iniesta

Hopeful youngsters combine football with studies at the FC Barcelona youth academy

April 3, 2014 06:28 PM | Heidi M. Eskildsen

The FC Barcelona youth academy, called La Masia, is known and respected worldwide for its success with home-grown players such as Pep Guardiola, Leo Messi, Carles Puyol and Andrés Iniesta. The Technical Director of the youth system, former Barça midfielder Guillermo Amor, was also one of the young talents at the academy. A member of Johan Cruyff's Dream Team in the 1990s, Amor knows the place better than anyone. CNA offers an exclusive interview with the Barça legend who told us more about the day-to-day life of the Blaugrana stars of tomorrow…

FC Barcelona vs Celta de Vigo: Barça’s bittersweet win for Valdés’ injury (3-0)

March 27, 2014 08:47 AM | Jordi Clos

Barça see off Celta with 2 goals from Neymar and another from Messi, but Valdés' injury casts a pall over the win. Barça continue to pressure at the top of the Spanish League table after the weekend's win over Real Madrid. Luis Enrique made his return to the Camp Nou with a five-man defence that included Fontàs as a deep lying midfielder and with an untypical tactic of ceding possession, which allowed Barça to lay siege to the Celta area and reap the benefits within the first five minutes, as a clever move between Iniesta, Messi and Alexis ended with a simple tap in for Neymar. With Iniesta finding plenty of space through the middle to release Messi, Barça were playing elegant and incisive football which created chances for both Neymar and Messi.

FC Barcelona vs Manchester City FC: Back on track! (2-1)

March 13, 2014 10:05 AM | Roger Bogunyà

Goals from Messi and Alves see off City and book Barça's place on the quarter finals.FC Barcelona laid down a marker for the rest of Europe on Wednesday evening, cruising through to the last eight of the Champions League with a 2-1 win over Manchester City (4-1 on aggregate) with a performance that put to bed the doubts around the team after their weekend league defeat in Valladolid. Javier Mascherano insisted before the game that Barça weren’t down and out and tonight the team proved him right with an important win over one of the strongest teams left in the competition.

Real Sociedad vs FC Barcelona: Barça’s lost League leadership in a painful defeat (3-1)

February 23, 2014 11:36 AM | Roger Bogunyà

FC Barcelona are no longer the Spanish League leaders. Barça suffered their third league defeat of the season against Real Sociedad (3-1) on Saturday evening. It was a grim night for Barça, who were chasing the game for most of the 90 minutes and never looked comfortable against a Real Sociedad who were lethal on the break. The defeat leaves Barça three points behind Real Madrid, who top the table. Gerardo Martino made six changes to the team who won in Manchester on Tuesday, with Song playing as the holding midfielder and  Busquets in an inside right role, whilst Xavi and Cesc started on the bench and Montoya, Bartra, Adriano and Neymar were back in the starting line up .

Manchester City FC vs FC Barcelona: Barça come up big when it counts (0-2)

February 19, 2014 10:47 AM | Jordi Clos

Messi and Alves set up impressive Champions League first leg win on Wednesday evening against Manchester City. Barça took a massive step towards the competition’s quarter finals with a 0-2 win at the Etihad Stadium. A disputed penalty and red card for Demichelsis on 53 minutes put an end to what had up to then been a cagey affair, as City desperately pushed to get back into the game, only to fall two behind when Alves scored the second late on. Manchester City surprisingly came out rather timidly, ceding possession to Barça, who, playing with Iniesta wide left and Messi as a false number nine, flooded the midfield, whilst the hosts stuck men in a high defensive line. After 15 minutes though, City came out of their shell and began to threaten.

Manchester City FC vs FC Barcelona: Beauty and power

February 18, 2014 05:48 PM | Jordi Clos

City and Barça kick off the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 at the Etihad this Tuesday evening (8:45 PM CET). Lots has been said about the tie against Manchester City since December, when the draw for the Champions League knock out round took place. It’s likely the most attractive match up of the round as the ambitious English project goes up against the consistency of the Catalans. The English side will feature in their first ever Champions League knock out round, while the Blaugrana have made it to the semi-finals for six consecutive years. The two teams share an enormous capacity for scoring goals and, with the arrival of Pellegrini to City’s bench, an inclination for attacking football.

FC Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano: Champagne performance! (6-0)

February 16, 2014 12:24 PM | Jordi Clos

Three days ahead of their trip to Manchester, Barça put on a sparkling performance to reaffirm their top spot in the Spanish League with a 6-0 win over Rayo on Saturday evening. Adriano, Messi (2), Alexis, Pedro and Neymar scored the goals in the win. Two first half goals opened the door and after the break the chances and goals just kept coming. Rayo refused to park the bus though and despite the obvious gap in class between them and their hosts, the Madrid team stuck firm to their own attacking style and the game opened up with both teams playing the ball out from the back and pressing high up the pitch. Martino gave the crowd something else to cheer, bringing on Neymar after his month long injury lay off on 61 minutes.

