claudio bravo

A draw against Athletic Club Bilbao at Camp Nou in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup was insufficient to turn around the 4-0 deficit from the first leg with the Basques claiming their first trophy in 31 years. Barça gave everything and Messi put the Catalans ahead right at the end of the first half giving the blaugranes the lead. However a second half sending off for Piqué meant Barça reduced to ten men for the final half an hour. Equaliser from Aduriz sealed title for Athletic. The last five minutes saw the Basques reduced to ten men also with substitute Kike Sola sent off. It was too late to affect the tie and Barça now turn their attentions to the league and an opening weekend trip to none other than Athletic Club.

Catalans and Basques clash in Spanish Super Cup second leg at Camp Nou on Monday night at 10.00pm CET. FC Barcelona may have fallen in the first leg of the 2015 Spanish Super Cup Final versus Athletic Club Bilbao, but don’t be fooled. They are more than able to get back up and can score goals with the best of them. Correction: They are the best of them, which means that no deficit is insurmountable for the most prolific team in world football. Luis Enrique and his players are confident of a comeback following Friday’s disappointing defeat. The Catalans trained on both Saturday and Sunday in preparation for the big comeback attempt. The not-so-great news is, of course, that Neymar continues to be out with a case of the mumps.

59 days after the celebrations for the historic treble achieved by the blaugranes last season, Camp Nou comes back to life after a summer hiatus with the visit of Italian side AS Roma for the traditional pre-season opening game at the stadium, the Joan Gamper Trophy. The clash with the Serie A club will mark the end of a pre-season which has taken Barça to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC and Florence. The first team will be presented to the fans before the game and a party atmosphere is guaranteed in the final test for Luis Enrique’s squad ahead of their attempt to claim the European and Spanish Super Cups. With the return of Claudio Bravo to training on Monday, Luis Enrique now has his entire first team squad back after the summer break, although Arda Turan and Douglas continue their respective recoveries from injury.

A brilliant goal from Leo Messi hands the blaugranes the win that they needed to claim their 23rd Spanish League title. A year ago, Atlético Madrid won the league title with a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou and tonight Barça returned the favour and brought the trophy back home with a 0-1 win at the Vicente Calderón, as they took the first leg of their possible treble with a game to spare.As the second half ticked away, Real Madrid went one up against Espanyol, meaning Barça needed a goal to take the title this weekend and on 65 minutes, Alba worked the ball inside to Messi who played a one-two with Pedro and tucked it home with his left peg through a forest of legs. A brilliant goal fit for La Liga Champions! One down, two to go, as the Spanish Cup and the Champions League final await!

Barça’s 2-0 win at the weekend in the Catalan derby against Espanyol kept them two points ahead of rivals Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish League table with just five games in the league season remaining. The first of that quintet of title deciders comes on Tuesday against Getafe at Camp Nou, a game that kicks off at 8.00pm CET. The blaugranes cannot afford any slip ups with Carlo Ancelotti’s side breathing down their necks, so victory is imperative at home against the team from Madrid who come into the game in 13th place on 36 points, still needing results to lift them once and for all away from the relegation dogfight at the bottom of the table.

The draw for the Champions League quarter-finals brought the blaugranes face to face once again with the current French League champions. The two teams were in the same group earlier in the competition with Barça pipping Laurent Blanc’s team to top spot in Group F. With the Catalans having overcome Manchester City in the last 16 and Paris Saint-Germain having eliminated Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea, the two clubs are now set to battle it out for a place in the Champions League semi-finals. Luis Enrique’s side trained at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday with the Barça coach having brought his entire squad to Paris minus the recovering Thomas Vermaelen and the suspended Dani Alves. Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc will have to make do without the former Barça striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Barça’s two-goal first-half lead evaporates and Sevilla stay unbeaten at home. Tie takes a pair of points from Barça, now up just two in La Liga. FC Barcelona came into the Sánchez Pizjuán in Sevilla on Saturday night with the honourable distinction as the last team to have won there, and they’ll head back home with no change to that status. The Catalans left the field on a sour note after failing to put away their Andalusian rivals despite going up 2–0 in the first half hour, eventually conceding the tying goal to Sevilla’s Kévin Gameiro with eight minutes left to play in a match that stood out for it’s breakneck pace and wild twists and turns that left many of those following it almost as exhausted as the players.

