marc bartra

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.

Luis Enrique was able to celebrate his managerial debut in the Champions League with three points, but just as he had warned beforehand, the APOEL Nicosia presented a far tougher challenge than many had predicted. Despite dominating almost of the play, Barça only found the net once, a Gerard Piqué header after 27 minutes. Ter Stegen pulled on the goalkeeper’s jersey for the first time in an official match, and the night also meant the first starts of the season for Bartra, Adriano, Samper, Xavi and Sergi Roberto. The starting eleven featured no fewer than nine changes with respect to the one that beat Bilbao at the weekend.

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.

FC Barcelona's young player Munir El Haddadi made his full debut with the Spanish team in Spain's 5-1 win over Macedonia in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier in Valencia on Monday night. The 19-year-old player came on for Koke on 77 minutes of the game. Sergio Busquets scored his first goal for the international team, getting the third goal in first half injury time. Pedro also scored and Jordi Alba and Marc Bartra both played. Besides, Rafinha played the full 90 minutes in Brazil’s Under 21 team’s 2-2 draw against Lebanon in Doha.

FC Barcelona made light work of their fourth preseason friendly. Goals from Munir (2), Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Bartra and Sandro brought a fantastic end to a busy week with games in Nice, Geneva and now Helsinki. The atmosphere in the Olympic Stadium couldn’t have been better, but after FCB scored three times in the first fifteen minutes, the game itself was a lop-sided affair.

FC Barcelona drew away to Olympique Nice in their second preseason friendly on Saturday evening. They travelled there straight from Birmingham, where the Catalan team undertook a 6-day training stay. There were plenty of signs that things are coming together for FC Barcelona in Nice's wonderful Allianz Riviera. Xavi pulled level with a second half penalty after Nice had taken the lead, also from the spot. Barça players were always in control and could easily have gone on to win the game, had there been a little more luck on their side.

Luis Enrique led Barça to a win in Huelva thanks to a Joan Roman goal. All FC Barcelona's 23 players got to play, and the visitors dominated from start to finish. The Colombino Trophy match between Recreativo Huelva and Barça will always be remembered for being Luis Enrique’s debut as first team manager. Goalkeeper Ter Stegen got to make his debut, and although he didn’t have much to do, on the few occasions when he was called upon, he did well. There were only three first team players in the starting eleven (Masip, Montoya and Sergi Roberto), with the other eightall coming from the reserves. Luis Enrique fielded a completely different eleven in the second half, four of which were first team players - Ter Stegen, Bartra, Afellay and Deulofeu

Barça's first team have started the preseason with a series of examinations of their physical condition. Eleven first team players (Ter Stegen, Masip, Montoya, Bartra, Adriano, Sergi Roberto, Rafinha, Deulofeu, Afellay, Tello and Bojan) were joined by thirteen from the reserves (Patric, Ie, Bagnack, Diagne, Grimaldo, Samper, Halilovic, Munir, Sandro, Dani Nieto, Joan Roman, Dongou and Adama). . After initial analyses, they were then staggered into different groups for biomechanical tests, electrocardiograms, echographies, effort tests and densitometry examinations. On Saturday, Huelva will be the stage for the first preseason friendly for Barça 2014/15.

FC Barcelona are alive in La Liga. The Catalans ended a three-match losing streak this Sunday thanks to a 2-1 win over Athletic Club, who had taken the lead through Aduriz in the 50 minute. Barça missed a number of clear chances to equalise before Pedro pounced on a scuffed shot from Alexis to score from close range in the 71. Just minutes later Messi scored a second from a free kick to seal the win and keep Barça in the hunt for the Spanish League title.

Gareth Bale's goal five minutes from the end clinched the Spanish Cup for Real Madrid. Neymar almost sent the game into extra time in the final minute, but his shot hit the post. The 2014 Spanish Cup goes to Real Madrid after goals from Di María and Bale at the start and end of the match tipped the balance in their favour in this evening’s final. It was a cruel blow for FC Barcelona, who equalised with a Bartra in the second half. Barça are still the ‘king of cups’ with 26 titles, but this season the only major title they can still win is the domestic league.

This Wednesday evening Valencia's Mestalla hosts the Spanish Cup Final and the Catalans face old rivals Real Madrid. It’s 63 days since FC Barcelona beat Real Sociedad in the semi-finals. It’ll be a peculiar final. There is no clear favourite, both sides are missing important players to injury, and for the first time in several years, these two teams are not the runaway leaders in La Liga. Barça come into the game following a disappointing week in which they were knocked out of the Champions League and suffered a serious setback in their quest to win La Liga. Real Madrid would appear to be heading in the opposite direction.

FC Barcelona host Celta at the Camp Nou four days after winning at Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu. Sunday’s 4-3 win in the clásico has put Barça back in contention in an incredibly tight championship race. Just one point separates Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona, and any setback could leave any of these teams in a very difficult position indeed. There are just nine games to go, and every one of them is absolutely crucial. It may sound like a cliché, but they all need to be treated like finals. The legendary Luis Enrique, who played for FC Barcelona for eight seasons and managed Barça B team for three, is back for the first time as a visitor. Gerardo Martino has dropped Oier, Montoya, Afellay and Xavi, the latter being rested after starting five games in a row.

FC Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu and Catalan defender Marc Bartra signed the deal in the club offices this Tuesday that will keep the centre-back at Barça till June 2017. The new deal includes a 25 million Euro get out clause.The 23-year-old Bartra joined FC Barcelona as an eleven-year-old and worked his way up through the academy and Barça B teams before signing a first team contract in the 2012/13 season.After putting pen to paper, the Catalan centre-back admitted: “I’m very happy. It’s a great feeling and I hope everything continues to go as well as they have done in my time at the club so far. For me, Piqué and Puyol are my reference points - it’s a challenge to me to achieve what they have . Establishing myself in the team is a big test, but I am getting there”

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 .

Barça overcome the elements to re-take the Spanish League’s top spot in Seville - a spot they’d held all season until last weekend. Although Martino’s side weren’t as dominant as normal this Sunday evening, they showed a lethal finishing touch up front to come back from the hosts’ early strike with Alexis, Messi –two lovely goals – and Cesc give Barça an important win in the rain. On the quarter hour Seville took the lead thanks to an unlucky rebound off Bartra as Alberto Moreno shot from the edge of the box.In the first half, Seville had four clear chances and only put one away, whilst Barça finished off the two opportunities they had to go in with a 1-2 lead.