bacelona

More than 350 officers, including SWAT units, to secure Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium

Football coach announced planned exit in June after another defeat on Saturday

Prosecutor’s office also requests five-year sentence for ex-president Sandro Rosell

Number of spectators at Champions League quarter final reaches 91,553

Superstar requests to leave on a free transfer but FC Barcelona says contract clause enabling it expired on June 10

From the mass demonstration in favor of hosting refugees to the independence declaration, it has been one of the most intense years ever in Catalonia

Barça battle the league's fourth-placed side at 7.30pm CET on Wednesday night at Camp Nou, where a victory will provisionally vault them over Real Madrid and into first place. The clash comes soon after Barça’s 4–1 victory at Granada on Sunday, meaning the Catalans have completed a grand total of two training sessions — a recovery session on Monday followed by a normal workout on Tuesday — in a race against the clock to prepare for a vital midweek test against a top-tier opponent that will almost certainly have major implications on the final standings when they are etched in stone in late May. Barça manager Luis Enrique Martínez was his unvarnished, candid self at Tuesday’s pre-game press conference, where he cast aside criticism of Los Blanquirrojos, in light of their recent stumbles, and heaped a pinch or two of flattery upon the Andalusian side. “I think we’re talking about an extraordinary season for them,” he said.

The famous Camp Nou has seen more incredible moments than most, but it will take an almighty effort to top what was witnessed on 8 March 2017. Barça pull off one of the most epic comebacks in the history of the Champions League to get into the quarter-finals, scoring three in the last seven minutes to clinch a 6-5 aggregate win. But if anyone was to achieve the inconceivable, it was always going to be Barça, as the hosts struck thrice late on, with Sergi Roberto clinching a heart-stopping 6-5 aggregate win over PSG. After eventually catching his breath, Luis Enrique was kind enough to share his thoughts on the epic 6-1 win over PSG which seals the team’s passage to the last-eight of the Champions League. “The joy we gave to all Barça fans is dedicated to all those who had faith, who supported us each day, especially in the tough moments, after losing in Paris”, he said. 

The Champions League is back with the blaugranes travelling to take on the French champions in the first leg of their last 16 tie in the Parc des Princes.  “We expect a tough tie against a daring PSG side who will put us under pressure in front of their own fans. “It will be an attractive game between two ambitious sides”, said Barça’s coach Luis Enrique, in his press conference ahead of Tuesday’s game. FC Barcelona have lost just once in their last 22 competitive fixtures, against Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey back at the beginning of January. Since then the blaugranes have won eight of 11 fixtures in all competitions, the most recent the 6-0 win in Mendizorroza against Alavés last weekend in the league.

Welcome back to the Camp Nou! August 10 brings the traditional curtain-raiser to the new season as Barça host Sampdoria of Italy in the 51st edition of the Joan Gamper Trophy. This is the last of four friendlies for Barça before things get really serious with the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday. UC Sampdoria were Barça’s victims both in the 1989 European Cup Winner’s Cup Final (2-0) and the 1992 European Cup Final (1-0). Luis Enrique promised in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday that absolutely everyone in the squad will be getting a run-out on Wednesday night, including all three goalkeepers, who’ll be getting thirty minutes each. According to the coach, “the Gamper Trophy is always special” and emphasised that this is “the best squad” he has had since joining Barça.

With a 2-1 advantage from the first leg, the Catalans are looking to seal qualification to their eighth Champions League semi-final in nine years. Barça go into the game on the back of a disappointing league defeat to Real Sociedad but last week’s win over Atlético gives them a boost going into tonight’s second leg. "We have a small advantage but the tie remains open and so we will try to win the match as always," said Luis Enrique speaking to the mediabin Madrid on Tuesday. Barca’s record against the side from the capital has been perfect since the appointment of Luis Enrique in the summer of 2014. Luis Suarez’s brace last week sealed a seventh straight win over Atlético under the Asturian.

Johan Cruyff, a Barça player during the early seventies and one of its most iconic coaches later on, died this Thursday at the age of 68. Born in Amsterdam in 1947, he joined the Catalan squad in 1973 and relaunched its prestige by winning La Liga in 1974. He played 184 matches and scored 51 goals in the blaugrana shirt and was voted, on three occasions, world player of the year. However, his most revolutionary role was played from the bench. He was Barça’s coach for nearly 10 years and his name will always be linked to the ‘Dream Team’, the name popularly given to the squad which won the first European Cup for Barça at Wembley in 1992 and four successive La Liga titles between 1991 and 1994. Cruyff failed to overcome lung cancer and died after months of battling, surrounded by his family.

Second-half goals from Neymar and Messi eclipse Torres icebreaker and keep Catalans perfect with three wins in three tries. Diego Simeone’s team went up 1–0 in the 52nd. Torres received an unexpected pass out of the midfield and slipped the ball past blaugrana goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen. But just three minutes later Neymar, after being taken down 25 metres from the Atlético goal, dusted himself off and converted a textbook free kick that curled up and over the four-man wall and broke back down into upper left corner, the only spot where the high-flying Oblak couldn’t get to it. Lionel Messi came off the bench in the second half and scored less than a quarter-hour from time to hand FC Barcelona a 2–1 comeback victory.