FC Barcelona have moved four points clear at the top of the Spanish League table after Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez produced a second half wonder-goal to win the Clásico.?Jérémy Mathieu had headed Barça into an early lead before Cristiano Ronaldo equalised for Real Madrid. Sunday night’s Clásico was no disappointment. Both sides served up a veritable footballing feast, and although Real Madrid looked the better side for a large part of the first half, Barça found their A-game after the break and on the back of a fantastic goal from Luis Suárez, marched on to claim three points and take a giant’s step closer to the Liga title.

Barça did what they had to do in the Basque Country and will go into next week’s Clásico against Real Madrid as Spanish League leaders. Eibar proved to be a highly resilient opponent, but two goals from Leo Messi were enough to secure three crucial points. Dani Alves and Jordi Alba were both suspended for Barça’s first ever fixture away to Eibar, so Luis Enrique opted to field an unfamiliar quartet of Adriano, Bartra, Piqué and Montoya at the back. Sergi Roberto stood in for the injured Busquets in midfield. As expected, the home side concentrated on keeping things tight at the back and look for danger on the counter attack and set pieces, and their tactics worked for the first half hour.

In what was billed as a major test for two teams that rode into Camp Nou on a wave of impressive results, it was FC Barcelona who had more answers as they came back twice from a goal down to subdue Villarreal and extend their winning streak to eight games in all competitions, their fourth straight in La Liga. As the half hour mark arrived, Villarreal scored its first goal, but Neymar drew just before the break.In the 51st minute, Villarreal went back on top after Piqué misjudged a ball near midfield. However Barça’s reaction was almost immeditate; Rafinha got one goal and two minutes after Messi put the Catalans on top. For Barça, the win showcased their tremendous resilience, a powerful trait to have as they march toward a decisive stretch of the season.

The Catalans dominated from start to finish, but the goals just didn’t want to come. Barça were by far the better side, but Getafe limited themselves to neutralising that superiority and got away with a point. With Neymar absent through injury and his place in the Barça frontline occupied by Pedro, the game got off to a quiet start, with neither side doing anything of note for the first quarter of an hour. The second half saw Barça continue to pile on the pressure. Messi produced two fine free kicks, but one hit the woodwork and the other was saved by Guaita. This a game that Luis Enrique will be ruing as a valuable opportunity lost, takng into account Barça’s 23 goal attempts compared to just 4 for a Getafe.

At 8.45 PM CET, all eyes will be on the Camp Nou as top place in Champions League Group F is settled. A huge night awaits us this Wednesday evening. Barça are at home to Paris Saint-Germain. In other words, Messi, Neymar, Suárez, Iniesta, Xavi and co are up against a similarly star-studded side featuring the likes of Ibrahimovic, Cavani, Lavezzi, Thiago Silva and David Luiz. A fascinating winner-takes-all match with top spot in the Champions League group to play for. On the last day of the group stage, only three points will do if the Catalans want to topple the French club’s two-point lead.

It was a gripping encounter from start to finish. All that was missing was the goal. But just when it looked like Sunday's game between Barça and Valencia was heading for a 0-0 draw, in the third and final minute of injury time, Sergio Busquets produced a winner to secure three massive points for the Catalans. Either side could have won a high tempo match at Mestalla stadium, with Suárez being denied a second half goal for apparent offside.The only change with respect to the previous Liga game was Mascherano coming in for Rakitic, with Luis Enrique taking the gamble on playing the Argentinian alongside fellow defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets. The first half produced plenty of good quality football but little in the way of genuine chances for either side.The second half saw a change of script, with Valencia more willing to take the initiative.