barcelona

FC Barcelona have some work to do in the second leg of their Copa del Rey round of 32 tie with Villanovense after the plucky third tier side managed to hold them to a surprise 0-0 draw on Wednesday night. Luis Enrique opted for a very different starting line-up to the Barça team we are used to, with Douglas at right back and Masip in goal getting their first starts of the season. The promising young Cameroonian Wilfrid Kaptoum made his first team debut in midfield in partnership with Gumbau and Samper, while Adriano was fielded in an unfamiliar attacking role alongside Sandro Ramírez and Munir. The Catalans never quite managed to settle, and rather than sit back and defend, the home side had clearly come out to play ball too. As the half progressed, Villanovense grew in confidence and the crowd in the Romero Cuerda were loving every moment of it. There was a lot more urgency to Barça’s style after the break, but despite dominating a massive 75% of the possession, there was nothing in the way of clear-cut chances until Sandro fired a screaming shot from the edge of the area that only just failed to find the target.

The Catalans rode the brute strength of their Uruguayan striker to another come-from-behind victory in La Liga, this time by a score of 3–1 at Camp Nou. Eibar opened the scoring in the 10th minute on Sunday, when Borja González struck home a long rebound following a diving stop by Barça goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. The Uruguayan first drew Barça even at 1–1 on the stroke of 22 minutes when he headed home a beautiful one-touch volley from Sandro Ramírez. Three minutes after the break Suárez put Barça into the lead with his second goal. Suárez's sealed his hat-trick, his second since debuting for Barça exactly one-year ago to the day, and the win, in the 84th minute. The victory was Barça’s third straight across all competitions, following last week’s win over Rayo and Tuesday’s Champions League triumph at Bate Borisov, and allows them to keep pace at the top of the La Liga table.

Breaking down BATE Borisov proved to be as tricky as Luis Enrique had suggested before the game. The first fifteen minutes were a monologue in the BATE half, the visitors playing with confidence and generating chance after chance. All that changed in practically the first move after the break. Rakitic, who stepped in to take Sergi Roberto's place, sent a trademark long-range strike unstoppably into the top left corner of the BATE net. It wouldn’t be long before he was celebrating his second. In the 64th minute he received an exquisite assist from Neymar and cheekily tipped it over BATE keeper Chernik to extend his team’s lead. Three points that leave them in a strong position at the top of Group E with seven points, three clear of second placed Bayer Leverkusen.

The Catalans are in Belarus for their third UEFA Champions League match in Group E, tonight against BATE Borisov. A total of 20 players have made the journey while the injured Leo Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Rafinha stay at home, as do Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal due to the FIFA suspension. Speaking to the press shortly after arriving in Belarus, Barça boss Luis Enrique commented that the club is "in one of the toughest groups and we are not expecting it to be easy". On the absence of Leo Messi, he added that the team "works as unit" and "it's not a question of another player taking over his role." The Catalans currently top the table with four points from the first two fixtures. Barça's Champions League title defence began with a 1-1 draw at AS Roma. That was followed by a 2-1 defeat of Bayer Leverkusen at the Camp Nou.

The FC Barcelona vice president, Jordi Mestres assured that the Club "is not happy at all" with the UEFA sanction for the presence of Catalan Independence flags at Camp Nou during the Champions League game against Bayer Leverkusen. "We will never tell our members and fans to not express their opinion" Mestre commented to the media. "We will appeal against the decision, and if necessary, we will take legal advice" stated Mestres, at his arrival in Minsk this Tuesday, where FC Barcelona has a duel against BATE Borisov. This is not the first time that UEFA fines FC Barcelona for showing pro-independence flags during a match; at the Champions League final on the 6 June the club was sanctioned for the same reason.

United Airlines will offer a daily direct flight to connect Barcelona with Washington DC. The new route will be operative next summer, starting on the 25^th of May and continuing until the 6^th of September. The flight will depart from Barcelona El Prat airport at 11.30am each day and arrive at Dulles airport in Washington DC at 2.45pm the same day. In the opposite direction, the flight will leave Washington DC at 6.10pm and land in the Catalan capital at 2.45pm that the same day. This new connection has been announced two weeks after another new non-stop intercontinental flight started to operate to Barcelona, which has connected El Prat airport with Sao Paulo since the beginning of October. 

From January to September this year, Barcelona's port transported 100,666 UTI, the transport unit which equals a lorry, a platform or a trailer. The highest increase was registered in those services connecting the Catalan capital with Italian destinations, in particular Genoa, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Savona and Porto Torres. The rest of the goods transportation corresponded to short sea shippings, which are the connections between Barcelona and the North of Africa, mainly Tangier. Exports from January to September were higher than imports, and grew by 9% in comparison to the same period last year.Vehicle transportation continued to grow and registered 18% growth in the first nine months of the year, and 10,000 lorries have been diverted from road to maritime routes, according to data published this Thursday by Port de Barcelona for January to September.

