Barcelona’s 2-0 victory against Osasuna last night leaves them top of the table, at least until Real Madrid plays their match tonight.
The match was hard fought, with Barça unable to break the Osasuna defense. However, a change of tactics and the introduction of Pedro in the second half turned the tables for a 2-0 win with goals from Ibra and Bojan.
Tags: Bojan, Ibrahimovic, Osasuna
Yesterday’s training session ahead of the Osasuna match tonight saw Xavi and Abidal continue their recovery.
Nineteen players participated in the training session, the warm day contrasting with the snowy conditions of two weeks ago. One player looking unlikely to be fit is Pique, whose knee injury will almost certainly rule him out of the match.
The previous clash with Osasuna resulted in a 1-1 draw, but the team is down in 13th place and has won just 8 matches compared with Barcelona’s 21.
Piqué and Milito limped off the pitch within minutes of each other during Sunday’s match against Zaragoza, the former with a knee problem while Milito suffering pain in his calf.
While the squad returned to training on Monday morning, ahead of their clash with Osasuna on Wednesday, Piqué trained apart as he continues to suffer discomfort in his left knee. Both players had medical checks on Monday morning, but Milito was able to participate in full training.
Leo Messi scored yet another hat trick for Barça last night in an exciting 4-2 victory against Zaragoza.
Going one goal up within the first five minutes, the remainder of the first half saw the ball controlled by the visiting Barcelona. However, after the break the scores really started to be notched up.
With FC Barcelona 3-0 up it looked as if the final score was already decided. However, the last 6 minutes saw 2 goals from Zaragoza and a last minute penalty by Barça. The resulting three points keeps them tying with Real Madrid on points, although second in the league table.
Tags: Ibrahimovic, Messi, Zaragoza
The draw for the quarter and semi-finals of Champions League took place earlier today, with the result that FC Barcelona will face Arsenal in the next round.
The first quarter final leg against Arsenal will take place on 30/31 March at Emirates stadium in North London, while the return leg will be at the Nou Camp on 6/7 April.
The winner will play Inter Milan or CSK Moscow in the semi-final on 20/21 and 27/28 April, with the final taking place in Madrid on 22 May.
Tags: Arsenal, Champions League, Quarter-final
While squad members who played the full ninety minutes against Stuttgart on Wednesday took a rest from training yesterday, the others resumed training, including recovery work for Busquets, Abidal and Xavi.
The entire squad will be training this morning ahead of Sunday’s match against Zaragoza. The session is due to start at 10:30 at the Ciutat Esportiva in Sant Joan DespÃ.
Goals from Messi, Pedro and Bojan kept Stuttgart largely out of the game last night, when FC Barcelona beat the German side 4-0 at the Nou Camp.
After their disappointing 1-1 draw in the first leg, Bar̤a went all out to score; completely dominating the match they whipped the Nou Camp into a party mood, with plenty of exciting from play, much of it Рas usual Рfrom Leo Messi, who scored twice.
The aggregate 5-1 victory firmly puts Barcelona through to the quarter finals where there are surely one of the favourites to take the Champions League trophy, to be played this year in Madrid. The draw takes place on Friday, with the quarter finals being played at the end of March and beginning of April.
1-0 Messi (min 12)
2-0 Pedro (min 22)
3-0 Messi (min 59)
4-0 Bojan (min 89)
Tonight FC Barcelona faces Stuttgart in one of its most important matches of the year so far. After the 1-1 draw in Germany, Barcelona needs a 0-0 draw or a victory to ensure it goes through to the next round.
Pep Guardiola has decided on victory over a draw, telling his players to go and score goals. Meanwhile Dani Alves has said that the squad needs to operate at 200% tonight in order to ensure they go through to the next round.
FC Barcelona confirmed yesterday that it planned on a summer tour of Asia. However, it has been unable to firm things up yet due to the world cup. Several Barça players will be involved, after which they are due 30 days holiday, leaving a one week window in August for the tour to take place.
Tags: Asia, Summer 2010, Tour
FC Barcelona faced one of the season’s biggest challenges last night, when third placed Valencia visited the Nou Camp.
A number of key players were missing from both squads, but Valencia were able to unsettle Barça’s rhythm by frequently taking the ball off them, making it a very uneasy first half for the Catalans. However, with Henry brought on in the second half Messi finally put one in the net for Barça in minute 55.
And when Valencia went one man down thanks to a second yellow card for Maduro the game started to go more in Barcelona’s way; Messi scored in the 80th and 82nd minute to make it his fourth hat-trick for Barça and earned a standing ovation from the crowd towards the end of the match.
While Barcelona kept hold of the three points available to them, so did Real Madrid. The two clubs are equal on points, with Madrid topping the league.
