Barça not at their best beats Mallorca 3-0

Posted on February 28th, 2011 by admin

FC Barcelona  travelled to Mallorca on Saturday, but without the Valdes, Alves, Puyol or Xavi. Barça seemed to take a little while to settle down and found it difficult to make any serious attempt on the Mallorca goal. However, after a couple of worthy attempts from Messi and Adriano, Messi scored the first of the night from a header in the 38th minute.

After the break Barça seemed much more with it and energetic and started to pile on the pressure. It was looking increasingly likely that a second goal would come, which eventually happened in the 57th minute, scored by David Villa; and a few minutes later Pedro scored a third goal for Barça.

While perhaps not Barça at their best, it was still a convincing win for the Catalans, who extended their lead at the top of the table after Madrid’s goalless draw against Deportivo.

0-1, Messi (min 38)
0-2, Villa (min 57)
0-3, Pedro (min 66)

Tags: Mallorca, Messi, Pedro, Villa

Barça beats Athletic after Arsenal disappointment

Posted on February 21st, 2011 by admin

This is the forth time this season that Barça has faced Athletic Bilbao. The first was a 3-1 win in the league; then came two draws in the Copa del Rey that saw Barça go through on away goals; and finally last night in the home leg of the Spanish league.

Athletic are always far from a walkover and this year, standing 5th in the league, was expected to be no different. And with Valdes and Puyol out from injury a victory was by no means certain.

However, David Villa quickly put one in for Barça in the fourth minute, giving the Catalans an early lead. Despite Barça’s strategy of all out attack, they were unable to score another and five minutes into the second half it was Athletic who scoredc from the penalty spot.

Villa almost made it two in the 69th minute; however, it was Messi who claimed the three points for Barça with a goal in the 77th minute.

Tags: Athletic Bilbao, Iraola, Messi, Villa

Barça loses first round semi to the Gunners

Posted on February 17th, 2011 by admin

FC Barcelona lost the first leg of the Champions League quarter finals last night after leading the match at the end of the first half.

While Barça made a slow start, it was only after Messi shot wide that the Catalans found the form. Finally in the 26th minute David Villa struck the ball home to put the visitors into the lead.

Minutes later Messi appeared to have scored again, only to have it disallowed, although replays showed he was not offside.

The start of the second half didn’t look like it was going anywhere at all, but then Arsenal started to get into their stride and were looking dangerous. In the 78th minute Van Persie scored an equaliser for Arsenal; and 5 minutes later Arshavin scored again to put them into the lead.

0-1 Villa (min 26)
1-1 Van Persie (min 78)
2-1 Arshavin (min 83)

Tags: Arsenal, Arshavin, Van Persie, Villa

Barça winning streak ends

Posted on February 14th, 2011 by admin

An early goal from Sporting Gijon helped put an end to FC Barcelona’s record breaking winning streak on Saturday night when the Catalans played Sporting Gijon.

It was only 10 minutes from full time that David Villa managed to claw back a goal for an end result of 1-1. While it was unfortunate to drop 2 points, Barcelona remain 5 points ahead of Real Madrid after their defeat of Espanyol on Sunday.

The big match of the week though is Arsenal vs Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday.

1-0, Barral (min 16)
1-1, Villa (min 79)

Tags: Barral, Villa

Messi hat trick hands Barça new record

Posted on February 7th, 2011 by admin

Barcelona won their 16th consecutive league match on Saturday, beating the previous record of a run of 15 wins. Barça faced Atletico Madrid in a packed Nou Camp, with Leo Messi scoring all three goals, thereby reclaiming his position as  top goal scorer in La Liga.

Barça head the table on 61 points, with Real Madrid tailing on 54.

1-0, Messi (min 16)
2-0, Messi (min 28)
3-0, Messi (min 78)

Tags: Atletico Madrid, Messi

Barça reaches Copa del Rey final for 35th time

Posted on February 3rd, 2011 by admin

Barcelona secured their place in the Copa del Rey final last night after beating Almeria 3-0. It will be Barça’s 35th Copa del Rey final, which will be played on Saturday April 23rd, marked in Catalonia as Sant Jordi’s day – their opponent is Real Madrid.

0-1 Adriano (min 34)
0-2 Thiago (min 56)
0-3 Afellay (min 66)