spanish league

The blaugranes face their first league game of the season at Camp Nou against the Andalusians in a game which kicks off at 8.30pm CET. Luis Enrique's side got off to an excellent start to the league campaign last weekend with a 1-0 win against Athletic Club Bilbao, Luis Suárez's goal giving them all three points. Before the game against Málaga, which will be the first since the pitch was recently relaid, captain Andrés Iniesta will present the European Super Cup to the crowd following their victory in the competition earlier this month in Tbilisi. At the same time Leo Messi will also show off the UEFA Best Player in Europe accolade collected on Thursday at the gala for the draw for the Champions League group stage.

A draw against Athletic Club Bilbao at Camp Nou in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup was insufficient to turn around the 4-0 deficit from the first leg with the Basques claiming their first trophy in 31 years. Barça gave everything and Messi put the Catalans ahead right at the end of the first half giving the blaugranes the lead. However a second half sending off for Piqué meant Barça reduced to ten men for the final half an hour. Equaliser from Aduriz sealed title for Athletic. The last five minutes saw the Basques reduced to ten men also with substitute Kike Sola sent off. It was too late to affect the tie and Barça now turn their attentions to the league and an opening weekend trip to none other than Athletic Club.

Catalans and Basques clash in Spanish Super Cup second leg at Camp Nou on Monday night at 10.00pm CET. FC Barcelona may have fallen in the first leg of the 2015 Spanish Super Cup Final versus Athletic Club Bilbao, but don’t be fooled. They are more than able to get back up and can score goals with the best of them. Correction: They are the best of them, which means that no deficit is insurmountable for the most prolific team in world football. Luis Enrique and his players are confident of a comeback following Friday’s disappointing defeat. The Catalans trained on both Saturday and Sunday in preparation for the big comeback attempt. The not-so-great news is, of course, that Neymar continues to be out with a case of the mumps.

The Basques host the Catalans just 76 days after the two sides met in the Spanish Cup Final at the Camp Nou. After the dramatic 5-4 defeat of Sevilla in Tbilisi to win the European Super Cup, Barça can now make it five titles out of a possible six in 2015 as they face Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup. The first leg is at the new San Mamés on Friday 14 August (10.00pm CET) and the return is at the Camp Nou at the same time on Monday 17. Neymar is still sick with the mumps, Alba and Douglas have hamstring injuries and Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal are both ineligible, but Luis Enrique insists that there are no new concerns and that the knocks taken by Pedro and Iniesta against Sevilla were minor affairs that won’t affect their availability on Friday night.

Messi (2) and Neymar score as FC Barcelona claim 27th cup title and move one step closer to historic treble. Two down, one to go. FC Barcelona confidently disposed of Athletic Bilbao 3-1 in Saturday’s Spanish Cup Final at the Camp Nou and can claim a historic treble if they can repeat the trick against Juventus in Berlin next Saturday. Messi scored the second and third, with Neymar getting the one in between, and Williams’ late header was little more than some consolation for Athletic’s swatches of travelling supporters.

Camp Nou was jubilant for the 2014/15 La Liga title celebration and farewell to Xavi Hernández. Messi net two for Barça but Depor pulled both back with second-half strikes from Lucas and Salomão. Saturday afternoon was the perfect opportunity for FC Barcelona to enjoy a well-deserved rest stop. Nearing the end of a pleasant ten-month journey and just six days after one its biggest highlights, the time had come to pull off the highway, enjoy the scenery and — with the end of the road on the horizon and as visible as ever — refuel for the final two stops.It was a day for contentment, delight, and elation, an occasion to celebrate the 2014/15 La Liga title. But it was also a moment for goodbyes, the ones that nobody likes to make, the time to bid a final farewell to Xavi Hernández, one of the perennial fixtures of this barnstorming band of first-class footballers, who recently told his buddies that this year’s trip would be his last.

