Barcelona’s prized signing Cesc Fabregas could be playing for his new
club by Wednesday after his arrival was announced during the opening leg
of the Spanish Supercup series against Real Madrid, a 2-2 draw at
Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu.
The Spanish and European champions
held a 2-1 lead at halftime when they announced they had finally agreed a
deal with Arsenal to end their long-running pursuit of Cesc Fabregas.
The
deal, which is expected to be worth between 36 million euros ($A49.17
million) and 40 million euros ($A54.63 million), will be completed once
Fabregas signs his contract and undergoes a medical exam on Monday, the
two clubs said.
Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola said the
24-year-old playmaker could make his club debut on Wednesday at the Camp
Nou, when his team hosts Real for the return leg of the Supercup.
“Tomorrow
is the presentation and after that we see,” said Barcelona manager
Josep Guardiola, who didn’t believe relations between Arsenal and his
club had soured because of the protracted and sometimes awkward
negotiations for Fabregas.
“Last year we made an offer and they said no. All the time this situation is happening, it was tough negotiations.”
“We
are one more with him in the team in a year when we’ve got the Clubs
World Cup and a lot of games. We need more players and we need good
players.”
80,000 fans were in attendance for Wednesday’s 2-2 draw, which kicked off the new Spanish season.
Mesut Ozil gave Real a 13th-minute lead before David Villa and Lionel Messi put Barcelona ahead at the break.
Real’s Xabi Alonso then levelled the tie nine minutes into the second half.
Guardiola, who remains unbeaten as manager in the Santiago Bernabeu, remained cautious over Wednesday’s second leg.
“We hope that with our crowd we will have an advantage,” he said.
“I’m satisfied with our efforts tonight, but they were dangerous.
“We
have had a limited time together with some players only back training a
matter of days. Dani Alves, Abidal and Adriano kept us in it at times
so I am especially happy with them.
“My players made a titanic effort to hold up against Madrid in this heat.”
Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas was pleased with Madrid’s performance.
“We’ve
played well, passed the ball around and we’re happy, little by little
we’re getting there, we’ll go to Barcelona to try and win the trophy,”
he said.
Madrid started strongly and were rewarded with the first
goal as Ozil cooly slotted home with his right foot after good work on
the right from Karim Benzema.
It wasn’t until the 35th minute
that the Catalans managed their first attack and from nowhere Villa
equalised with a curling right foot shot from the left hand edge of the
penalty area.
Madrid responded with the better attacking play,
but it was Messi who took advantage of defensive mistakes by Pepe and
Sami Khedira to stroke the ball into the net in first-half injury time.
The
hosts found an equaliser however neither team looked likely to win the
game in the final minutes, with both content to keep possession and play
down the clock.
Jose Maria Callejon and Fabio Coentrao appeared
in the second half to make their Real Madrid debuts while Xavi, Pique
and Pedro came of the the bench for Barcelona.
All should find themselves involved at some stage on Wednesday when the first title of the season will be decided.
