With Barcelona having strengthened its squad over the summer, Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid face an ominous task in preventing the Catalans from winning a fourth straight Spanish title. In recent years Real has been known as La Liga's big spenders, with president Florentino Perez paying lavishly for high-profile figures like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Xabi Alonso, while Barcelona has been regarded as the club which nurtures its own talent through its famous youth system. However, this summer has been vastly different for the two giants of the Spanish game. Despite another league and Champions League double, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola looked for proven reinforcements. His number one target, Cesc Fabregas, finally made the move from Arsenal after yet another summer of rumors and conjecture. As a product of the Barca academy and close friend of a number of the players, there is little doubt that the former Arsenal captain will fit comfortably into the Camp Nou dressing room. Serie A players strike The players say the league isn't interested in negotiating. The league says the fault is entirely with the players. Italian football was in complete chaos Friday as Serie A players declared a strike that will delay the start of the season, which was scheduled for Saturday. “There's a lot of bitterness, because the conditions were there to avoid this strike,” said Italian football federation President Giancarlo Abete, who has been acting as a mediator in the conflict. “It appears incomprehensible considering the problems at the center of the discussion.” All 20 Serie A captains signed a document this month threatening a strike if a new collective contract was not signed before the season, and weeks of negotiations produced no resolution. The main conflicts are over two clauses the clubs want — one that would allow them to force unwanted players to train away from the first team and another that would make players pay a new government solidarity tax that applies to high-wage earners.