The midfielder announces he's leaving Barça at the end of the season, after 17 years with the first team. "I'd like to announce that I'm leaving Barça after this season. The decision is definitive yet difficult. I think now is the time to leave, that's the way I feel.” Thus, with those words and raw emotion, Xavi Hernández, the greatest midfielder in FC Barcelona history, made his farewell to the club of his life.He continued: "It was the right decision to stay this year. I still feel important [to the team], but I think it's time. I need a change of scenery. I signed a contract with Al-Sadd [in Qatar] for two seasons and I have a very exciting project at the Aspire Academy. It's the ideal place to continue training."

A brilliant goal from Leo Messi hands the blaugranes the win that they needed to claim their 23rd Spanish League title. A year ago, Atlético Madrid won the league title with a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou and tonight Barça returned the favour and brought the trophy back home with a 0-1 win at the Vicente Calderón, as they took the first leg of their possible treble with a game to spare.As the second half ticked away, Real Madrid went one up against Espanyol, meaning Barça needed a goal to take the title this weekend and on 65 minutes, Alba worked the ball inside to Messi who played a one-two with Pedro and tucked it home with his left peg through a forest of legs. A brilliant goal fit for La Liga Champions! One down, two to go, as the Spanish Cup and the Champions League final await!

FC Barcelona are one win away from taking the 2014/15 La Liga title. Barça's win over Real Sociedad, combined with a Real Madrid's 2–2 draw against Valencia, puts Luis Enrique's men four points ahead of Los Blancos and one victory from the Spanish League title. A win against Atlético Madrid next week would mathematically hand Barça the league championship. FC Barcelona will have two chances to be proclaimed champions. The first will be next Sunday at 7.00pm CET when they take on Atlético at Vicente Calderón. A Barça victory — or a tie combined with a Real Madrid draw or loss — will hand the title to Barça. The second chance, if necessary, comes on Saturday 23 May at Camp Nou against Deportivo La Coruña.

Leo Messi spoke to a packed press room this Tuesday morning ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Bayern and explained: “I’m really motivated by this game, for what it means and because we face a great team”. The Argentinean was cautious in his press conference, but admitted: "we are feeling good about things", at this key point in the campaign. Bayern is a team managed by Pep Guardiola of course, which gives an added edge, as does the memory of defeat to the Germans at this same stage two seasons ago, but Messi insisted: “it’s been a while since that game now and we are coming into it in a different situation  - this will be a different tie. There can’t be a favourite at this stage of the competition, we are both two big teams. There’s pressure, but we are both obliged to win”.

Luis Suárez's hat trick leads the onslaught as Barça overcome arid conditions to win big in the south of Spain. Lionel Messi adds a brace, while Ivan Raktic, Gerard Piqué, and Neymar chip in one apiece. The victory keeps FC Barcelona two points clear at the top of the league table — with just three games remaining — after Real Madrid kept pace with a 3–2 win at Sevilla on Saturday night. It was no surprise that Saturday’s match at the Nuevo Arcángel in Córdoba, Spain, played on a lush oasis of green turf in one of the driest regions of the Iberian Peninsula, actually did take place under conditions likely to be found in the middle of a desert. Although the Andalusian climate is notoriously arid and hot — especially in the summer — the league encounter between hosts Córdoba FC and their northern visitors FC Barcelona featured unseasonably high temperatures — 31ºC / 88ºF at kick-off — scorching sunshine, and bone-dry humidity levels.

Five goals in the first half and one more in the second send Barça storming to a spectacular victory against Getafe in a magical night at the Camp Nou. The evening had conjured up six absolutely stunning goals and a performance, especially in the first half, that was close to perfection. Messi (2), Suárez (2), Neymar and Xavi all found the target. Then win leaves Barça five points clear at the top of the table, pending what Real Madrid achieve against Almería on Wednesday, and with just four games to go, the Spanish League title is now almost within touching distance.

Barça’s 2-0 win at the weekend in the Catalan derby against Espanyol kept them two points ahead of rivals Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish League table with just five games in the league season remaining. The first of that quintet of title deciders comes on Tuesday against Getafe at Camp Nou, a game that kicks off at 8.00pm CET. The blaugranes cannot afford any slip ups with Carlo Ancelotti’s side breathing down their necks, so victory is imperative at home against the team from Madrid who come into the game in 13th place on 36 points, still needing results to lift them once and for all away from the relegation dogfight at the bottom of the table.