claudio bravo

FC Barcelona wanted desperately to get back to winning and Lionel Messi was looking to make history at Camp Nou, but excellent goalkeeping from Celta’s Sergio Álvarez and some unlucky breaks saw the Catalans surrender their lead at the top of the Spanish League table. The Catalan team hit crossbar 4 times, lose second straight in La Liga. Celta win to stay unbeaten on the road this season. The first half ended without any scoring from either side, although several chances either just missed or were thwarted with solid goalkeeping at both ends of the pitch. The second half opened with Neymar hitting the bar yet again. Then just a couple of minutes later, Celta silenced the Camp Nou crowd.

Barça fall as Madrid turn game round following an early Neymar score. Despite a dream start, when Neymar swept home an early opener, Barça went down 3-1 in Madrid on Saturday’s first Clasico of the season in a game in which Luis Suarez made his official debut and Claudio Bravo finally conceded. The game could hardly have started better for Barça, when after just 3 minutes, Luís Suárez sent a cross field ball from the right to Neymar and the Brazilian cut inside, leaving a couple of defenders trailing in his wake to fire low past Iker Casillas and open the scoring.

Barça saw off a brave Eibar at the Camp Nou, with second half goals from Xavi, Neymar and Messi to confirm their top spot in the Spanish League and give the fans plenty of optimism a week before the trip to the Bernabeu to play against Real Madrid. With Ratikic and Busquets in the stands, Luis Enrique pushed Macherano into midfield alongside Xavi and Sergio Roberto, making his first league start, with Mathieu partnering Piqué in the heart of defence. Up front, Messi was accompanied by Pedro and Neymar , with Sandro and Munir coming on late in the second half. There were no surprises in the way the teams set about the game though, with Barça dominating possession and constantly probing the disciplined Basque defence.

First half goals from Messi and Neymar kept Barça top of the Spanish League table, but with Rayo down to ten men for the last half hour, it could and perhaps should have been a bigger win for the league leaders. But they maintained their unbeaten record and have still to concede a league goal. Luis Enrique rang the changes in his selection for the game, with Piqué and Bartra starting at the heart of defence and Mathieu filling in at left back, with Mascherano and Jordi Alba both benched. In the middle, Xavi was handed another start alongside Iniesta and Busquets, while Munir got the nod over Pedro up front. Barça looked none the worse for the rotations though, as they began brightly against a Rayo team who made it clear from the off that they were prepared to go toe to toe with the league leaders.

A spectacular duel is awaiting at the Parc des Princes in Paris this Tuesday evening (8.45 PM CET). Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona, two of the strongest teams in Europe, face each other in a rematch of the quarter final two years ago. Barça won through on that occasion by virtue of the away goals rule after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate. And although this year’s encounter is not quite as do-or-die as the one in 2013, a win in Paris would leave the Catalans well poised in their quest to qualify from Group F. The Parisians go into the game without any of Thiago Silva, Lavezzi or Ibrahimovic. However it certainly won’t be easy for them to defend their incredible record of having gone seven games this season without conceding a single goal.

Barça finish tough seven-day stretch with a rout. Sixth consecutive shutout to start the season ties FC Barcelona record. Luis Enrique probably won’t mind being wrong this time. After all, FC Barcelona’s head coach spent the last two days repeatedly warning his players that Saturday’s opponent would be no cakewalk. He said Granada were tough defensively and dangerous on the counterattack. And while the opening minutes were slow to develop once again for Barça’s feared attack, the opposing defence slowly wilted and eventually collapsed.

Barça dominated Malaga at La Rosaleda on Wednesday evening, but the combination of a poor playing surface and an ultra-tight Andalusian defence meant that not only did they score no goals, but also failed to produce many real chances. Time and time again they pushed forward in search of a way to break the deadlock, but the best they could achieve was a series of half-chances and near misses. For the first time this season, Barça failed to find the net for themselves. The goalless draw brings an end to the Catalan side’s one hundred per cent record in La Liga. With Dani Alves being rested for this game, and Luis Enrique opting to hand Douglas his first start in a Barça shirt, the game got off to a slow start.

