Sports

FC Barcelona rolled to a dominating 4-0 victory over Apoel Nicosia on Tuesday night at the GSP Stadium. Besides, the Argentinian has his second straight three-goal performance while breaking the all-time Champions League scoring record. The Argentinian attacker surpassed previous record holder Raúl Gonzalez. It was the second record for Messi this week after breaking Telmo Zarra’s all-time La Liga scoring record on Saturday night versus Sevilla. Luis Suárez also marks a milestone with his first goal for FC Barcelona.

The FC Barcelona's forward surpassed the previous record of 251 goals held by Telmo Zarra since 1955. On Saturday evening, Leo Messi scored 3 goals against Sevilla at Camp Nou, giving him a total of 253 in only 289 Spanish league matches (0.87 per game). It's been almost a decade since Messi's first goal against Albacete in May 2005. His best year saw him get 50 targets in La Liga. Telmo Zarraonaindía played for Athletic Bilbao from 1940 to 1955, scoring 251 goals in 277 games (0.91 per game). Almost 60 years later, Messi has gone past him. The 27 year-old Leo Messi has now reached the summit, one season after surpassing the career marks of Hugo Sánchez (234), Raúl (228), Alfredo Di Stéfano (227), César (224) and Quini (219).

Late goals by Neymar and Alba erase 1-0 deficit and hand Barça the victory. Luis Suárez also decisive, chipping in with sublime assists on both goals. On a beautiful sunny afternoon in Andalusia, Almería took the field with tight man-to-man defence. Both sides exchanged possessions in the opening minutes until Leo Messi and Munir El Haddadi led a Barça counterattack, stemming from an Almería corner kick, each having a shot blocked in a scramble right in front of the net. By the quarter hour mark, it was evident that the hosts had no plans to back down. Despite Almería’s hard work, Barça did have their chances.

FC Barcelona overcame a plucky Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena to claim three points that ensure they will be joining PSG in the second round of the Champions League. Leo Messi was the man of the moment, scoring a goal in each half to equal Raúl’s all-time record of 71 goals in the competition. Barça and PSG will now fight it out for top spot in Group F. It was a lively game from start to finish, but there was a dearth of real chances for either side in the first half hour. The best chances all fell to Ajax, who actually out-possessed the Catalans in the first 45 minutes, with Lucas Andersen, Schöne and Klaassen all coming close, and Jordi Alba shining above everyone else with a series of last-ditch tackles.

This Wednesday's clash in Amsterdam at 20.45 PM CET is sure to be atypical, as Barça players looking to forget about recent defeats with a victory. FC Barcelona's fourth match in this year's UEFA Champions League group stage is shaping up to be something special. Perhaps most importantly, it is an opportunity for the Catalan team to take home three more points and bring them ever closer to qualifying for the round of 16.

FC Barcelona wanted desperately to get back to winning and Lionel Messi was looking to make history at Camp Nou, but excellent goalkeeping from Celta’s Sergio Álvarez and some unlucky breaks saw the Catalans surrender their lead at the top of the Spanish League table. The Catalan team hit crossbar 4 times, lose second straight in La Liga. Celta win to stay unbeaten on the road this season. The first half ended without any scoring from either side, although several chances either just missed or were thwarted with solid goalkeeping at both ends of the pitch. The second half opened with Neymar hitting the bar yet again. Then just a couple of minutes later, Celta silenced the Camp Nou crowd.

FC Barcelona won the first ever edition of the Catalan Super Cup at the Estadi Montilivi in Girona this Wednesday evening after the game with RCD Espanyol ended 1-1 after 90 minutes. Luis Enrique’s side dominated from start to finish but were unable to add to a Gerard Piqué header after 15 minutes. Espanyol pulled back through Arbilla shortly after the break, and with no further scoring the game went to penalties. The shootout went Barça’s way, as it also had against the same side in the last two finals of the Copa Catalunya.

FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol meet in the first ever edition of the Catalan Super Cup (9.30pm CET) in the Estadi Montilivi in Girona (north-eastern Catalonia). The tournament has been created as a complement to the Copa Catalunya and features Catalonia’s two top flight clubs, while lower division teams will continue to battle for the former trophy (along with the Barça and Espanyol reserve teams). The meeting between the two biggest clubs in Catalonia comes after neither side managed to collect three points at the weekend in the Spanish League. Barça were beaten 3-1 in the Clasico with Real Madrid, while Espanyol played out a dull 0-0 draw at home to Deportivo. Thirteen first team players have been included in the Barça squad, including Suárez and Adriano.

Four Barça players have been shortlisted for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2014. They are Leo Messi, Neymar Jr, Andrés Iniesta and Javier Mascherano. FIFA and France Football magazine announced on Tuesday morning those players nominated for the award, which is given to the best player of the calendar year. The final decision will be taken by the coaches and captains from every single national team around the world as well as by journalists from France Football via a system of votes. On the 1^st of December the final shortlist of the three finalists will be made public. The winner of the Ballon d’Or 2014 will be revealed on the 12^th of January, 2015 during a gala ceremony which will take place in Zurich.

Barça fall as Madrid turn game round following an early Neymar score. Despite a dream start, when Neymar swept home an early opener, Barça went down 3-1 in Madrid on Saturday’s first Clasico of the season in a game in which Luis Suarez made his official debut and Claudio Bravo finally conceded. The game could hardly have started better for Barça, when after just 3 minutes, Luís Suárez sent a cross field ball from the right to Neymar and the Brazilian cut inside, leaving a couple of defenders trailing in his wake to fire low past Iker Casillas and open the scoring.

Great expectation in the press room at the Ciutat Esportiva just 24 hours before the Clasico in the Santiago Bernabéu. In the traditional pre-game press conference ahead of Madrid-Barça,Luis Enrique revealed his thoughts before his first Clásico as a coach. He revealed that Luis Suárez will appear at some point and Sergio Busquets is fit to take part. Furthermore he is clear about what he wants from his players: “We will go out there with the same footballing ideas and the same attitude as always. That, according to the coach, is “going after the from the start, without sitting back, having the ball and deserving the victory”.

The Uruguayan is ready to make his official Barça debut as his FIFA ban comes to an end and could do so on Saturday in the Spanish League game against Real Madrid. Luis Suárez played in the Joan Gamper Trophy and the Barça B friendly against an Indonesia Under 19 team and last week picked up his Golden Boot award for the 2013/14 season. Hopefully Suárez' FC Barcelona debut will post the same results as he managed on his debut for Liverpool, when he scored after just 11 minutes on the pitch, Ajax – a goal after 42 minutes and Groningen where he scored after 36 minutes.

First half scores from Barça’s lethal one-two punch of Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr gave the home side everything they would need, as a near total dominance of the ball kept Ajax safely at bay. In a match featuring a pair of sides with long, intertwined histories and similar playing styles, it was FC Barcelona who showed they were master of their domain. Despite a common past, this was just the third meeting ever between the clubs. By the end of the game, however, there was little doubt that Barça were the better squad. The result leaves Barça comfortably in second place in Group F with six points. Ajax are third with two points and Apoel are fourth with one point. For the moment, Paris Sant-Germain lead the group with seven points.

It’s no final, but Tuesday night’s game with Ajax is still of crucial importance for FC Barcelona following the 3-2 defeat in Paris a fortnight ago. Barça need three points at the Camp Nou to stay in contention for top spot in Group F of the Champions League. And there is the dangerous distraction of the visit to the Santiago Bernabéu for Saturday’s Liga match against Real Madrid, although Luis Enrique insisted in his pre-match conference that “right now the only important game is the one with Ajax.” There will be four days to think about Real Madrid after that, but the Champions League is the main priority for the moment.

Barça saw off a brave Eibar at the Camp Nou, with second half goals from Xavi, Neymar and Messi to confirm their top spot in the Spanish League and give the fans plenty of optimism a week before the trip to the Bernabeu to play against Real Madrid. With Ratikic and Busquets in the stands, Luis Enrique pushed Macherano into midfield alongside Xavi and Sergio Roberto, making his first league start, with Mathieu partnering Piqué in the heart of defence. Up front, Messi was accompanied by Pedro and Neymar , with Sandro and Munir coming on late in the second half. There were no surprises in the way the teams set about the game though, with Barça dominating possession and constantly probing the disciplined Basque defence.