FC Barcelona News
Barça win against Betis takes them a step closer to league title
May 6th, 2013After the disappointment of their devastating defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich, Barcelona bounced back on Sunday in their Spanish League draw against Betis at the Nou Camp.
Although an error by the Barça defence meant that Betis opened the scoring in the second minute, Alexis scored for the Catalans in the 8th minute to equalise and afterwards Barcelona had several more good opportunities to score but were just unable to put the ball home. Betis hadn’t finished though and after a second goal three minutes from the break, the visitors ended the first half in the lead.
Back on after the break it took a few minutes before David Villa scored to put the score level again. Villa was then substituted for Lionel Messi, who quickly scored to put Barça in the lead for the first time in the match. The Argentine was not yet finished though and scored his second in the 70th minute to seal the win for Barça.
0-1 Dorlan Pabón (min 1)
1-1 Alexis (min 8)
1-2 Rubén Pérez (min 42)
2-2 Villa (min 54)
3-2 Messi (min 59)
4-2 Messi (min 70)
Barcelona beats Rayo 3-1
March 18th, 2013After knocking out AC Milan from Champions League last week, FC Barcelona seems to be back on form and fully recovered from their dip in performance against Real Madrid recently.
It was the turn of Rayo Vallecano to visit the haloed turf of the Nou Camp and both sides went out of their way to score. Rayo is currently half way down the table, but came on playing to win. In the end though it was Barcelona, with Puyol and Xavi off through injury, who went ahead. First a goal from Villa and then from Messi a few minutes from the break. And back on again Messi again to make it 3.
Tamudo scored in the 69th minute for the visitors, but by then it was too late to stage a comeback and the match edned 3-1. With the first captains off through injury or, in the case of Victor Valdes, suspension the captaincy was handed to Inieta. When he came off the armband was handed to Leo Messi, his first ever time as Barça captain.
1-0 Villa (min 24)
2-0 Messi (min 39)
3-0 Messi (min 56)
3-1 Tamudo (min 69)
Barça turns around Milan advantage to qualify for Champions League quarterfinals
March 13th, 2013FC Barcelona overcame the odds last night to turn around their 2-0 defeat in the first leg of the Champions League knockout stage by Milan three weeks ago and make it through to the quarter finals with flying colours. The result of the first leg meant they had to make it 3-0 or better to ensure their place, a feat which according to Sky News had never been done before.
What was clear was that the squad came into the stadium intending to do all they could towards winning, whether or not it had been done before. Very quickly the Catalans showed who was in charge and Lionel Messi scored the first goal in the fourth minute. Soon after Milan had one of their only chances on an open Barcelona goal, which went badly wrong for the Italians when it rebounded off the post instead.
Four minutes before the half time break Messi scored his second of the night to at least put them on an even footing with Milan, a virtual reset for the second half.
Back on after the break, Villa soon made it three goals for Barcelona. Although it was still a good result, it would only take a goal from the visitors to take this round still and so Barcelona contunued pushing.
And in the closing minutes of the goal, that twilight period where things ciould easily have gone astray with a break from Milan, it was Jordi Alba who signed and sealed the result for Barça, with an injury time goal that made the 95,000 strong crowd ecstatic. Last night’s result makes it the sixth successive year that the Catalans have made it thorugh to the quarterfinals.
1-0 Messi (min 4)
2-0 Messi (min 38)
3-0 Villa (min 54)
4-0 Jordi Alba (min 92)
Barcelona beats Sevilla in cold night at the Nou Camp
February 25th, 2013Saturday night was Sevilla’s turn to visit the Nou Camp in cold conditions that saw snow over much of Catalonia. It was also Barça’s first match after the dissappointment of defeat at the hands of AC Milan and so they had something to prove.
Although Barcelona dominiated possession throughout, the first half ended with the visitors in the lead after a goal in the 41st minute by Botía, one of the only real challenges they had on the Barcelona goal.
However, after the break Barcelona came on with renewed determination to make something happen; the fans didn’t have long to wait with David Villa scoring with his head just six minutes in to the second half from a Dani Alves cross. And then, just a few minutes later Messi put the Catalans in the lead with the final goal of the match.
0-1 Botía (min 41)
1-1 Villa (min 51)
2-1 Messi (min 59)
Goals galore against Getafe
February 11th, 2013It was goals galore at the Nou Camp on Sunday after noon when Getafe visited the stadium for a match that was unusual in that it kicked off at midday. Attendence was one of the best of the season so far and many children taken to watch Barça play. And what a treat they were in for!
Alexis opened the scoring after 5 minutes, with Messi putting the Catalans two goals ahead at the 12 minute mark and looked to have the match completely under control. All the same, it wasn’t until the second half that the next goal came, scored by David Villa to make it 3-0 and pretty much wrap the game up. However, despite the pace slowing, Tello scored a fourth for Barça 20 minutes later.
