There are matches that need to be won to achieve goals.
There are matches that need to be won to earn trophies.
There are matches that need to be won to silence critics, win over fans or to amend the past.
Then there are matches which simply need to be won.
Like this match.
Saturday, March 6, 2010,. 20:00 CET – Estadio del Mediterraneo, Almeria
Constantly pursued, losing breath, slowing up and edging forever closer to the inevitable fate of being shackled in and cast aside. This is the current story of FC Barcelona and their pursuers, Real Madrid.
Continue reading »
Saturday, February 27, 22:00 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona
There are bigger fish to fry in La Liga than the one tonight for FC Barcelona, not withstanding all games are of significance and this game is another stepping stone to achieving the clubs ultimate goal of 2009/10.
Tonight, in the wake of the Blaugrana’s worst run of matches in 2010 wherein Pep Guardiola’s troops succumbed to debilitating results against Atletico Madrid and Stuttgart respectably, Barcelona will take on mid table Malaga CF who, despite their lacklustre squad ‘on paper’, their tendency to under perform against easier opposition and their ‘lower side of La Liga’ tag, have an impressive recent record and have already caused some hassle in the Catalunya camp.
The Estadio La Rosaleda played host to Malaga and Barcelona as the two sides began to enter their stride in the wake of the new season, the pitch may have that day been engulfed in a drenching sunlight, but it wasn’t long before a typhoon of hatred and brutality cast itself over the game as a blood-bath soon emerged between the two sides resulting in a mammoth 7 bookings in total as questionable refereeing saw to it that this number was held lower then could have been possible.
An enraged Barcelona entered the field instantly frustrated as Malaga opted for an aggressive all-out defensive approach as the Boquerones took aim against the Blaugrana players, resulting in Thierry Henrys early departure via a knock, enter Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who made the most of a sublime Lionel Messi chip to make it 1-0 for the Blaugrana, only for Gerard Pique to double the score line before full time despite Malaga coming frightfully close on numerous occasions.
aTuesday, February 23, 2010, 20:45 CET – Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart
UPDATED WITH VIDEO.
It could have been AC Milan, it could have been CSKA Moscow. It could have been Lyon, it could have been Bayern Munich.
It wasn’t. It was Stuttgart.
An inescapable smile crept over the faces of all Barcelona affiliates as what could be described as a ‘dream draw’ for the Catalans became a reality.
But that was then.
This is a featured post. Please scroll down for all the latest news.
Saturday, February 20, 20:00 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona
It was always bound to happen.
It has forever been instilled that all streaks and records must eventually come to an end as last week a depleted, injury-struck and flare-lacking FC Barcelona stepped into the inevitable path of defeat at the hands of the in form Atletico Madrid. A result that saw the Blaugrana lose their first game in La Liga this season.
Six days have passed since then and as the dust begins to settle in Catalunya, memories of last weekend are being swiftly cast away as the world champions gear up to face cellar-dwelling and out of form Racing Santander in a match that will be one of the greatest tests for an under pressure Barcelona. For the Catalans will not be judged on how they performed in their loss last week, but for the manner in which they bounce back from it.
This is a featured post. Please scroll down for all the latest news.
Sunday, February 14, 21:00 CET – Estadio Vicente Calderon, Madrid
Pique, out.
No problem, Marquez can be his back-up.
Marquez, out.
No matter, there’s always Chygrynskiy.
Chygrynskiy, out.
Apparently Abidal doesn’t mind centre back.
Abidal, out.
Well at least there’s the in form Dani Alves!
Dani Alves, out.
We all remember Toure’s heroics against Chelsea last season, he performs well in the back!
Toure, out.
Oh, and did I mention that the remaining players are up against Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan?
Continue reading »
THIS IS A FEATURED POST. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS.
Saturday, February 6, 20:00 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona
It has been a season of resilience. It has been a season of invincibility. It has been a season of sheer brilliance and above all defiance. FC Barcelona have now gone 20 games in the Spanish Primera season without losing a single game and have won more matches then any other side in Europe.
And it doesn’t look like it’s going to end their for the Blaugrana, as with each game the unstoppable Catalan avalanche is continuing to gather momentum and power and is forever casting shadowing doubts over it’s rivals as to whether or not it will ever be stopped.
This is a featured post. Please scroll down for all the latest news.
Saturday, January 30, 2010 – 20:00 CET, El Molinon, Gijón
When it seemed the Catalan revolution that is FC Barcelona could not grow any stronger the Blaugrana once again blew all followers out of the water.
