FC Barcelona News

Lionel Messi showed once again why he is so great, with another hat trick scored against Zaragoza on Sunday night. He had been in doubt for the match thanks to a tooth abscess, but gave Barça an early lead in the 4th minute.

Although they dominated the first half the visitors were unable to put away another goal and it was only after the break that Messi scored number 2, in minute 65. Messi didn’t want to stop at two goals though and a few minutes later it looked like that was going to be it, with a 3-0 score for Barcelona.

However, Zaragoza decided otherwise when Colunga put away a goal just 6 minutes from the end. And clearly that wasn’t enough as 5 minutes later he scored another. Just when that looked like it was going to be the end result, a penalty was awarded to Barcelona for a tackle of Messi; Ibrahimovic scored from the spot in the 90th minute, an exciting end to the night.

0-1, Messi (min 4)
0-2, Messi (min 65)
0-3, Messi (min 77)
1-3, Colunga (min 84)
2-3, Colunga (min 89)
2-4, Ibrahimovic (pen, min 90)

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Pep Guardiola said that his team would be looking for goals, and last night he was as good as his word; FC Barcelona’s decisive 4-0 win over Stuttgart clearly sent out a message that the Catalans intend to be there at the Madrid final on Saturday 22nd May 2010 and Barça’s fans were chanting as much last night.

Barça’s dominated possession throughout in front of a packed Nou Camp and the first goal wasn’t long in coming – in the 12th minute Leo Messi ran forward into the Stuttgart area and shot the ball over the keeper, looking almost like it wouldn’t go in. Immediately Stuttgart staged a counter attack, but it fizzled out against Barcelona’s defence.

Barça kept up the attack, which paid off again in minute 22 when an extended attack on the Stuttgart goal went rewarded with a goal from Pedro.

Barcelona continued to control the game through the rest of the first half and while there were more opportunities, nothing went home. Back on after the break, Messi continued to threaten the Germans and in the 59th minute Alves passed the ball back to Messi on the edge of the box, who put the ball into the net to make it 3-0.

Not content with what was almost certainly going to be a clear victory, Barça kept up the pressure. And when Bojan came on in place of Iniesta he was able to put his talent to good use, scoring in the 89th minute.

1-0 Messi (min 12)
2-0 Pedro (min 22)
3-0 Messi (min 59)
4-0 Bojan (min 89)

The draw for the quater finals takes place on Friday. Apart from FC Barcelona, the following teams remain in the Champions League:

Bordeaux
Inter Milan
Bayern Munich
CSKA Moscow
Lyon
Arsenal
Manchester United

We will have tickets for the home leg of the quarter finals (30/31 March and 6/7 April) although supply will be subject to UEFA ticketing regulations. For current availability of Barcelona Tickets see the home page.

Leo Messi was the star of Sunday night’s match against Valencia at the Nou Camp, where the 3-0 result against third placed Valencia showed why he is considered the best player in the world.

Despite a goalless first half in which Valencia often gained the advantage from Barça and with a number of missing players on both sides – Ibrahimovic, Puyol, Keita, and Abidal were all absent from the Barcelona line-up – it was never going to be an easy victory, but with the introduction of Henry in the second half things started to gel for Barça.

FC Barcelona’s first goal came from Messi in the 55th minute, when he beat three players to put the ball in the net. Valencia responded by bringing on Zigic, who went all out to equalise; luckily Valdes made a great save. And when Maduro brought down Messi and received his second yellow card of the night the balance was tipped firmly in Barcelona’s favour.

Messi went on to score his second goal in minute 80, assisted by Henry; and just two minutes later scored his forth hat trick for Barça and a standing ovation.

FC Barcelona’s next match is on Wednesday, when they place Stuttgart in Champions League. After a 1-1 draw in the away leg, they’ll be looking for a clear victory to take them to the next stage of the championship.

1-0, Messi (min 55)
2-0, Messi (min 80)
3-0, Messi (min 82)

See the homepage for more information on Barcelona Tickets for the remainder of the 2009/2010 season.

While it looked like Barcelona should have won easily against Almeria on Saturday night, a 2-2 draw meant that Real Madrid ended the weekend at the top of the Spanish League.

With 62 points apiece, it is Real Madrid that sits in the top position after keep their 100% home record in an exciting match against Sevilla – the final score was 3-2.

Things got off to a bad but not insurmountable start when Cisma scored for Almeria  in minute 11. With Barcelona dominating possession it came as little surprise when Leo Messi scored at the end of the first half off a free kick.

However, after the break came disaster; Puyol challenged an attack from Almeria and sent the ball into his own net, not something he’ll be happy with. And then a few minutes later Ibrahimovic received his marching orders from the ref after contact with Cisma.

With one man down, the odds were now against Barcelona. However, some luck was with them as Leo Messi scored his second equaliser of the night, although he was unable to make it a hat trick and keep Barcelona at the top of the table.

Next Saturday’s match will be important for Barça; third place Valencia visits the Nou Camp in a match that could easily see Barcelona drop more points.

1-0 Cisma (min 11)
1-1 Messi (min 42)
2-1 Puyol (min 56, own goal)
2-2 Messi (min 66)

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Barcelona retained their 2 point lead over real Madrid on Saturday night as both teams won their respective matches. Madrid paid a visit to Tenerife who they thrashed 5-1, while Barça played hosts to Malaga for an entertaining match which wasn’t won quite so convincingly.