Catalan President, Artur Mas, appeared this Thursday before the court, after being summonsed by Catalonia's Supreme Court for organising the 9-N symbolic vote in 2014. "The success and international impact of the 9-N consultation is what motivated this lawsuit" he stated "this summons responds to the Spanish Government's anger rather than legal reasons". Mas arrived at Barcelona's Courthouse by foot and was joined by the 400 Catalan mayors from the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) and the entire Catalan Government. Right in front of the Court, thousands of people displaying Catalan flags rallied around the President and openly showed their opposition to Catalonia's Supreme Court's decision to summons Mas, which has been regarded as a political decision. Mas appeared before the court two days after Catalan Minister for Education Irene Rigau and former vice-president Joana Ortega and right after attending the commemorative events for the 75^th anniversary of President Companys' execution. 

From the 14^th to the 18^th of October, Barcelona will host a new edition of the International Boat Show. 260 exhibitors from all over the world will present their wares in sports and recreational boats, distributed throughout the 50,000-square metre exhibition, with the biggest being displayed afloat and the floor hosting smaller boats and components. The Fair's President, Luis Conde, forecasts a "spectacular edition" this year, as the nautical sector "is recovering, in line with the rest of the economy". In fact, the number of boats registered this year has increased by 10%. According to Conde, the Barcelona International Boat Show "is the main platform of the nautical sector in Spain" and a must in any boat lover's agenda.

The first two public figures summonsed by Catalonia's Supreme Court for organising the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014, Catalan Minister for Education, Irene Rigau, and former vice-president Joana Ortega, have appeared before the court today. Outside Barcelona Courthouse, around 500 citizens, brought together by civil society associations such as pro-independence Catalan National Assembly, showed their support for both of the summonsed and openly expressed their opposition to Catalonia's Supreme Court's decision, which has been regarded as a political judgment against Catalonia's right to decide its political future. Members of pro-independence unitary list 'Junts Pel Sí', liberal party CDC, left wing pro-independence party ERC, radical left CUP, Christian-democrat 'Unió' and alternative left coalition 'Catalunya Sí que es Pot' also took part in the protests, which are considered "a direct attack on justice's independence" by Catalonia's Supreme Court. 

3,974,609 passengers used Barcelona El Prat airport in September, which represents a 4.6% growth in comparison to the same month last year. Moreover, this figure sets a new record for a month of September, according to Spanish public airport operator and air navigation service provider AENA, and pushes the total number of passengers using Barcelona El Prat airport to30,695,805 since the beginning of the year. However, El Prat was not the busiest airport in Spain; in September Madrid Barajas registered the highest number of passengers, 4,331,642, which is 11.7% higher than for the same month last year. The situation in Girona and Reus airports in Catalonia contrast with El Prat, as both continue to lose nearly 20% of their total number of passengers. 

The brand new movie about FC Barcelona is an emotional journey into the soul of the Club as explained through some of the most important figures in its 115 year history, from founder Joan Gamper through to Leo Messi, and including such legends as Kubala, Cruyff and Ronaldinho, all of whom are essential for understanding how the Club came to develop its own unique playing style, and one which has consistently been the focus of worldwide admiration. The movie was presented this week in the Antiga Fàbrica Damm in Barcelona. The launch was attended by its director Jordi Llompart, MotoGP rider and the film’s producer Jorge Lorenzo, and the president of the Barça Players Group, Ramon Alfonseda. The movie will be released this weekend.

Barcelona’s International Art Fair, ‘Swab’ aims to make the contemporary art scene more accessible to the general public and this year it had a new focus on African and Caribbean artwork. A record number of 65 galleries from 22 countries around the world took part in the 2015 edition of the event and over 200 emerging artists will present their work. In addition to the overall programme, the 2015 edition of the art fair sees the opening of “Swab Gate” from the Fundació Lluís Coromina, which consists of individual presentations from African and Caribbean artists with a focus on painting.

The 47^th International Jazz Festival in Barcelona has organised a public celebration called ‘Jazz and Food’ this Saturday, the 3^rd of October, at ‘Parc del Centre’ in Poble Nou neighbourhood. There will be 12 hours of free music programmed for the event and a wide range of food trucks selling international street food. The party in the park is part of a new programme which was proposed on the 40^th anniversary of the festival. “It was an idea we pursued for years and now it is a reality. We have found the formula,” stated president of The Project, Tito Ramoneda, who recalled that the park has a special symbolism for the festival and said that he wants to continue celebrating the festival’s opening there. Between 20,000 and 25,000 people are expected to attend the event. 

FC Barcelona returned in the second half against Bayer Leverkusen to record their first win of this season's Champions League. The first game without Leo Messi following his knee injury against Las Palmas saw coach, Luis Enrique bring Sandro into the Catalan team’s starting line up for the first time ever in the Champions League. Although the Germans had taken the lead after 22 minutes through defender Papadopoulos and had proved a match for Luis Enrique's side in the opening half, two goals from Sergi Roberto and Luis Suárez in the last 10 minutes of the contest settled the final score.