Dani Alves might not have the pace he had when he first signed for the club in 2008 at 25 years of age, but he still remains a vital player for FC Barcelona. He has been criticized a lot this season, in part unfairly so, and blaming the defensive issues on him is unreasonable. Despite all the critics, I see Alves as one of the best Barça players this season. His ineffectiveness in attack at times or the space left open on his wing isn’t always his fault, yet in some people’s eyes, the blame is placed solely on him.

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It has been a rather difficult season for FC Barcelona. The illness of Tito Vilanova and the injuries suffered by many key players have made the season more or less a battle for survival, even though the Liga title has already been secured. We all know that some things can’t be controlled, such as Tito’s unfortunate illness, but could we have done something differently to prevent the injury problems we’ve faced this season? Could we have learned more from the previous seasons when the same problems occurred, though to a smaller extent?

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FC Barcelona’s recent loss to Bayern Munich has once again made the talk about “an end of an era” resurface. As eras remain impossible to determine while living in them, the media’s search for scandal isn’t something we should focus on. But there’s another question that has been brought up by various different parties that is worth asking; is the time of possession-based, attacking football with the formation of 4-3-3 over?

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If there’s one man in this FC Barcelona side who rarely gets the credit and appreciation he deserves, it’s midfielder Sergio Busquets. The old saying “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone” applies perfectly to him. In the match against Bayern Munich, he wasn’t literally gone, but he was effectively marked out of the game by the opponent. We witnessed the result.

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Víctor Valdés (31) shocked a culé or two earlier this season when it was announced that he would not renew his contract with FC Barcelona and that he wishes to leave the Camp Nou. Now, for the first time in ages, Barça has found itself in urgent need of a new goalkeeper, and at the same time, speculation over whether Valdés will leave this summer or stay until 2014 has emerged. These two factors are somewhat contradictory.

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For many years now, people have speculated over Xavi’s replacement. It’s well known that Xavi isn’t getting any younger, and as much as we’d all love for him to keep playing forever, his time on the field is coming closer to its end. Speaking of replacements, many have seen Cesc Fàbregas as one, many even think that he was brought from Arsenal to fill in for Xavi. During the last year or two, however, we’ve seen that Cesc is a very different player to Xavi. Luckily for us, we have another young La Masia graduate in the team who has loads of potential and looks likely to be able to fill Xavi’s shoes when the time is right. And that young midfielder goes by the name Thiago Alcântara.

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Ever since Tito Vilanova was appointed as FC Barcelona’s new coach, the team has broken many records, scored tons of goals, and played some beautiful football. Perhaps not as breathtaking as some of the best of the 2010/11-Barça, but still, beautiful. However, it hasn’t all been all smooth, as Barça’s defensive problems have come to the point where the team has managed to keep a clean sheet only 7 times in La Liga. How have we come to this?

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Barça is often called a “one-man-team”. And the one man in the team is naturally Leo Messi. Now with Messi out due to an injury, Barça is more or less forced to look for other options, and the truthfulness of the term “one-man-team” should be revealed. However, I am not entirely convinced that this is an accurate term to describe Barça at all.

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Barcelona continued their march towards the La Liga title with a very easy 5-0 home win over Mallorca, even without Lionel Messi. The Argentine’s replacement, Cesc Fàbregas, ended up scoring a hat trick, but the biggest news today was the return of Eric Abidal to the game.

Here are the ratings for last night’s match:

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Graphic: @sugwi

FC Barcelona got a precious away draw in Paris in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. The result could have been better, but it’s still a positive one on a night marred by Lionel Messi’s injury.

Here are the ratings for last night’s match:

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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:

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FC Barcelona salvaged their Champions League campaign with a vintage performance and 4-0 win over AC Milan after a 2-0 defeat in Italy. It wasn’t easy to turn the tie around, but an almost perfect collective performance ended up being enough to pull it off and send Barça to the quarterfinals.

Here are the ratings for last night’s match:

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In their last match before the decisive AC Milan clash for the Champions League, Barcelona cruised to an easy 2-0 win over the worst team in La Liga so far this season, Deportivo, despite resting most of their usual starters. There was hardly any drama, just a routine win that will hopefully provide some useful momentum for the Milan match.

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Barcelona’s slump has continued with a 2-1 defeat to a second string Real Madrid side at the Bernabeu. While the result has basically no effect on the team’s title hopes, it is still a very worrying sign of the team’s form, with a decisive clash against Milan approaching.

