FC Barcelona Schedule

Valencia put themselves into the lead against FC Barcelona at the Nou Camp with an eighth minute goal that left the stadium silent. However, as the Catalans got into the match they began to dominate. And once Lionel Messi, on his 200th league appearance, opened Barcelona’s scoring the Catalans proved to be unstoppable. According to TVNZ:

World Player of the Year Messi led the fightback with two goals in five minutes to put them ahead by the 27th minute as Pep Guardiola’s side responded with some irresistible football.

Messi went on to score four goals in total with another from Xavi to end the match 5-1. Barcelona remain 10 points behind Real Madrid, but have opened up their lead over third place Valencia.

Read “Messi fires four past Valencia” at TVNZ

Technorati Tags: La Liga, Messi, Valencia, Xavi

Barcelona knocked Valencia out of the Copa del Rey last night after goals from Cesc and Xavi. The aggreagate score was 3-1 after the 1-1 draw in teh first leg and Valencia went one man down thanks to two yellow cards. TVNZ News quoted Cesc Fabregas after the match:
“It’s been a very long road against [...]

Currently five points behind arch-rival Real Madrid, FC Barcelona needs to do everything it can to ensure no more points are lost in the league. With Real Madrid winning their match against Mallorca on Saturday, Betis looked like it would be a straightforward win. However:
Barcelona squandered a two-goal lead before seeing off 10-man Real Betis [...]

Barcelona thrashed Santos 4-0 to take the Club World Cup title in Japan on Sunday. Lionel Messi scored two, with Xavi and Cesc adding one each. According to The Sydney Morning Herald:
The clash between the European and South American champions in Japan had been billed as a showdown between Messi, widely acknowledged as the best [...]

Xavi was the hero of last night, with a narrow win against Granada coming from his free kick. While Barça dominated, their attacks ended up hitting the posts again and again, and they were unable to add a second goal to their tally. According to the FIFA website:
Although it was a less than emphatic success, [...]

Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique returned to match fitness on Saturday night, altough the latter player’s return was shortlived and he was replaced after it appeared that his old injury had flared up again.
Messi was the start of the show against Racing de Santander, and his two goals made his official tally for FC Barcelona [...]

After a couple of matches in which Barcelona drew, first against Real Sociedad in the Spanish League, and then against AC Milan in Champions League, the Catalans seems to have recovered their form in a match that saw them beat Osasuna 8-0.

Leo Messi scored three of those goals, and as well as an own goal to add to Barça’s tally, Villa scored a pair of goals, with Cesc And Xavi adding one each.