Real Sociedad vs FC Barcelona: Barça head to the Cup final! (1-1)

February 13, 2014 12:41 PM | Roger Bogunyà

A goal from Messi secures passage to the final of the Copa del Rey. Barça will face off against Real Madrid on April 19. The team managed by Gerardo Martino preserved their 2-0 advantage and they qualified without too much difficulty. When push comes to shove, this team responds: they are in the final after having won seven of their eight Cup matches this season and with Leo Messi, who scored the go-ahead goal in San Sebastián, as the highest goal scorer of the competition. In the final minutes of the match Griezmann netted the equaliser, but it was too little to late to trouble a Barça side that had completed one of the best first halves so far this season.

FC Barcelona vs Llevant: Round three

January 29, 2014 08:06 PM | Jordi Clos

Barça once again take on Llevant (also called Levante) after the 1-4 from the first leg of the Spanish Cup quarter-final tie. It will be the third showdown between to two sides in ten days. Throughout the competition Tata Martino has had a policy of rotating players into the starting team for Cup matches, and it doesn’t look like there will be an exception tonight. Iniesta, Puyol, Song and Montoya are back in the squad, while Xavi, Busquets and Alves didn’t make the team. If Barça make good on the result from the first leg, it will be the team’s seventh semi-final Cup berth in eight years (they were eliminated in the quarter-final round in 2010).

Llevant UD vs FC Barcelona: Second chance for the Blaugrana at the Ciutat de Valencia

January 22, 2014 07:32 PM

Martino’s take on Llevant (also called Levante) at the Ciutat de Valencia for the Spanish Cup match after drawing with the Valencia-based side three days ago in the League. The Blaugrana return to scene where they drew 1-1 with the Llevant side, but this Wednesday evening, Tata Martino’s men will try to get a good result ahead of the second leg of the Cup tie at the Camp Nou. The FC Barcelona manager named 18 players to the team for the match. Dani Alves, who missed this weekend’s game against Levante due to suspension, and Carles Puyol made the team. Piqué, Montoya, Cuenca (technical reasons), Iniesta, Neymar Jr, Afellay, Dos Santos and Oier (injured) did not make the team.

Getafe CF vs FC Barcelona: One step from Spanish Cup quarter-finals

January 16, 2014 08:35 PM

Barça are close to the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey. The 4-0 from the first leg at the Camp Nou against Getafe give the Blaugrana quite a bit of breathing room this Thursday evening (22:00 CET) in Madrid. However, the tie isn’t over and Barça must secure passage to the next round of the competition at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez. Two experiences, in 2007 and this season, show how dangerous is Getafe in his own stadium. FC Barcelona’s Boss, Tata Martino, left Busquets, Jordi Alba and Iniesta out of the team. If Xavi Hernández. features this evening against Getafe, it will be the midfielder’s 700th official match in the Blaugrana strip.

FC Barcelona dominate FIFPro XI since 2006

January 14, 2014 08:11 PM

Dani Alves, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta and Leo Messi were yesterday named as part of the FIFA/FIFPro World XI 2013 - a team chosen by more than 50,000 players from around the globe. With four players in the side, Barça were once again the club with most representatives. FC Barcelona have been the team providing most players to the World XI for the last 8 years (though they shared that honour with Real Madrid in 2012, when both sides provided 5 players each). Leo Messi has appeared in each of the last 7 selections and Xavi in the last 6.

FC Barcelona vs Getafe: Killer instinct (4-0)

January 9, 2014 01:05 PM | Roger Bogunyà

Goals from Cesc (2) and Messi (2) crush Getafe in the first leg of the 1/16 round of the Spanish Cup (4-0). Tata Martino was spot on when he said Leo Messi had the look of an assassin before Wednesday evening’s match at the Camp Nou against Getafe. It took the Argentinian forward only 30 minutes to score a brace and edge Barça ever closer to the next round of the Copa del Rey. Before Barça can clinch passage to the quarter-finals of the competition, they will have to travel to the Spanish capital to face Atlético Madrid in La Liga.

Iniesta extends his contract with FC Barcelona until 2018

December 19, 2013 08:43 PM

The FC Barcelona President, Sandro Rosell, has confirmed that the midfielder, who was on contract until 2015, will now be staying at the Catalan club until June 30, 2018. In 479 official appearances, Iniesta has won 21 trophies at FC Barcelona. Iniesta will be 34 on June 30, 2018, which will mean he will have been at the club for an incredible 22 years. He first arrived at FC Barcelona in September 1996, when he was only 12. By the 2000/01 season he was making the switch from the U19 team to Barça B and in October 2002 he played his first game for the first team in Bruges. Iniesta is one of Europe’s most admired footballers as he helped Barça to its greatest ever period of success.