Sports

Barça have been drawn to play PSG in the last eight of the Champions League. The first leg will be played in Paris’s Parc des Princes on the 2nd of April and the return game will be in Barcelona’s Camp Nou on the 10th of April. The Parisian outfit has made it into the quarter finals for the first time in 19 years after spending 240 million euros in two seasons. The other matches are Real Madrid vs Galatasaray, Bayern Munich vs Juventus and Málaga vs Borussia Dortmund.

Two first half goals from Leo Messi (2) and two more from David Villa and Jordi Alba cancelled out AC Milan’s two-goal head start. Things looked bleak after the 2-0 reverse at the San Siro, but AC Milan were simply no match for the Catalans on Tuesday. Barça thus gain spectacular revenge for the 4-0 defeat in the Athens final of 1994 and go into Friday’s Champions League quarter finals draw.

Barça aim for a historic fight back against AC Milan to stay in the Champions League. The Catalans attempt to turn around the 2-0 defeat in Milan and earn a place in the last eight of the competition. This generation of FC Barcelona players have won everything in the game, with few records left to beat and just one big challenge ahead of them – to come back from a losing position in a European tie. Xavi Hernàndez is Barça’s main doubt for the game.

Since the 2-0 result in Milan’s San Siro stadium, both sides have faced some tough games, but they come into the Champions League match on the back of league wins: the Catalans defeated Deportivo and the Italians, Genova. FC Barcelona need a three-goal-distance win on Tuesday evening to pass through the next Champions League tie. AC Milan have already arrived at the Catalan capital and, despite the first leg result, they are being cautious and refuse the favourite role considering Barça’s potential.

FC Barcelona got back to winning ways following the two painful defeats to Real Madrid, with a 2-0 victory over Deportivo. The three points bring the Spanish League title closer to the Camp Nou, with 11 games still to play this season. Goals from Alexis and Messi give Barça three important points ahead of next Tuesday’s AC Milan game, when the Catalans need a clear victory to continue their Champions League campaign.

At the press conference before the FC Barcelona vs Deportivo de la Coruña game, Barça boss insisted that the team had trained well this week and are keen to beat the Galician side: “to keep our lead at the top of the table”. After the two consecutive defeats against Real Madrid, FC Barcelona needs a morale boost against Deportivo in order to face AC Milan next Tuesday, a crucial and difficult match in order to continue their Champions League campaign. In the first leg tie, the Catalans lost 2-0 in San Siro and now they need an heroic victory at the Camp Nou.

The Barça goalkeeper will miss the next four Spanish League matches (against Deportivo, Rayo, Celta and Mallorca). Valdés was sent off just at the end of the Real Madrid – FC Barcelona clásico, when he protested the referee for a last-minute penalty. The FC Barcelona legal services will be presenting an appeal over the next few days against the verdict of the Spanish Football Federation’s ‘Competition Committee’.

The Blaugrana will play exhibition matches in Shanghai on the 4th of August, Bangkok on the 7th of August and Kuala Lumpur on the 10th of August. However, the names of the teams facing Barça have not been revealed yet. It will be the second FC Barcelona’s Asia Tour after that of summer 2010. Barça will firstly play against Guardiola’s Bayern Munich on the 24th of July, for charity purposes. Furthermore, the Catalan team might play on Tel Aviv on the 31st of July with a Israel and Palestine side in order to support peace and understanding, although this has not been confirmed yet.

A goal from Ramos with eight minutes left saw Real Madrid take a rather grey Clasico after Messi had equalised Benzema’s opener in the first half. Valdés was sent off after the final whistle after remonstrating with the referee who denied Barça an apparently clear late penalty when Adriano was brought down in the box.

Tuesday’s painful Spanish Cup KO, Barça face Real Madrid again, this time in a League competition they are dominating - leading their great rivals by 16 points – a situation that leads Roura to insist on an optimistic message. The FC Barcelona coach is fully confident in his players’ “admirable attitude” ahead of Saturday’s match, which he reckons is: “a very important game”. “The League is the top prize and a good result on Saturday will be a great step forward”, he added. Furthermore, Roura admitted: “against Milan and Madrid we were not as inspired as usual, but that is no cause for pessimism”.

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.

Throughout this week the Formula One Test Days have been held at the Montmeló racetrack, located in Greater Barcelona’s northern area. While all the teams try to optimize their performance capacity, Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso has been the fastest driver this week. The Circuit has been a hive of activity thanks to other parallel activities of the event, such as guided tours. The Formula One Test Days at the Catalunya Circuit are back next week between the 28th February and 3rd March, just two weeks before the Formula One official season starts in Australia.