Sitting aloft 6 gleaming trophies and a World Champions label plastered to their names Pep Guardiola’s Gladiatorssynced their stunning form into yet another season in the league by going throughout the entirety of the Spanish Primera’s first half without dropping points. Becoming only the 5th side in history to do so in the Spain’s top tier of football.
The tables have now been flipped as players and fans alike gear up for what is known as ‘the run home’ as each side faces one another for the second time in the league in order to fully formulate what is already brewing as an intense title race.
“Bring me wins and finish the first half of the season on an epic high.”
The message portrayed pre-match by Pep Guardiola as he fielded his best possible line up to take on Valladolid this evening as a forward line starring Henry, Ibrahimovic and of course the unmistakable Lionel Messi sought to make history by breaking yet another record in the form of going throughout the entirety of the first half of the La Liga season without losing a single game.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010 22:00 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona
A league game is a league game. A Champions League game is a Champions League game, but a cup game is so much more than simply, a cup game.
Continue reading »
What began as a spectacular showing of sheer brilliance by Pep Guardiola’s sextuple champions soon faded into the abyss as a dull Camp Nou night saw Barcelona move into an unstable position at the top of the table in which bitter rivals Real Madrid can come within touching distance.
Barcelona’s return to the Spanish Primera exploded into action in what could be described as fireworks as the team that was formerly playing a game every 2 days departed for what was a rejuvenated and replenished pride of raring lions.
“You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present.”
For Football Club Barcelona, the year 2009 was nothing short of phenomenal. An epic six trophies rewarded the Blaugrana who have been instantly embedded into history. For years and decades to come the story of Barcelona’s sextuple will be passed on from generation to generation as endless tales of Iniesta’s goal vs Chelsea, Toure’s wonder strike in the Copa final and Messi’s emotional chested goal against Estudiantes are forever told.
However, it is an unfortunate reality for Barcelona, as this is not 2009. This, is 2010.
THIS IS A FEATURED POST. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS.
Saturday, December 19, 2009, 17:00 local CET – Zayed Sports City, Abu Dhabi
Unplug the phones, lock all the doors. Satisfy the kids with a 50 pound note and a day at the fair. Shut all the blinds, isolate the world and pull yourself away. The game that stops the world is hours away with each second being individually counted down by awe-struck fans. Football has reached its climax as tonight, one team will be officially declared as the best football side in the world. The two sides are phenomenal with their own brand of unique football. With one recently coming off an implausible treble-winning season and the other the current holders of what is renowned as possibly the most highly contested competitions in the world.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009, 17:00 CET – Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Football Club Barcelona.
Renowned as one of the most prestigious and successful clubs in the world.
Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Spanish men they erupted forth and began to etch their names in immediate history as they began to dazzle left right and centre.
Continue reading »
This is a featured post, please scroll down for all the latest news.
Saturday, December 12, 2009, 20:00 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona
Long, long ago there was a small town named Batívla. The town of Batívla had for many years been ruled by two equally minded and equally wealthy brothers. Their names were Espanyolto and Barćiletto.
These men had an equal voice on every matter and problem that should arise in their town and had an equal say in any sentencing or punishments that were set to be enforced.
However, one day, the brothers came to a disagreement on a matter, this was backed up by a plethora of other disagreements that began to pull the brothers further and further apart. A bloody battle broke out as arguments became so fierce that violence seemed to be the only way to come to a resolution.
In due course, the fighting ceased, and it was decided that one town was not big enough for these two powerhouses, it was decided there was only room enough for one of them, and not the two. However, this decision was not carried out, and the two brothers remained in the small town, fighting it out for the accolade of being the tougher of the two.
This is a featured post, please scroll down for all the latest news.
December 9, 2009, 20:45 CET – Lobanovskiy Dynamo Stadium, Kiev
There comes a time when nothing else matters.
There comes a time when tactics are set aside, instructions are forgotten and all preceding events are left to rot in an anonymous sector of the mind.
This time has now arrived for FC Barcelona, in the form of the UEFA Champions League.
The song will play.
The whistle will sound.
And the ball will be kicked off.
December 5, 2009, 22:00 CET – Estadio Riazor, Galicia
5 fixtures in 15 days.
It is a barbaric figure. A set of numerals that should never be placed alongside one another in the same sentence. It is a tired statement, a statement that depicts fatigue and a loss of energy.
For FC Barcelona, this nightmare of a predicament has become an unfortunate reality.
