spanish cup

Barça reached the next round of the competition. Messi scored a brace, Xavi featured in his 700^th official match for the Catalan team and Neymar picked up an ankle injury. At first it looked as though the player had seriously injured his knee, but Barça’s medical team concluded that he had sprained his right ankle. FC Barcelona played a fairly practical game against Getafe. At the start, the Blaugrana controlled the flow of play through possession, and they managed to threaten Codina’s goal thanks to the Neymar-Messi partnership. In the first half, Getafe also had their chances to score, but Pinto was up to the task of denying the home team.

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 700^th official match in the Blaugrana strip.

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.

The Camp Nou will host the first leg of the 1/8 round of the Copa del Rey. Leo Messi was named in the squad while Dani Alves, Marc Bartra and Xavi will be rested.Pinto will be in goal despite Valdés’ recovery and it’s probable that Puyol, Adriano and Sergi Roberto, all of whom were on the bench on Sunday, will be named in the starting eleven. Gerardo Martino, Barça’s Boss, said on Saturday that Leo Messi “has the eye of an assassin” since he returned from Argentina. The FC Barcelona forward, who missed the match against Elche, was given the medical all-clear to play on Tuesday and he could make an appearance this Wednesday evening (22.00 CET).

The Argentinean is set to play for the first time since he was injured against Betis at the Benito Villamarín Stadium 58 days ago. He has been named in the FC Barcelona squad to face Getafe at the Spanish Cup on Wednesday. On the 10^th of November, in the 19^th minute, Messi injured himself and had to be substituted. Up to that point he had scored 14 goals and 16 official matches. On the day after, tests confirm that he had torn a hamstring muscle and would be out for 6 to 8 weeks. On the 20^th of December, tests confirm the player had completed the clinical phase of his recovery and on the 2^nd January he trains with the squad again.

Barça qualify for the 1/8 round of the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) after defeating Cartagena at the Camp Nou on Tuesday evening. Barça came into the match with a 1-4 advantage from the first leg in Cartagena, and Gerardo Martino’s competitive line-up earned passage to the next round. Pedro (min 30), Mariano (og) (min 67) and Neymar (min 88), scored for the Blaugrana. Barça’s Club Member Solidarity Day was a complete success as 47,280 filled the Camp Nou, and the team put in a reaffirming performance.

After getting the job done in Europe (Celtic) and La Liga (Villarreal), FC Barcelona want to close out the Copa del Rey tie this Tuesday evening against Cartagena (22.00 CET). FC Barcelona will play the second leg without Xavi (as a precaution), Sergio and Piqué (for technical reasons). Tata Martino has named a total of 16 footballers to the squad. The 1-4 from the first leg 11 days ago gives Barça a huge advantage as the Blaugrana could lose 0-3 and still qualify for the next round of the competition. However, in Can Barça the challenge is always to win by playing good football.

Despite Cartagena's shock opener, goals from Pedro (2), Cesc and Dongou put Barça in clear command of their Copa del Rey tie. FC Barcelona have got their Spanish Cup campaign off to a fine start. The many positives to take from this game included Jean Marie Dongou not only making his debut but also scoring his first goal for the first team, and Jordi Alba returning from injury to play 80 untroubled minutes.

Gerardo Martino's side open their Spanish Cup campaign on Friday evening. Barça travel to third tier Cartagena without Piqué, Xavi and Iniesta, whilst Carles Puyol and Jordi Alba return. The latter could return after being out since September. Although Cartegena are on paper the underdogs, Barça will be aware that any slip up could cost them dear and the boss himself insisted yesterday: “it's a very important game” and coming on the back of defeats in Amsterdam and Bilbao, the team need to get back to winning ways.

Barça’s Copa del Rey title defence is over after losing at home to a Real Madrid side that knew how to take its chances. Despite FC Barcelona getting a good result in the first leg at the Bernabéu (1-1), the all-whites, spurred on by an early penalty, were highly effective at the back and lethal up front. Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals and Varane, Real Madrid’s third target. Jordi Alba pulled one back for Barça, but it was too little too late.

The Spanish Cup champions from the last two seasons meet this evening (21.00 CET) at the Camp Nou in the second leg of the Cup semi-finals, after the two teams drew 1-1 in Madrid. Barça Manager, Jordi Roura has a full squad available, whilst Iker Casillas is missing for the visitors. The clasico’s result at the Camp Nou could have a big effect on both side’s morale ahead of their upcoming Champions League games.

Speaking to the media after Monday’s training session, FC Barcelona Manager, Jordi Roura, insisted: “the team is really focussed and determined to get into another final”. On Tuesday FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will play the second leg of the Spanish Cup semi-final. Roura also reminded everyone that Barça’s style is non-negotiable: “we will be going out to win from the off”.

Goals from Villa and Messi at the start of the second half gave Barça a confidence boosting win after Botia had given Seville a first half lead. In the end, Barça took three more points in the chase for the Spanish League title and gave themselves a good result ahead of the upcoming games against Real Madrid, at the Spanish Cup, and AC Milan, at the Champions League. Barça made six changes from the team who started against AC Milan, with Montoya in at left back and Villa starting up front for the first time since his illness.

FC Barcelona go to Granada on Saturday for the first in a marathon series of five games in 14 days, including massive matches with Milan in the European Champions League and Real Madrid in the Spanish Cup. The Manager has said in the press conference before the Granada vs. FC Barcelona game that “we are in comfortable position in the league but that should be no excuse for any kind of relaxation”. “We’re into the nice part of the season when in a few days there are lots of things at stake. In terms of fitness and morale this is a good moment for us” commented Roura.

Barça Regal won the 23rd Cup in Club history this Sunday evening thanks to a superb performance in the final against Valencia Basket.This is the third Cup won by the Blaugrana of the Xavi Pascual era. Pete Mickeal was named the MVP of the final.