The end of summer can mean different things to different people: the beginning of the school year, a slow descent into a freezing winter, a long-forgotten song by The Doors called “Summer’s Almost Gone” from their 1968 classic Waiting For The Sun.  Maybe that last one is just me, but I mention it to make the point that we’re in an often-romanticized part of the year that carries a lot of significance.  For culés, it means the Gamper Cup, which means that we’re about to embark on the long journey that is the La Liga season, not to mention the Champions League and Copa del Rey. It’s an occasion to remember Joan Gamper, founder of the club. This year it’s also an occasion to remember another legend, a man who is making his first trip back to Camp Nou after leaving the club: Ronaldinho.

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Saturday, August 21, 20:30 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona

The defending La Liga champions, Champions League semi-finalist and world famous FC Barcelona, often referred to in recent times as the best team in the world, have dug themselves a hole. A year ago, Barca was putting the finishing touches on a 5-1 aggregate victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup. A year later, Barca finds itself trailing 3-1 to Sevilla heading into the Camp Nou leg.

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Sunday, May 16, 19:00 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona

The past two seasons for FC Barcelona have been spectacular.
A La Liga title, a Copa del Rey, a Champions League crown, a Spanish Super Cup, a European Super Cup, a FIFA World Club Cup and several individual accolades in the form of trophies and praise.
Yet this match, the one to top off all that unfaltering successes, is said to be by far the biggest. Yet it will be played against a team staring at the dismal pit of relegation.

It began in the days of the Spanish Civil War, and in the days of ruthless Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, and still in 2010, the pure fire of hatred burns forever strong.
Barcelona and Real Madrid loathe one another. And the day that one of the two beat the other in the race to a trophy is a day of sheer joy for that team and its fans alike. Whilst at the same time, the day that one of the two lose a trophy at the hands of the other, is a day of suicidal emotions for the associates of that club.
That day is today, and the events that take place in the next 24 hours will decide which team is handed the plate of sweet victory and which team will be dealt the unforgettable blow of humiliation and defeat.

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Saturday, May 8, 21:00 CET – Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Sevilla

This season, FC Barcelona has lost four matches.
Two in the Champions League, to Rubin Kazan and Inter Milan.
Another, in La Liga, to Atletico Madrid.
The last, in the Copa del Rey, to Sevilla.

They proved to be most tough, the most incomprehensible, the most frustrating and ultimately the best.

Any side capable of defeating the official world champions is a side to be feared, and feared they should be, for tonight it will be the fear of giving up an assured Spanish Primera crown in which will haunt the Barcelona players right up to the kick off of this match.

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Tuesday, May 4, 20:00 CET Camp Nou, Barcelona

The countdown is on, the timer ticking, what is so close is yet so very far for FC Barcelona. The moment of reckoning draws nearer, with each kick of the football passed alongside each minute of action gone, the club is brought forever closer to achieving their allusive, illustrious and ultimate goal in 2010.

Tenerife will tonight be welcomed into a cauldron. A cauldron of death this season for opposing teams, a cauldron that will recognize this match for what it is, a final.
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Saturday, May 01, 22:00 CET – El Madrigal, Villareal

It is time to face reality and take back what is ours. Tonight, Barcelona will face another final, a very important and tough match against Villareal. What we deserve will not be given to us; it’s up to us to fight for it. It is do or die time for FC Barcelona.

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Wednesday, April 28, 20:45 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona

990 minutes.
242 players.
29 goals.
11 matches.

The emotion, the effort. The pain, the triumph. It has all been building up to this point for FC Barcelona.

90 minutes.
22 players.
2 goals.
1 match.

The 22nd of May is at this point a date of non-existence on the Catalan calendars. There is no compromising this situation, there is no second option, no side street that can be taken, this game is about now and only now. Welcome to the UEFA Champions League, welcome to Barcelona versus Inter Milan, welcome to the comeback.

When they met seven days ago, a sense of a pre-determined result lingered in the air. The bitter taste of their November embarrassment remained in the mouths of Inter Milan as memories of Barcelona’s 2-0 win with 70% possession stayed ever-present. The bookmakers backed Barca as a sure money bet and after 19 minutes it seemed that this was surely the case.

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Saturday, April 24, 18:00 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona

What took place mid-week never happened.
It is to be forgotten, discarded and unheard of.
This match is a continuation for Barcelona, and being sidetracked by outside fixtures and thoughts would be foolish and catastrophic.
The week ahead will determine the success or failure in which Barcelona shall endure this season, however only the immediate present should be focused on and that immediate present lies within the League, against Xerez.
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They were once a hapless wreck. Now they are a force to be reckoned with.
They once had no direction. Now they are following a faultless line.
They once had no style. Now they are the sensational blend of a ruthless defence, a devouring midfield, and a punishing attack.

