and UNHCR/ACNUR, in an effort to help 23,000 children all around the world. 
Even though Barça couldn’t keep a clean sheet until its seventh League outing, conceding just one in the last four make the side’s defence into the equal best in the League. In fact in the last 437 minutes only Malaga’s Duda has beaten Víctor Valdés in Barça’s 1-4 win at La Rosaleda. As for the rest, Athletic Club (0-1), Almeria (5-0) and Valladolid (6-0) have all failed to break their duck. 
No team in Europe’s best leagues can match Barça’s 3.4 goals per game scored, and few have a defensive record better than the Catalans’ average of 0.8 goals conceded. Only Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga has similar figures (10 against in 12 fixtures); in France’s Ligue 1, Olympique Lyon has only let in 8 in 13 matches. Inter Milan and Juventus have the best defences in the Calcio, having conceded just 7 goals in 11 games (0.6 per match), while in the Premier League Chelsea have the best record in Europe of 4 goals against in 12 encounters.
Eto’o has scored 13 times in 10 League fixtures, giving him an average of 1.3 goals per game at a strike rate of one every 58.5 minutes. These are his best figures ever for this stage of the season.
No other striker has scored as many goals as Eto'o in Europe’s top leagues, and only two even come close. AZ Alkmaar’s Mounir El Hamdaoui has notched 13 in 10 like Eto'o, but unlike the Cameroonian has no European goals as Alkmaar haven’t qualified for any of the competitions.
Joan Laporta referred to the role Guardiola is playing as first team manager. The Barça president explained that the decision to make the Catalan the boss was highly related to the need to “stay faithful to our playing philosophy”. 
“We think he was the right man because of the knowledge he has. He is a man who was born in Santpedor, a little town in Catalonia, and who had managed Barça Atlètic well, who played at every level of our youth system, and who was promoted to the first team under Johan Cruyff. He had the privilege of being coached by him and won four leagues and the Champions League at Wembley. He then stayed on under Robson and Van Gaal”, reminisced Laporta. 
When we single out just Barcelona’s home games, the results are even more frightening. Three of the last four games at the Camp Nou, against Betis, Atlético Madrid, Almería and Valladolid) have ended with Barça winning by high margins.
One of Barça’s best goalscorers this season has been Eidur Gudjohnsen, who scored the fifth against Valladolid (6-0). He has only played in five games this season, but has scored in three of them, which means he has now scored more goals this season than he managed in all 23 of his appearances last term.
The FC Barcelona delegation was headed by President Joan Laporta along with the director general of the Fundació FC Barcelona, Marta Segú, who were in the Belgian capital to present the conclusions of their study. 
According to the president, “at FC Barcelona we understand that these are very interesting recommendations and we shall apply such items as this anti-racism and anti-discrimination clause to all of our contracts with players and sponsors”. Laporta also said that the issues raised “will be studied by the corresponding forums”. 
This was the first time a sporting body has joined forces with Unesco and the European Parliament to produce a joint project to eradicate racist and violent behaviour. In this sense, the president of FC Barcelona wished to highlight the unconditional support the first team squad have given to all of the anti-racism campaigns the club has been involved in.
