barça

Lionel Messi crowned his triumph in winning the Ballon d'Or this week by hitting a stunning hat-trick as FC Barcelona took a huge stride towards a place in the Copa del Rey semi finals with victory over Real Betis.

Barça receives Betis in the quarter finals of the Copa del Rey (22.00 pm) two days after being the main attraction at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Zurich. Leo Messi will be sharing the trophy with fans before kick off.

Leo Messi is the winner of the 2010 FIFA Ballon D’Or after taking the trophy for the second year on the run. Messi won 22,65% of the votes, ahead of teammates Andrés Iniesta (17,36%) and Xavi Hernández (16,48%).

FC Barcelona have won at Riazor with goals from Villa, Messi, Iniesta and Pedro, three in the second half. That’s their ninth away win and takes them up to 49 points.

During 90 passionate minutes at the San Mamés stadium in Bilbao, Abidal scored his first ever goal for FC Barcelonaqualifying the team for the quarter finals of the King Cup. FC Barcelona will meet either Getafe Football Club or Betis in the next round.

The FC Barcelona manager, Pep Guardiola, will take on his 150th game at San Mamés stadium in the Copa del Rey. The Catalan manager will become one of the six managers to have been on the bench the most times at the club.

As the year comes to an end, CNA takes a look back at the last 12 months and brings you the top ten most magical moments from all the Clubs’ activities.From the vast presence of Barças’ boys on the winning World Cup team to the historical 5-0 thrasing of Madrid, 2010 was a thrilling year for Barça fans.

Barça started 2011 with a harder win than expected against Levante. Pedro’s second half brace took some of the limelight away from Xavi, who equalled Migueli’s record for appearances.

Barça will start 2011 without Messi, Puyol or Piqué against Levante, three of the most regular members of the first team.

FC Barcelona have had an incredible year as they have won no less than 44 of their 58 official matches in 2010 while losing just five and drawing nine. That run has led to win the Spanish league title and the Spanish Super Cup.

FC Barcelona and Athletic Club have drawn 0-0 at the Camp Nou in a game marked by the clearly different styles of the two sides. The quarter finalists will be decided at San Mamés in two weeks’ time.

Barça struck five again tonight as they brushed aside Espanyol 1-5 at the Cornella-El Prat Stadium with Pedro (2), Xavi and Villa (2) getting the goals for the La Liga leaders.

FC Barcelona will meet Arsenal in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League with the first leg taking place at the Emirates on February 16 and the return game in Camp Nou on March 8.

After the first 15 matches of the new campaign FC Barcelona have made the best ever start in the history of the league with a record of 40 points.

FC Barcelona recorded their ninth consecutive victory as they eased past Real Sociedad on Sunday evening to go back to the top of the table thanks to two goals from Lionel Messi and one each from David Villa, Andrés Iniesta and Bojan Krkic.