Inter Milan once supplied no competition, this team has now faded into non-existence. The genius of one man could be the brilliance that catalyses the unthinkable demise of FC Barcelona.

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Saturday, April 17, 20:00 CET – Estadio Cornella-El Prat, Barcelona

Tonight, FC Barcelona will face a side that is 14th in La Liga.
Tonight, FC Barcelona will face a side that has scored 26 times this season compared to Barcelona’s 80.
Tonight, FC Barcelona will face a side that has struggled against relegation this season.
Surely this match will be a rout, a total demolition, an exhibition of the greatest football team on a planet. This would be the formality case in all football games, as Barcelona’s superiority initiated an absolute slaughter.
However there is a factor that completely extinguishes all the aforementioned problems with FC Barcelona’s opponents. It is the factor that this match is a derby, a rivalry match and thus this quells all form, statistics and records, as a rivalry match is won on will and will only. That alone is what makes this game so special.

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Saturday, April 10, 22:00 CET – Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid

The biggest football game in the world

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Tuesday, April 6, 20:45 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona

In order to properly define what this match is, one must first define what it isn’t, and that is simple. This match is not a league game, nor does it have anything to do with any played before or after. On the weekend, Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 4-1 while Arsenal downed Wolverhampton 1-0. These results are of zero relevance for this tie and shall not even be welcomed into the aura of thought when pondering a winner for this match.

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Saturday, April 3, 20:00 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona

In contrast to FC Barcelona’s mid-week exploits, this game seems to be of minimum and scarce importance. However, the statement that this game is insignificant could not be further from the truth. For at this stage of the competition, each breath taken by the Catalans has a magnitude of the greatest proportions. Each match in the Spanish Primera is as important as the last, for at this stage of the competition a win could spell triumph, while a loss could point toward the ultimate demise.

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An endless elaboration and explanation could be used with a flurry of descriptive and enticing words. However this will not be necessary, for it is to be simply put: This football match is huge.

The enormity of this game makes it a given that it deserves an equally epic and emphatic prelude, hence my major dilemma. I sat with thumbs twiddling, racking my brain for a platform in which to leap off to begin the preview of FC Barcelona’s biggest match of 2010 so far. As they did four years ago, the Blaugrana would face English Premier League side Arsenal. As I delved through the tape of this prestigious game, in the blink of an eye I found what I was looking for. Here it is…

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Ahead. Fall behind.
Ahead again, and once again, fall behind.
Take this scenario and repeat it over a seemingly endless period of time, and that is the situation of FC Barcelona’s intense and breathless title chase of the faultless Real Madrid.

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Wednesday, March 23, 20:00 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona

And thus it returns for Barcelona.

Barely has the week begun, yet once again football has sprung forward in Catalonia. However, this is merely the beginning of the returning breathless schedule for the Blaugrana. In a matter of days, they will find themselves looking at a line of fixtures that will scream nothing other than the prominent statistic showing 4 games within the slot of 14 days for Barcelona.

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Sunday, March 21, 21:00 CET – La Romareda, Spain

Welcome back, Futbol Club Barcelona.

It is a well known saying that all good things must come to an end, and that they did for Barcelona. The Catalans experienced their worst run of results this season, whereby a loss to Atletico Madrid and a draw to Almeria and Stuttgart were equally spaced out by far from promising victories over Getafe and Malaga.

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Wednesday, 17 March, 20:45 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona

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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.

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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.
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?
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Until the whistle blows in Madrid this Sunday, no one will know how FC Barcelona’s defense will respond to the blizzard of injuries that has struck the unit over the past ten days. But that leaves a full week for sportswriters to speculate, exaggerate, bloviate and deliver unwanted advice. True, the injury bug seems to have caught up with us culés after half a season of near-perfect health. And true again that muscle tears have proved contagious among our talented back line players. The defensive starters left untouched by injury are serving disciplinary suspensions, and the sporting press are beating the drums of “Crisis!”

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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.

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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.

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Kick-off: Saturday, January 23rd, 2010,  20:00 CET
Venue: Estadio Jose Zorilla

After a slow start to the new year, the champions seem to have finally hit their stride after they demolished Sevilla 4-0 at the Camp Nou last weekend gaining sweet revenge for their elimination from the Copa del Rey at the hands of the Andalusians.

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Saturday January 16, 2010 22:00 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona

The revenge of a giant.

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The comeback kings, have it all to do in Seville, as FC Barcelona lost the first leg at home , 1-2 against Sevilla FC.
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