However, despite this the Blaugrana are currently in hot form after they came out victorious mid-week against a stubborn Xerez side in the Estadio Chapín. This game was preluded by a blockbuster clash at the Camp Nou against fierce rivals Real Madrid. This match was to come shortly after Barcelona had 4 days earlier disposed of Inter Milan in the Champions League, a match that had itself come a mere 3 days after Barcelona’s La Liga clash with familiar opponents Athletic Bilbao.
THIS IS A FEATURED POST. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR THE REST OF THE NEWS.
December 2, 2009, 22:00 CET – Estadio Municipal de Chapín, Jerez
Barely able to take a breathe at the moment is Football Club Barcelona. As fans have hardly even managed to exit the stadium from the Blaugrana’s sensational victory at the Camp Nou earlier this week their team is once again preparing itself for yet another fixture.
Originally this fixture was proposed at a much later date, however Barcelona’s participants in the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan this month has seen this match moved forward resulting in the game becoming the Catalunyans 4th match in 11 days.
This is a sticky post. Please scroll down for all the latest posts.
November 29, 2009, 19:00 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona
Calderón: Florentino, our worst fears have become a reality, our nightmares have escaped the captivity of our dreams to torture us. Barcelona have ripped away from us the title of the best team in Espanya!
Pérez: Relax Ramón! This has happened many times before, Real will bounce back, as always.
20:45 CET – Tuesday, November 24, 2009. Camp Nou, Barcelona
Fingers scraping against a chalkboard, a piercing scream as one is being tortured, the sounds of never ending bomb raids during a war. These sounds are among those that make a persons blood curdle, they send a shiver down ones spine and make one wish to be out of whatever situation they are in which contains one of the above.
“You know what you have to do.”
This is a featured post. Please scroll down for all the LATEST news.
Saturday Nov 21, 2009, 22:00 CET, San Mamés, Bilbao
“Not Again!” Despite the Basque boys protests, Barcelona have once again returned to haunt and torment ‘Los Leones’.
Athletic Bilbao.
The team donning the red and white are one of 3 sides never to be relegated from the Spanish Primera.
Through honest and patient football Bilbao have also claimed themselves 8 La Liga titles, the 4th most in Spain, behind Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico. For years Athletic Bilbao have been the dark horse in many a title race, their stadium the San Mamés or the ‘Football Cathedral’ as its known has over the years become some what of a fortress for the team with a Cantera policy to only sign players from within the Basque country> This policy has cost them dearly over the years with their last La Liga title coming in 1984 after being denied of silverwear on two occasions by one FC Barcelona.
Continue reading »
There is little to be said of Barcelona upcoming Copa del Rey clash with Cultural Leonesa as it was a fixture that was decided before the first-leg even kicked off.
Barcelona currently lead 2-0 as they won the away leg convincingly with Guardiola opting to field a team comprised mostly of Barca Atletic players.
The likeliness of Leonesa pulling an ‘Alcorcon’ are now next to impossible with Cultural manager Yosu Uribe admitting to his team having had their chances written off.
His counterpart Josep Guardiola has retained his modest take on games as he has stated that no match is ever over until the last whistle is blown and his players need to take it into all seriousness.
Continue reading »
Phew.
Once again – in dazzling fashion – Barcelona have silenced their recent critics with a thundering victory over a Mallorca side that lacked creativity and imagination as Barcelona demolished the islanders 4-2.
Barcelona will once again retain their lead at the top of La Liga for another round as Real Madrid are – as I speak – dominating their game against Atletico Madrid and are a certain bet to take home the 3 points.
Back to the game now, and what a game it was! Beautiful Barca is all you could say, it was vintage, it was attractive it had goals, it had it all!
This is the season for Football Club Barcelona.
They are set to compete in 4 different competitions including La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA World Club Cup.
However, a new possibility is emerging. New markings may be embedded on the Barcelona calendar, as this week Barcelona stumbled once again in the Champions League seeing them crumble to a dismal 3rd place, a place that if they were to remain for the rest of the group stage, they would be knocked out of Europe’s top tier competition and be forced to play in the UEFA Europa League.
Barcelona’s form of late is nothing to brag about. In the last 5 games Barcelona have drawn 3, lost 1, and won 1, leaving them with 6 points out of a possible 15 accumulated over various competitions.
Despite the protests, the realm of a mid-season crisis is beginning to loom over Barcelona’s players.
Blinking and pinching would not help. This was to be a nightmare Barcelona players and fans alike would never wake from. Barcelona had been defeated by Rubin Kazan. The relatively unknown Russian opposition took on the reigning European Champions on Barcelona’s home turf. Little did Barcelona know that this formality of a match was soon to evolve into the greatest upset so far in the 2009-10 footballing calendar.
