luis suárez

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.

Suárez nets a brace, Messi and Bartra chip in as Barça roll past Andalusians. ??Offensive balance once again as strikers score and a defender delivers. To the casual observer Wednesday night’s La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Almería at Camp Nou was what one might expect as the Catalans thoroughly dominated their opponents in virtually every statistical category on their way winning by a score of 4–0. But to anyone who has been following Barça closely this season, what transpired out on the pitch is likely to be taken as a rock-solid confirmation of how this team got here. Here just happens to be first-place in La Liga, four points clear of Real Madrid with 8 games to play — with a UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie versus Paris Saint-Germain and a Spanish Cup final versus Athletic Club Bilbao waiting in the wings.

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.

FC Barcelona rode a solitary score from the foot of midfielder Ivan Rakitic to top Manchester City 1–0 on a crisp evening at Camp Nou, capping a 3–1 aggregate result and putting the Catalans through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Barça goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen made a diving stop on a late Kun Agüero penalty kick to preserve the victory. Leo Messi, despite being kept off the score sheet, was at or near his best. Manchester City played at the limit of aggressivity throughout the encounter, drawing four first-half yellow cards. Barça’s next opponent will be determined in the quarter-final draw, set for Friday in Nyon, Switzerland.

Barça have the advantage from the first leg and will be looking to secure their place in the Champions League quarter-finals for the eighth successive Seaton. Barça knocked out Manchester City at this stage of the Champions League last season and will be looking to repeat the feat on Wednesday at Camp Nou after the 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium last month in the first leg. FC Barcelona boss Luis Enrique boss named an 18-man squad on Wednesday morning, with Masip, Montoya and Douglas missing out, alongside the injured Vermaelen and Sergio Busquets. Manchester City coach Manuel Pellegrini welcomes back former Barça midfielder Touré Yaya to his squad after suspension.

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.

FC Barcelona took full advantage of an opponent that had the courage to come out and attack, storming to an electric 6–1 victory over Rayo Vallecano in front of a packed house at Camp Nou and vaulting them past Real Madrid into first place in the Spanish League standings, for the first time in four months. Messi net three, Suárez added two and Piqué scored one goal. The Argentinian tied Cristiano Ronaldo as the Spanish League's top goal scorer with 30 targets each. In addition, Messi became all-time hat-trick leader for Spanish clubs in official games, with 32 hat tricks in total. Besides, Messi also became the all-time hat trick record in League games, getting 24 and passing Cristiano Ronaldo's 23.

FC Barcelona are headed back to the final of the Spanish Cup. Neymar’s two goals sandwich Suárez’s strike. The Brazilian scored two minutes after the opening kick off and again two minutes from the final whistle to lead the Catalans to a commanding 3–1 win over hosts Villarreal in the return leg of the Spanish Cup quarter-final. Barça duplicate score from first leg to knock out Villarreal 6–2 on aggregate, booking Barça a trip to the title-match where they'll face Athletic Club Bilbao. Jonathan Dos Santos managed the lone goal in the losing effort. Villarreal played the last 25 minutes with ten men as Tomás Pina was sent off after a vicious tackle on Neymar. And that wasn’t the only close-call for Barça, as Sergio Busquets left the game on a stretcher after what appeared to be an ugly ankle injury.

Goals from Rakitic, Suárez and Messi produce an important win in Andalusia that put the pressure on Real Madrid, the Spanish League leaders. A workmanlike performance from Barça against relegation-threatened Granada resulted in the perfect response to last week’s setback at home to Málaga. A thoroughly deserved 3-1 win keeps the Catalans well in the hunt for the Liga title. The only downside to a fine performance from Barça was a yellow card for Neymar, which means he’ll be suspended against Rayo Vallecano.

Two goals from the Uruguayan have set things up perfectly for FC Barcelona for the Champions League last-16-tie’s second leg at the Camp Nou on March 18 by repeating last year’s feat of winning at the Etihad. Kun Agüero pulled one goal back for Manchester City. This Tuesday’s game ended 2-1, with Joe Hart giving Man City a glimmer of hope by saving a Leo Messi penalty in the final minute of injury time. However, a 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium, and playing such spectacular football, is nothing less than magnificent and the result leaves Barça with every right to feel confident about their chances of making it into the quarter finals.

All it took was one small mistake. A seemingly innocent back-pass from Dani Alves to Claudio Bravo in minute seven ran out of steam and was intercepted by a charging Juanmi, who beat Bravo to the ball and waltzed in all alone for the game’s only goal, stopping Barça’s 11-game winning streak dead in its tracks. The loss means that Barça, playing in front of a raucous home crowd, have missed an opportunity to become the overnight leaders in La Liga and will be a minimum of one point behind leaders Real Madrid come Monday morning.

Barça stay just one point adrift of top spot in La Liga after beating Levante to the tune of five goals to no reply in Sunday’s game before 74,963 spectators at the Camp Nou. FC Barcelona make it eleven wins in a row with goals from Neymar, Suárez and a Messi hat trick.Luis Enrique made eight changes to the team that started midweek against Villarreal, with Suárez, Jordi Alba and Piqué among those on the bench. The manager had said in his pre-match press conference that this would not be as simple a game as some suspected, and for much of the first half that did indeed prove to be the case.

A FC Barcelona delegation led by President Josep Maria Bartomeu was in the Vatican City on Thursday to sign an agreement between the Catalan club’s Foundation and the Scholas Occurrentes charity - network of schools being promoted by the pontiff – to set up joint educational actions to promote values. Barça is the first sports club in the world to make such a deal. FC Barcelona was also represented by vice-president Jordi Cardoner, the vice-presidents of the Foundation, Ramon Pont and Ramon Cierco and director Pau Vilanova.

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.

A Neymar brace and a Miranda own goal beat an Atlético side that finish with nine men. Never was the old adage of a ‘game of two halves’ more appropriate than it was tonight. A non-stop first half produced five goals, with Barça going behind twice but eventually leading 3-2 at the break. After Atlético were reduced to ten men at half-time, all the fire went out of the game, with Barça’s qualification for the last four of the cup never really looking in doubt.It all started like one of the classic Atlético v Barça games of the nineties. It was relentless end-to-end action from start to finish. The opening goal took just thirty seconds to come. Barça will find out who their opponents will be on Thursday night when Villarreal defend their 1-0 lead from the first leg against Getafe.