Entering the closing phase of the match Getafe were able to strike back, with Álvaro scoring one for the visitors in the 82nd minute. But the Catalans had not yet finished and two more, from Iniesta and Piqué put the final score at 6-1.
1-0 Alexis (min 5)
2-0 Messi (min 12)
3-0 Villa (min 57)
4-0 Tello (min 77)
4-1 Álvaro (min 82)
5-1 Iniesta (min 89)
6-1 Piqué (min 91)
Barça decisively beats Cordoba for place in Copa del Rey Quarter final
January 11th, 2013FC Barcelona easily qualified for the Copa del Rey quarter finals last night after a 5-0 win against Cordoba, for an aggregate of 7-0. Goals came from Thiago just after the quarter hour mark, and two each from Villa and Alexis.
With Tito Vilanova in New York seeking a second opinion on the treatment for his salivary gland tumour, Jordi Roura was once agan in charge. While the result was good, Barça suffered two injuries; Sergi Roberto was replaced just after the second half started, while David Villa came off 12 minutes before the end with a thigh strain.
Barça will face Malaga in the quarter finals. The first leg will be played at home on January 16th, with the away leg on the 23rd.
1-0 Thiago (min 16)
2-0 Villa (min 20)
3-0 Villa (min 25)
4-0 Alexis (min 54)
5-0 Alexis (min 84)
Barça beats Alaves for last 16 of Copa del Rey
November 29th, 2012Barcelona made it through to the last 16 of the Copa del Rey last night after beating Alaves 3-1 in a match that saw the visitors score first.
Alaves scored the opener at the quarter hour mark, with the Catalans not up to their usual form at the start. However, the goal made them step up to the challenge and eventually Adriano scored just after the half hour mark to end the first half with one goal to each team.
Following the break it was David Villa’s chance to shine, in his first full match since returning from injury – he broke his leg during the Club’s World Cup, almost a year ago. Villa scored Barcelona’s second and third goals just after the start of the second half to give the home team a 3-1 win and to go through to the next round 6-1 on aggregate.
Barça’s next Copa del Rey challenge will be against Cordoba on December 12th at the Nou Camp.
0-1 Viguera (min 15)
1-1 Adriano (min 34)
2-1 Villa (min 55)
3-1 Villa (min 58)
Victory against Celta sees new record for Barça
November 5th, 2012Saturday night saw a new record created by FC Barcelona after they won their ninth match in 10 games when they played Celta at the Nou Camp.
The Catalans came on looking strong, dominating possession and looking like they meant business. Back in defence there was no Abidal or Piqué, while Puyol is going to be off for some time still after his horrific elbow dislocation.
The first goal came in the 20th minute from Adriano, set up by Pedro. However, soon after Mario Bermejo soon equalised for Celta. Barcelona quickly struck back though, when David Villa scored in the 25th minute to make it 2-1.
In the second half Villanova brought on Bartra in place of Cesc Fabregas to bolster Barça’s defence. Equally, Celta’s defence seemed difficult to break and it was only in the 60th minute when David Villa and Jordi Alba broke through to score. In the final half-hour the home team controled the balll with little sign of trouble, ending the game 3-1.
Barça’s new record was not the only cause for celebration. On Friday it was widely reported that Lionel Messi became a father for the first time.
1-0 Adriano (min 20)
1-1 Mario Bermejo (min 23)
2-1 Villa (min 25)
3-1 Jordi Alba (min 60)
Barça win opening match of Copa del Rey campaign
October 31st, 2012FC Barcelona opened their Copa del Rey campaign last night with a 3-0 victory against Alaves, relative minnows from division 2B. While several key players were rested, the Barça squad still boasted some regular players with just a single B team player in the squad.
The hosts were showing that they weren’t a walkover and attacked the Barcelona goal, while falling back to defend when the Catalans broke through. However, in the end it was the big guns who counted, with a goal from Villa at the end of the first half followed by Iniesta and Cesc scoring one each after the break.
0-1 Villa (min 39)
0-2 Iniesta (min 49)
0-3 Fabregas (min 86)
Barça beats Rayo 5-0
October 29th, 2012FC Barcelona’s 5-0 win against Rayo Vallecano means Tito Vilanova has equalled the club’s record for the start of a season of 8 wins and a draw set by Louis van Gaal in the 1997/98 season. In the same match Lionel Messi became equal tenth highest scoring player in la liga.
The hosts started out with Rayo looking like they were going all out and came close to scoring in the first 15 minutes. However, in the 20th minute Cesc found David Villa who scored the opener and after that Barcelona settled into the match, dominating possession.
However, it wasn’t until the start of the second half that things really started to go Barça’s way, with Messi scoring the second goal just two minutes in. Rayo did continue trying but with Barça continuing to dominate possession their efforts just ran out of steam and the match ended with goals from Xavi, Cesc and Messi to end 5-0.
0-1 Villa (min 20)
0-2 Messi (min 47)
0-3 Xavi (min 78)
0-4 Fábregas (min 79)
0-5 Messi (min 88)