Talks of a crisis were seemingly quashed as Barcelona thumped Zaragoza 6-1 only for the talks to be reignited with a woeful display over Osasuna in the following league fixture. Critisism has been flying from all angles with Guardiola’s men being blasted left right and centre by the relentless Spanish media.
For Barcelona, it stops now.
Continue reading »
This is a featured post. Please scroll down for the rest of the news.
Cules worldwide will remember that foggy encounter last season. It was the Reyno de Navarra hosting Barcelona who had well and truly hit their best form yet, the match started with Barcelona dominating as Samuel Eto’o scored right on the brink of half time. However, after the first interval, disaster struck. Miguel Flaño struck gold in the 62nd minute with a looping header before Pandiani did the unthinkable and put Osasuna into the lead with a mere 18 minutes left in the match.
Not to worry though, in the 79th minute Xavi put his body on the line to – whilst injuring himself in the process – score the equalizer, before, despite the marking, the conditions and the forever expiring time left, Lionel Messi unleashed a thunderbolt from 25 yards into the top right hand corner to give Barcelona a flabbergasting 3-2 win.
Barcelona set to demolish Cultural Leonesa 6-0, Barca will play a few youth players and that’s that.
This was to be my preview had I written it yesterday. However as I foolishly decided to put it off an event has now arisen, throwing my whole plans of “Barca to Dominate” into disarray.
Last night, Segunda B (Spanish 3rd division) side Alcorcon beat fellow La Liga giants Real Madrid 4-0 in what has become the upset of the season.
If Barcelona were perhaps looking at taking this game lightly, they may have to think again.
This post is a sticky, please scroll down for the rest of todays news.
“Crisis? What Crisis?” These are the words that are being echoed in unison over the past few days by those affiliated with Barcelona. The so called ‘speed bump’ that Barcelona have recently hit has been dismissed by players and coaches alike. A 0-0 draw to Valencia in the Mestalla was hardly worth losing sleep over, especially considering the fact that Los Che controlled the match for a majority of the 90 minutes.
Prior to the ‘poor results’ the Barcelona players headed off for national duty and on return were forced to partake in a gruelling Champions League fixture against an under-rated Rubin Kazan. A game Barcelona will now regret to not have taken in all seriousness, as they crumbled to their first loss of the season.
Barcelona have the chance now to right their wrongs as they face newly promoted Real Zaragoza who have been welcomed back into La Liga in less than dazzling fashion, having succumbed to 2 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses, one of which to Atletico Madrid, whom Barcelona demolished 5-2.
Embarrassment, sheer rage. David has defeated Goliath and the Beast’s reign of supreme terror is over. Rubin Kazan yesterday downed a full strength Football Club Barcelona as the Achilles heel of Barcelona was well and truly exposed.
Barcelona started out the game with winning being the only thought in their minds, a thought portrayed by the chosen line up of Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola comprising Valdes, Alves, Pique, Marquez, Abidal, Xavi, Toure, Iniesta, Messi, Ibrahimovic and Pedro. And it seemed to be a winning combination right from kick-off as the first move of the game saw Iniesta parade through the Rubin defence only to be blocked by the charging Sergei Ryzhikov as calls for a penalty were waved away by the soon to be despised match official Laurent Duhamel. The ball was cleared up field only to be calmly controlled by Rafael Marquez who passed it off with ease to Pique. Oh how I wish that I could say that that previous statement were true! I long to say that Marquez dealt with the ball like any Centre Back should, however if I were to then I would not be doing my job.
As the ball sailed afield Marquez’s attempted clearance went horribly wrong as the ball fell enticingly to one Aleksandr Ryazantsev who needed no further invitation as he caught Valdes off guard, scoring a blinder from 30 yards out giving Rubin Kazan - after a mere two minutes, a shock lead.
This is a sticky post. Please scroll down for all the latest news.
Fatigue, exhaustion, injury. As Barcelona’s soon to be overloading schedule instigates itself many of these factors are coming into play. However, when competing for what is regarded as the top club competition on the planet, everything is cast aside.
The UEFA Champions league is back with match day 3 in which the Camp Nou is once again preparing itself in the wake of a match being taken as a formality, a David vs Goliath affair in which current Champions League holders Barcelona will take on last seasons champions of Russia, Rubin Kazan.
However the Russian style of football is not to be criticized, and more so should the style and gameplay of Rubin.
Subscribe to our RSS FEED to receive breaking news as well as receive other site updates or alternatively, feel free to connect with us.
