There will be a very strange atmosphere at the Camp Nou on Wednesday May 6, when Barcelona host Bayern Munich in their Champions League semi-final first leg, and ex-Barca coach Pep Guardiola returns “home” with his new team.

LA LIGA

Barcelona 0 Malaga 1: Barcelona’s shock 0-1 defeat at home to Malaga in La Liga on Saturday has again darkened the mood around the Catalan club, ahead of tomorrow night’s Champions League last 16 first leg at Manchester City.

Agent Jorge Mendes has not ruled out David de Gea leaving Manchester United for Real Madrid because of the way situations can rapidly change in football.

Open a Catalan sports newspaper, or turn on sports radio in Barcelona, and you will quite likely see or hear Luis Suarez talking about his new club or his past issues.

Unless Real Madrid president Florentino Perez unveils yet another galactico before the transfer window shuts tonight, Barcelona will be La Liga’s biggest spenders this summer — having spent over €155 million on seven different players.

The process of making Luis Suarez a Barcelona player has been managed very cleverly, but fitting another high-profile attacker into the blaugrana team could well prove much more difficult.

Luis Suarez’s potential move to Barcelona is very much back on, thanks to the Liverpool player’s ‘apology’ for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

Every reporter knows that ‘Man bites dog’ is a good story. This week’s global media storm has also taught us that ‘Luis Suarez bites opponent’ is big news, but in many different ways.

Barcelona’s reaction to the news that it had been banned from making transfers by Fifa has shown yet again that the Camp Nou club’s directors operate at a level well below that of its football team.

It was foggy last Sunday lunchtime in suburban Madrid, but reporters at Getafe v Rayo Vallecano could still make out the well wrapped-up figure of Phil Neville sitting in the plusher seats directly in front of the press box.

In La Liga’s latest example of club chiefs writing cheques their teams can’t cash, Barcelona announced last Monday that its socios would vote in the new year on whether to spend 300m “remodelling” their current stadium or at least 600m on a new ground elsewhere in the city.

For a few minutes on Tuesday evening, it seemed that all Cristiano Ronaldo’s efforts against Sweden were in vain.

Madrid’s sporting press has been revelling in their side’s thumping 3-1 Copa del Rey semi-final second leg victory over Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Tuesday night, which sent Jose Mourinho’s side through to May’s final, while setting them up nicely for Wednesday’s Champions League last 16 second leg at Manchester United.

Celtic’s memorable Champions League victory over Barcelona on Wednesday received widespread acclaim in Spain.

While many fans and reporters in Ireland and Scotland hailed a brave and disciplined performance by Celtic on Tuesday night at the Camp Nou, lamenting their bad luck at losing to Jordi Alba’s 94th minute winner, most observers in Spain saw a different game.

Javier Mascherano is on the verge of extending his contract with Barcelona until 2016.

Jordi Alba’s €14m transfer to Barcelona that was completed on Wednesday has taken the number of Barca players in the current Spanish squad to eight and he has been welcomed with open arms by another new team-mate who did not make it to the European Championship.

Ever since an April night in 1966 when Tommy Docherty was accused of flooding the Stamford Bridge pitch to get a semi-final postponed, Barcelona-Chelsea has for some reason been a fixture with an edge to it.

Spanish media hailed Barcelona’s Lionel Messi on Wednesday as “a living legend” and “eternal” after the Argentinian became the club’s highest goalscorer of all time.

SUPERSTITION in football is an almost endless topic; there’s enough material for a good-sized book.

THIRTY seconds from the end of the game in the Bernabeu stadium on Saturday, with Real Madrid trailing 3-2 to Zaragoza, the fourth official flashed up a board indicating there would be 100 minutes of added time.

Shakira was robbed by a fan during a concert.

FAIR result, unfair ref.

THERE are four dedicated sports tabloid newspapers in Spain. Two unashamedly row in behind Real Madrid, the other two behind Barcelona.

HOWARD WEBB’S appointment as referee for the World Cup final has been greeted with dismay by the Spanish press.

Lionel Messi’s recovery from a thigh injury is progressing so well he is ready to return to Barcelona, according to Argentina team doctor Raul Madero.

Barcelona could have few complaints about their Champions League exit at the hands of Liverpool, according to the consensus in the Spanish press today.