FC Barcelona dropped some more points on the road in Galicia against Celta de Vigo, in what was far from a great performance. With the title pretty much sewn up and a tough Champions League pairing against Paris Saint-Germain coming up, this result is hardly something to lose sleep over though.
Here are the ratings for last night’s match:
German referee Wolfgang Stark will blow the whistle in Tuesday’s Champions League encounter between PSG and FC Barcelona. Stark is no stranger to the Catalan club, having presided over seven other Barça matches in Europe, including games against Chelsea, Real Madrid and Milan in recent years. What do you all think of this choice of referee?
Will we ever see Lionel Messi take a penalty kick again? Referees do make mistakes but this was unforgivable!
Good news coming from the official website. Both Xavi (33) and Jordi Alba (24) have been given the medical green light to play against Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final.
The two players both came back injured after Spain’s qualifying games for the world cup in Brazil 2014 against Finland and France.
Galician tie 2-2 Galician empanada
“We have a cushion of points so big that in the end we slept … and I beat records even half awake.”
Cartoon by Caye
With 9 rounds left to play in the Liga campaign, FC Barcelona need only 16 more points to be assured of the title. This number will change depending on results in the coming weeks.
Image: PEP MORATA
RETURN OF GOLD
Celta 2-2 Barça
Messi achieves 19 games scoring, has scored on all teams, and has 43 goals in the league
Leo and Tello formed a lethal duo and only a final lapse of concentration denied Barça the win
Abidal receives an big ovation
A grey Madrid continues at 13 from Barça
THE PERFECT RETURN BY MESSI
Leo scored in Balaídos and completed 19 games in a row scoring
And Abidal returns to the field
Celta 2-2 Barça
A point more with the ‘substitutes’
Watch the goals from last evening’s draw against Celta Vigo after the jump!
After a long international break, FC Barcelona gets back to action in a difficult visit to the northern Spainish city of Vigo. Despite almost two weeks with no competitive action, the culés have been busy in the news this week. The return of Tito Vilanova to Barcelona’s training sessions, as well as Eric Abidal’s long awaited comeback to the squad are without a doubt the best news the team could have gotten this whole season. Both have been fighting disease and are slowly coming back to where they belong, the pitch.
totalBarça welcomes you all to the Liga game between Celta Vigo and FC Barcelona!
(Saturday March 30, 2012 @ 18:00 Barcelona time - Convert to local time). We also have the return of the Match Countdown Timer at the right side of the main page above the Search bar!
Mou sends some videos to PSG about how to beat Barça
Lesson 1: cry before the match … lesson 2: cry during the match … lesson 3: cry after the match
Cartoon by Caye
WORRIED ABOUT XAVI
His injury: muscle fatigue on his right femoral biceps
Celta – Barça (18h)
He will not play in Vigo but he will against PSG
FIFA virus left Barça without Alba, Pedro and Xavi
TITO IS BACK AND ABIDAL TRAVELED WITH THE TEAM
His message to the players: “Thank you for all your love and effort”
Abi could fulfill his dream 400 days after
Celta – Barça (18h) Messi is looking for the perfect second leg
This Friday at 16:30, FC Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova was back on the pitch of the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper to lead the team’s training session. The players and staff had been hoping for his return and his presence at today’s session was well received. “Our leader is back and this is always important. It will be a boost for the squad,” assured Jordi Roura at the press conference before the session.
“I have wrecked the Merengue dignity in three short years … I want my third Champions League, but could not care less about the Décima … The clubs that I love are Inter and Chelsea, and I’ll always carry Barça in my heart … and after all of that, some Merengues are preparing this for me …”
Various Merengue support groups have called for a pro-Mourinho demonstration on April 6th
“… I really am the F***king boss.”
Cartoon by Caye
Seven years separate two games, with different teams, in different competitions, but the venue is the same. Stade de France in Paris has become a special stadium for Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdés, the venue for two career changing performances.
El Pivote (The Pivot) is a totalBarça column by Anoop Jethwa about the trials and tribulations of FC Barcelona. From the positives to the negatives, this piece will dive deep into the living fabric that is blaugrana. We welcome your thoughts and feedback in the comments section.
El Pivote is back with a bang, taking issue with a renowned Spanish football expert and adding flesh to the bone of the possession conundrum.
FC Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernández has a strain in the hamstring muscle of his right leg, according to the Club’s Medical Services. The medical team in its statement didn’t note a specific amount of recovery time for Xavi. Instead, the progress of his recovery “will determine his availability for the next match[es].”
Regardless of who it bothers, I have blind faith in the Culé philosophy … and that’s because I’m a Madridista, but I’m not dumb.”
Cartoon by Caye
FC Barcelona’s second training session of the week took place this Wednesday with most of the squad back following the round of international games on Tuesday. All the available players trained on pitch no. 2 of the Ciutat Esportiva with the exception of Messi, Mascherano, Busquets, and Xavi, who did physiotherapy indoors. Barça B players Oier, Muniesa, and Deulofeu worked with the first team today.
“Sometimes we may seem untouchable, oblivious to everything but it’s not true … one day I would like to invite someone to visit the locker room and he would be surprised. [...] Well, there is a guy who hunts for mushrooms, another visits Warner Park with friends on his day off, another goes to a restaurant to have dinner for 20 euros so he can go with all his crew … we are 26 years old guys, [we] are not so unusual. We try to do normal things, because we do not want fame to make us idiots, we go to the movies, for a walk with our partners and kids, go to the cinema … normal things, because that’s what we like.”
-Gerard Piqué, speaking about his normal life in an interview with El Pais. Continue reading »
It only took Marc Jurado from Barça’s Benjamí C (U10) team five seconds to evade a tackle and score the opener. Even more extraordinarily, it was the visitors that had taken the kick off!
Tito returns from New York
WELCOME HOME!!!
“And I hope that this is a trip with a layover in Barcelona … and with final destination Wembley.”
Cartoon by Caye
PEDRO SAVES THE WORLD CUP
He scored the goal which could take them to Brazil but he was injured during the match
France 0 – 1 Spain
La Roja, with an also decisive Valdés, were better than them and played Barça’s style
Tito is already at home and wants to play in Vigo
Messi could only get a draw
Ibra will play against Barça
FROM PARIS TO RIO
A goal by Pedro takes them closer to Brazil World Cup
Víctor Valdés was key to get the victory in Saint Denis
France 0 – 1 Spain
Ibra will be able to play in Paris
The heights were quiet an obstacle for Messi. Leo vomited during the half time
Spain defeated France in Paris 0-1 to take the lead in their World Cup qualifying Group I. The victory boosts Spanish hopes of automatic qualification for the 2014 finals in Brazil. The winning goal, scored by FC Barcelona winger Pedro, was notched in minute 58 as the player bundled the ball and his entire body over the line in front of despairing French keeper Hugo Loris. The victory seemed deserved after 90 minutes as Spain spurned several clearcut chances, most notably when Xavi fired over the bar when he seemed sure to score in the 5th minute. Both teams went close on occasion after that before Pedro finally broke the deadlock. French defender Paul Pogba was ejected from the match in minute 78 for his second yellow, giving his team no chance of an equalizer.
With three matches remaining, the battle for first place in the group will continue to be tight; the next round of qualifiers will take place in June and September.
Ex-Barça and current Paris Saint-Germain forward Zlatan Ibrahimović will be able to play in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals between PSG and FC Barcelona after the UEFA Appeals Body reduced the player’s suspension to one match this Tuesday.
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