Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu played the role of Santa as he handed out presents to the entire Blaugrana squad. The 53-year-old, who succeeded Sandro Rosell as the president of the Catalan giants in 2014, visited the team’s dressing room to give all the Barcelona players and staff their Christmas gifts on the day of the Catalan derby.
Barcelona enjoyed a successful 2016 winning the La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish super cup. The only setback of the year was the loss to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinal.
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The Blaugrana players and coaches received a brand new iPhone 7 128GB which is priced at €879; whereas the medics, physios and kit-men were given the 32GB version of the same mobile phone, which is worth €769. Bartomeu delivered the presents after Barcelona's 4-1 demolition of Espanyol as the quartet of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar and Gerard Pique were handed early Christmas breaks and were exempted from training this week.
Luis Enrique’s side ended the year on a high with two blistering home wins over Espanyol and Hercules and it precisely was the Christmas present that the Barcelona fans hoped for from their beloved team. The Cules would also be relieved because of the fact that summer signing Paco Alcacer finally scored his first goal for the club.
The former Valencia striker scored in the 7-0 thrashing of Hercules in the second leg of the round of 32 Copa del Rey tie. Alcacer scored the 5th goal of the game, subsequently opening his account for the Catalan giants in his 12th appearance.
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique was delighted with Alcacer and said that he never had any doubts about the 23-year-old's quality. “I have not felt wrong for him because these are things that happen in football, although we were all looking forward to his first goal,” Luis Enrique said during the post-match press conference.
“We know him and he does not give us any doubts. I am content with the performance of Paco and for all the players.”
Meanwhile, the Catalan giants didn’t forget to wish their fans a Merry Christmas as they posted a video on the club’s official YouTube channel. Also, the reigning La Liga champions had launched a Christmas campaign called, 'Regala Il·lusions, regala Barça'.
Barcelona return to La Liga action on the 9th of January when they travel to the El Madrigal to take on Villareal.
