Tito Vilanova: 'I warned Gerard Pique at half time'

Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova has admitted that he told Gerard Pique to "be careful" before the defender was given a red card in their 3-2 defeat to Real Sociedad on Saturday.

The centre-back was dismissed in the second half for two bookable offences and Vilanova declared that he had warned the Spain international at the interval.



"At half time, I told Pique to be careful as his next foul would most likely result in a second caution," Vilanova told reporters after the game.



"Even if his sending off was for a clear foul, there must have been 200 other cases similar to his tonight. I don't have to add more."



The defeat ended a 19 game unbeaten run for Barca.


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Vilanova attends Barca training

Barcelona head coach Tito Vilanova has returned to the Catalan club's training base less than two weeks after undergoing surgery on a tumour in his throat.



The 44-year-old has temporarily stepped aside at the Nou Camp after it was confirmed he required a further operation on cancerous tissue near his parotid gland, having previously had saliva glands removed in November 2011.



Vilanova faces six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, with his assistant Jordi Roura assuming control of the first team, but the Barca boss was well enough to attend a training session on Wednesday.



A statement released on the Primera Division club's official Twitter feed read: "Tito Vilanova came to the Ciudad Deportiva this morning and greeted the players who trained there."



The news that their coach faced a second battle against cancer came on December 22, with Barcelona medical staff suggesting at the time that Vilanova could potentially combine his treatment with his first-team duties, should circumstances allow.



Club president Sandro Rosell revealed last week that he was optimistic Vilanova could return to work "within two or three weeks".



It remains unclear, though, whether Vilanova will be involved in preparing his players for Barca's home game with city rivals Espanyol this Sunday.

New coach: Messi makes the difference

Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova hailed the impact of Lionel Messi in his first game of pre-season after the Catalans ran out 8-0 winners over Raja Casablanca in Tangier.



The Argentinian scored a first-half hat-trick and combined to set up Alexis Sanchez twice as Barça raced into a 5-0 lead at the break.



Dani Alves then added a sixth from the penalty spot before Vilanova withdrew his stars for a host of youngsters and was rewarded with further goals from Sergi Gomez and Gerard Deulofeu.



Vilanova told the club's website: "When you have the world's best player, who has this capacity to score goals, he usually makes the difference. He proved it once again.



"We were warned of Raja's quality after watching their match against Athletic Bilbao, but we were ready when we came into the match. The young players also always deliver and they played at a very high level."



One man who did not feature was David Villa as he continues his recovery from a broken fibia suffered in December 2011, but Vilanova believes he is making progress.



"We're talking about a serious and long injury," he added. "When he's ready to play, we'll welcome him with open arms. He's made a lot of progress in the last month."



Messi, meanwhile, has said that he feels much fresher at this stage of pre-season than he has for a few years. He told El Mundo Deportivo: "I haven't been able to do a good pre-season for a long time because I always arrived late. It has been very good to have such a long rest."



"The way of training has continued in the same way and we are working with the same people so we haven't noted any changes," the Argentinian added.



"We are in pre-season and so you notice the tiredness. They kept the ball well and made us run a lot but we will get better with every game. We are training very hard and we have to continue like that to arrive in the best shape possible for the important matches."

Vilanova appointed Barcelona coach

Tito Vilanova has been formally confirmed as Pep Guardiola's successor as Barcelona coach, agreeing a two-year contract to take charge at the Nou Camp until June 2014.



Vilanova is due to sign his contract on Friday and then be presented to the media.



"FC Barcelona have come to an agreement with Francesc 'Tito' Vilanova," read a statement on Barcelona's website.



"This season's first team assistant manager will be the head coach of FC Barcelona for two seasons, through June 30, 2014. Vilanova will sign his new contract this Friday on June 15 at 1200."



Guardiola announced in late April that he would step down from his position as coach to take a sabbatical, with the club immediately nominating Vilanova to take over.



Vilanova, who will be the 16th Catalan manager of the club, spent five years as the assistant coach, helping Guardiola during the most successful period in the club's history.



Together they won two Champions League crowns, three La Liga trophies, one Copa del Rey, three Supercopas, two UEFA Super Cups and two FIFA Club World Cups.



However, this season ended in disappointment as they surrendered the league crown to rivals Real Madrid, and were knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-finals by eventual champions Chelsea.



Also on Wednesday, Barcelona agreed a one-year contract extension with sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta.



The 50-year-old Zubizarreta, whose previous deal was due to expire next summer, is now tied to the Primera Division giants until June 30, 2014.



There is also a clause in the agreement that would see the contract extended for an additional two years.



Former Barca and Spain goalkeeper Zubizarreta became sporting director at the Nou Camp in July 2010 after replacing fellow Basque Txiki Begiristain.