Here are the ratings for last night’s match:

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In what was one of their poorest European performances in recent years, FC Barcelona fell to a 2-0 away defeat at the San Siro against AC Milan on Wednesday, without creating a single clear cut goalscoring chance and putting their progression in the competition in serious jeopardy.

Here are the ratings for last night’s match:

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It was far from easy, but Barcelona put an end to a mini-streak of two league matches without wins on a road with a Messi-inspired 2-1 win at Granada, secured deep into the second half. The Argentine broke the 300-goal mark at the club and carried the team to yet another win in their quest for the league title. Here are the ratings for last night’s match: Continue reading »

Barcelona increased their lead at the top of La Liga with an emphatic 6-1 home win over Luis Garcia’s Getafe, in a match that was literally one way traffic from beginning to end, with six different players scoring the goals.

Read the ratings for this game after the jump!

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Barcelona dropped points on the road for the second consecutive time with a 1-1 draw at Mestalla. The performance and result were far from ideal, but still it is hardly a dent in the team’s title aspirations. Lionel Messi scored as usual, from the spot.

Here are the ratings for last night’s match: Continue reading »

FC Barcelona took a big step towards the Copa del Rey final with a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of the semifinals. While a win was within reach, this result still leaves everything in Barca’s hands for the second leg at Camp Nou.

Here are the ratings for today’s match:

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Barcelona’s Miniestadi was jumping as the teams took to the pitch in front of a sell out 16,000 crowd.

Top scorers in the Segunda Division, Barca B sat comfortably in 5th place going into this match whilst their 16th placed opponents Real Madrid Castilla were making their first trip to the miniestadi in 15 years and were hoping to do better than their last visit which resulted in a 5-0 loss back in 1998.

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FC Barcelona continued its great Liga campaign with an emphatic 5-1 win over Osasuna, made easier by playing against 10 men for more than half the match. Lionel Messi was the inevitable hero scoring no less than four goals and elevating his league tally to 33 in only 21 matches.

Here are the ratings for last night’s match:

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It was bound to happen at some point and it finally did at the Anoeta in the first match of the second half of the season, with Barcelona falling to a 3-2 defeat after leading 0-2 early in the first half. Piqué’s sending off was the turning point in a match that had seemed under control. This of course does not affect Barcelona’s league situation much, but it’s not the ideal result ahead of an all or nothing clash with Malaga for the Copa del Rey.

Here are the ratings for last night’s match:

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FC Barcelona couldn’t replicate its weekend performance against Málaga CF and a couple of glaring defensive mistakes led to a 2-2 home draw in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarter finals, despite playing against a 10-men Málaga at the end of the second half. Only a win or a 3+ goal draw will see Barcelona through at La Rosaleda.

Here are the ratings for last night’s match:

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FC Barcelona completed an almost perfect first half of the La Liga season with a great performance and 1-3 win at the always tricky El Rosaleda against Málaga CF. With yet another win, Barcelona now has 55 points out of 57 possible and seems to be cruising towards yet another La Liga title.

Here are the ratings for today’s match:

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Barça B made its intentions clear from the very first whistle, trying to launch an attack with the first touches of the game.

This set the tone for an entertaining match (when has Barça B not been entertaining this season?!) which showed the best and worst of the home side across the 90 minutes.

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FC Barcelona cruised past Córdoba 5-0 to secure a date with Malaga in the next round of the Copa del Rey after a 2-0 first leg away win in late 2012. Villa and Sanchez were the most inspired players, with a brace each, in what was ultimately a quite straightforward affair.

Here are the ratings for last night’s match:

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FC Barcelona picked up where it had left off in 2012, with an excellent performance and convincing win over city rival Espanyol. Xavi, Messi, and Pedro (twice) were on target in the first half and if anything, Barça was unlucky not to have scored more as it cruises to yet another La Liga title.

Here are the ratings for last night’s match:

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On Monday 7th January 2013, the winner of the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2012 will be announced at the FIFA Ballon d’Or gala.

In addition to the FIFA Ballon d’Or, a number of other awards will also be presented, including the Women’s World Player of the Year, the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s and Women’s Football,  FIFPro World XI, the FIFA Puskás Award, the FIFA Presidential Award, and the FIFA Fair Play Award.

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Eusebio Sacristan was delighted with his young side after they took all 3 points from their encounter at El Madrigal.

The ‘Yellow Submarine’ were always going to present a stiff challenge to Eusebio’s side, having been unbeaten at home all season, but the win sees them leapfrog their hosts into 5th place in the Segunda table.

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