Barcelona: Newly crowned Spanish champion Barcelona celebrated winning the league title in front of their home fans by easing to a 2-1 victory over Valladolid on Sunday. While rain and dropping temperatures threatened to dampen the party in the stands, Barcelona had little trouble keeping alive its bid to equal Real Madrid's 2012 record haul of 100 points even without the injured Lionel Messi.
The weather cleared up in time for Messi to join the rest of his team-mates to receive the trophy, which captain Carles Puyol handed over for coach Tito Vilanova and defender Eric Abidal to lift to the cheers of the Camp Nou crowd in recognition of the serious health problems both have come back from this season.
"We won the league, but the most important thing is that Eric and Tito are with us," said Puyol, before adding the traditional battle cry of "Long live Barca! And long live Catalonia!"
Vilanova underwent surgery in December to remove a second throat tumor in two years, and only returned after receiving further cancer treatment for 10 weeks in New York. He is set to return to New York this week for more tests. Abidal, meanwhile, returned to the pitch recently after having recovered from a liver transplant last year....
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08:26 AM, May 20, 2013
Madrid: As well as putting Barcelona a step closer to winning La Liga, Saturday's 1-0 home win over Levante showed that defender Eric Abidal is fit enough to play a full match after making a remarkable recovery from a liver transplant. The former France international played at centre back alongside Adriano, the first time the 33-year-old has completed 90 minutes in more than a year, and proved he is a...
03:15 PM, Apr 21, 2013
Madrid: FC Barcelona defender Eric Abidal explained that he is still unsure about his future at the football club. The French international returned to action in Barcelona's 5-0 home win over Mallorca a fortnight ago and 402 days after undergoing a liver transplant as he had been diagnosed with a liver tumour in 2011, reports Xinhua. He did not play in Barcelona's Champions League game against Paris Saint Germain (PSG)...
05:46 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Barcelona: Barcelona will be without goalkeeper Victor Valdes and defender Eric Abidal for Sunday's match at Atletico Madrid. The Spanish club said that Valdes has not recovered from a left-foot injury that kept him out of last weekend's game also. Abidal will be sidelined after hurting a muscle in his left leg during Friday's training session. Abidal recently returned from a liver transplant. Barcelona can clinch the Spanish league title... 