It was good to see Dani Alves back in the starting lineup after being off thanks to injury but while Barcelona dominated possession of the ball they found it difficult to actually do anything with it and time and time again throughout the match the ball went wide.

Although the first half was goalless it was at least exciting, but the 0-0 result at the break was hardly deserved. After the break though, Barcelona’s fortunes changed, with a goal from Pedro in the 68th minute. Malaga still had fight in them and continued to cause problems for Barça; and so it was in the 80th minute that Valdo put the equaliser  into the net for the visitors.

Barça’s downturn in fortune didn’t last long though. Just three minutes later Messi scored for Barcelona, thereby sealing three important points for FC Barcelona. It appeared that Ibra scored afterwards to make it 3-1, but the goal was denied, although it is hard to see why.

1-0, Pedro (min 68)
1-1, Valdo (min 80)
2-1, Messi (min 83)

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Despite higher possession of the ball during last night’s Champions League match against Stuttgart, FC Barcelona gave the impression of a team struggling to get things together. Apart from Messi testing the German defence a couple of times early on, Barcelona did very little of note during the first half; in fact both sides played uninspired football that was uninteresting to watch.

Despite Stuttgart’s lower possession it was the home team who did most with the ball, going at the Barcelona goal again and again. And of course the inevitable happened at 25 minutes with a header from Cacau.

Returning to the pitch after half time, Barcelona had used the break to pull themselves together, resulting in a much more interesting game. Their dominance was not unrewarded for long with a 52nd minute equaliser from Ibrahimovic. However, the rejuvenated visitors were unable to put away another goal to give them the away win they would have wanted.

Barcelona now have the advantage going into the home leg. With an away goal and one point from the match, let’s hope they show better form on 17th March at the Nou Camp.

Click here for tickets for FC Barcelona versus Stuttgart at the Nou Camp

1-0 Cacau (min 25)
1-1 Ibrahimovic (min 52)

Barcelona pushed five points clear of Madrid for the space of 24 hours, after which Real Madrid closed up the gap and showed they were serious contenders too.

After FC Barcelona’s 4-0 victory against Racing de Santander on Saturday they could be forgiven for giving themselves a pat on the back; that is, until Real Madrid’s 6-2 win against Villarreal the following day.

Barça face Stuttgart on Tuesday and so had no break from training yesterday. They’ll be hoping for a better result than than Madrid last week but this morale boosting win will give them some encouragement against the German side, which beat Cologne 5-1 at the weekend and so is no slouch.

1-0 Iniesta (min 6)
2-0 Henry (min 29)
3-0 Márquez (min 34)
4-0 Thiago (min 84)

It had to happen at some stage – and with a much weakened defence thanks to injury and suspension, Barcelona finally lost their first Spanish League match against Atletico Madrid. With Real Madrid beating Xerez 3-0 on Saturday, that leaves just a 2 point advantage over their arch rival.

The Barça line up looked very unfamiliar thanks to the number of absent players, but within the first few minutes the already long injury list was even longer when Seydou Keita limped off the pitch to be replaced by Pedro – he is expected to be out of action for four weeks.

And then, in the eighth minute, Forlán ran to pick up the ball behind the Barça defence and past Victor Valdes. Atletico’s second goal of the night came from a free kick in the 22nd minute, scored by Simao.

Barcelona picked themselves up with the result that Ibrahimovic scored from a corner in minute 26. However, they were looking a little ragged and not up to their usual standard.  In the second half the team looked rather tired and despite Xavi being replaced by Bojan Krkic, the visitors were unable to find the strength to equalise.

All in all a disappointing result, but at the end of the day, one that had to be expected at some stage – with several key players out this weekend, the chances of Barcelona’s record ending this weekend were always high.

1-0 Forlán (min 8 )
2-0 Simao (min 22)
2-1 Ibrahimovic (min 26)

To find out how the rest of the season pans out first hand, go and see Barça at the Nou Camp. You can check out details of tickets for forthcoming Barcelona matches on the homepage.

Barcelona retain their 5 point lead over Real Madrid this weekend after both teams won their respective matches. While Madrid soundly beat Barcelona’s second team, RCD Espanyol, Barça won against Getafe despite finishing the match with just 9 players.

Barça started strongly, resulting in a great goal from Messi in the sixth minute. However, when a harsh decision from the ref resulted in Pique’s expulsion for a foul on Rafa in minute 25 the game changed.

One man down meant Barça were unable to dominate the game in their normal style, but Victor Valdes held up well in goal. Meanwhile Barcelona were on the counter attack and in the 66th minute Xavi scored after being set up by Messi. And at the very last minute Marquez was quite unfairly sent off; Getafe score in minute 92 from the penalty spot to make it 2-1.

1-0, Messi (min 6)
2-0, Xavi (min 66)
2-1, Soldado (min 92)

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Barcelona narrowly held on to their five point advantage over Real Madrid on Saturday night with a 1-0 victory over Sporting de Gijon.

Despite numerous opportunities in the first half, Barcelona managed to score just once – a Messi free kick picked up by Iniesta, passed to Pedro, and into the back of the net.

The second half saw the home team strengthen their attack, but while it loosened Barça’s dominance of the game they failed to score and the final score remained 1-0 to the visitors.

0-1, Pedro (min 29)

The match against Sporting Gijon marked the start of the second half of the season. With plenty more matches to go, make sure you reserve your tickets to see FC Barcelona this year.