Barça put five past Levante in Valencia on Sunday evening, with Neymar, Rakitic, Sandro, Pedro and Messi all on target. FC Barcelona has obtained 12 points from 12, 11 goals scored and none conceded for Luis Enrique’s team, who’ve made an impressive start to their three game week, with Malaga and Granada next up. Barça beat Llevant to continue both their unbeaten record and keep yet another clean sheet, which Luis Enrique feels “goes to show even more our idea of playing as team … Rather than singling anyone out in particular, I’ll just say that I was happy with all of them.”

Barça are about to get their 2014/15 Champions League bid under way against APOEL of Nicosia at the Camp Nou. Top of the Liga table with three wins out of three and no goals conceded, they’re in a buoyant mood at the moment, and now’s the time to carry that excellent form across into Europe against the Cypriot champions, the first game in a group that also includes Ajax and Paris Saint-Germain. Luis Enrique has called on the fans for their support and promised a "spectacular game". This will be the Asturian’s first game in charge of a team in Europe’s premier club competition, for which Dani Alves is included after being declared fully recovered from his knee injury, and fellow Brazilian Douglas has been named in the side for the first time since arriving at FC Barcelona.

A late goal from B team youngster Sandro gave Barça the three points at El Madrigal in a hard fought game that Luis Enrique’s side dominated, though they found it tough going at times against a determined Villarreal defence. Sandro ensured Barça go into the international break with two Spanish League wins out of two, leading the domestic championship.From the off, Leo Messi, wearing the captain’s armband in Iniesta’s absence, again looked sharp as he combined well down the right with Dani Alves and the Argentinean and Pedro had the best of the early chances, as Villarreal were forced into some desperate defending.

With less than a week to go till the start of the Spanish League season, Barça put on an encouraging show for the Camp Nou this Monday evening, putting six past Club Leon to take the 49th edition of the Joan Gamper Trophy.  Goals from Messi, Neymar (2), Munir (2) and Sandro gave the side their second 6-0 win of the pre-season and to add to the upbeat atmosphere, Luis Suárez  made his debut, coming on for the final quarter of an hour. With only Ter Stegen and Vermaelen unavailable, Luis Enrique sent out a strong starting XI, with Alves and Jordi Alba outside Mascherano and Mathieu at the heart of the defence and a front three of Messi, Rafinho and Neymar Jr,  ahead of Rakitic, Busquets and Iniesta.

La Festa del Gamper will climax with the presentation of the squad and the match against Mexican side Club León on Monday evening (20.30 CET). The game gives the fans a chance to see the FC Barcelona's new summer signings. Bravo, Masip, Ter Stegen, Mathieu, Vermaelen, Rafinha, Rakitic and  Luis Suárez, who will be making his first appearance in a Barça shirt after re-joining the squad for training last Friday. Five of those new players -Bravo, Masip, Mathieu, Rakitic and Luis Suárez-, could make their Camp Nou debuts as Barça players against Leon, whilst the injured Ter Stegen and Vermaelen will have to wait. Rafinha played for the first team at the stadium when he was still a Barça B player.

Despite the result, Wednesday’s match was a great test for Luis Enrique’s side against Napoli in Geneva. Claudio Bravo made his Barça debut against the club that finished third in Serie A last year, and although the Italians took the win thanks to the only goal of the night, the Catalans played strong and confident football despite the absence of some of their biggest stars, such as Messi, Neymar and Xavi. Despite posing very little threat in the friendly in Geneva, Napoli edged it thanks to a Dzemaili strike after 80 minutes.

Napoli and Barça feature in one of the pre-season’s most attractive friendlies this Wednesday evening in Geneva (8PM CET). Luis Enrique’s side are in the middle of their pre- season preparations and after Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Nice, they fly to Helsinki on Saturday, just 72 hours after facing the Italians, for their third friendly in a week.Adriano, Xavi, Mathieu and Patric all miss the Geneva trip to play against Napoli as do Messi, Neymar, Mascherano and Alves.

FC Barcelona and Real Sociedad have reached an agreement for the transfer of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. The player will sign a contract with FC Barcelona for the next four seasons. The new keeper came through the Colo-Colo youth system, making his first team debut in the First Division, at 19 years old, in 2002. He played for the Chilean team until 2006, when he signed for the Basque outfit. In San Sebastian he has become a natural leader after eight seasons: he is the second non-national with most matches played, and became the third goalkeeper in the history of the club playing most matches in a Real Sociedad shirt.