barcelona

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.

Barcelona Gallery Weekend will hold its first edition from the 1^st to the 4^th of October offering a vast opportunity for visitors to get to know international artists and their work in Catalonia’s capital city. The programme offers four routes in forty different selected urban areas including galleries, institutions and unusual spaces, as well as other cultural, intellectual and social activities. The project, promoted by the Barcelona Art Association, aims to show the artistic potential of the city and place it among the international benchmarks in the sector by collaborating with some of the most important art institutions in Barcelona such as the Joan Miró Foundation, the Fundació Suñol, MACBA, the MNAC, the Picasso Museum and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe.

Luis Enrique’s Barça side are looking for their first win in this season’s Champions League following their 1-1 draw against AS Roma in the opening fixture in Group E. Standing in their way are a Bayer 04 Leverkusen side who won their first game 4-1 at home to BATE Borisov. Tuesday’s game at Camp Nou will be their first without the services of Leo Messi following the knee ligament injury he suffered in the 2-1 win at home in the league against Las Palmas. Bayer 04 coach Roger Schmidt has injury worries of his own as his side will be without defenders Jedvaj and Ömer Toprak due to injury. The teams will be meeting for the ninth time in the European competition where up until know Barça has managed to keep the upper hand recording five wins against the German team.

Over 28,000 people visited the 5th edition of Barcelona DeGusta from Thursday to Sunday this September at the Fira de Barcelona, Barcelona’s trade fair institution. The popular food show where visitors can discover and taste new products and learn how great chefs work has returned to Barcelona after a 4-year break. This year it coincided with the main feast of Barcelona's patron saint, 'La Merce', and will continue to do so as the organisers of the event stated that this contributed to the event's success. More than 90 activities were scheduled to be attended by 27 chefs with a total of 10 Michelin stars, including Joan Roca, Carme Ruscalleda, Nandu Jubany, the Torres brothers and Carles Abellán.

Lionel Messi is expected to be out for the next seven to eight weeks after the this Saturday match at Camp Nou. The four-time Ballon d’Or winner tore a ligament in his left knee and abandoned the pitch after only ten minutes into the game which proved to be a costly victory for Barça. Luis Suárez scored once in each half to make a 2-1 victory with his second goal blasting out of the reach of Las Palmas goalkeeper Javi Varas and into the upper left corner of the net. Jonathon Viera did manage to get a goal back for Las Palmas in the 87th minute, depriving both Barça and goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen of a clean sheet.

Barça suffered its first defeat (4-1) this season versus Celta at Balaidos. Also they lost their one hundred per cent record in the 2015/16 Liga season and their place at the top of the table. Former Barça man Nolito opened the scoring at the 26^th minute of the match. Four minutes later, Iago Aspas pounced on a Barça error in the middle of the park and raced away on the counter attack, finishing with a goal and make it 2-0. At the second half, Aspas again charged free and Celta were three in front. With eleven minutes left, Barça finally found the net thanks to Neymar, who slipped the ball home with style. But any chance of a late comeback was ended when John Guidetti found himself alone in the area at the other end, smashing home the final nail in the coffin. 

FC Barcelona are looking to make it five wins from five when they take on Celta Vigo on Wednesday at Balaídos (kick off 8.00pm CET) against a side which has picked up ten out of a possible 12 points so far this campaign. Luis Enrique expects a tough challenge against his former team on a ground which traditionally poses problems for the Catalans. Barça have been boosted by the return of defender Gerard Pique but In a last-minute development, Jordi Alba has been ruled out with neck soreness and has been replaced in the squad by Douglas. Barcelona are the only team in the top division with a perfect record of four wins from the first four games. Another win in Vigo would see the title holders remain top of the league.

Catalan exports grew 7.4% in July and exceeded the €6,000 million barrier for the first time. The total figure was €6,086.30 million and the 4 regions in Catalonia (Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona and Lleida), all obtained positive results, according to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. Sales increased in the leading export sectors, which involve chemical, automotive and capital goods, with the automotive sector recording the highest increase, up 18.2% compared to last July. Since the beginning of this year, every month has recorded the best performance in export volume and if this trend keeps up, 2015 will be a  record year. In Spain as a whole, exports in July were worth 148,000 million euros, the best month ever recorded.

Lionel Messi tallied his first two goals of the season as FC Barcelona ran away from Levante in the second half on Sunday night, winning 4–1 at Camp Nou. Defender Marc Bartra opened the scoring five minutes after the break and was quickly seconded by Neymar. After a Messi penalty kick that seemed to slam the door shut, Levante’s Víctor Casadesús provided his side a brief glimmer of hope before Messi threw away the key with a killer strike in the waning moments. The triumph makes Barça a perfect four-for-four on the season, keeping them at the top of the league table, as well as a perfect eleven-for-eleven all-time versus Levante at Camp Nou in La Liga. Levante remain winless on the season despite snapping a four-game league goalless drought at Camp Nou.

FC Barcelona began the Champions League with a 1-1 draw against AS Roma. Barça players deserved more after dominating most of the game, but it was a convincing display that might have ended very differently with a little more luck in the goal area. The Catalans began the game having control of the ball. A goal came after 21 minutes of play when Rakitic crossed from the right and Suárez headed home practically from the goal-line. But the lead only lasted for ten minutes. Just after the half hour point, Florenzi got the Italians back on level terms with an extraordinary goal from over 50 metres out. Barça stayed in control of the match despite the Roma goal, but there was no further scoring. The lowest point in the match was Rafinha’s injury after he was taken out from behind and carried off the pitch in a stretcher.

Yes supporters in Catalonia hit the streets Friday in a new historic rally organised two weeks before a crucial election that is being framed as a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence. The ‘Via Lliure cap a la República Catalana’ (Gateway to the Catalan Republic) covered a 5.2-kilometre stretch of one of Barcelona’s main avenues, the Meridiana. People poured into the city waving the independence flag, known in Catalan as ‘estelada’. Today’s rally is the fourth huge demonstration in support of independence that Catalans have organised on 11 September, their National Day. In previous years, up to 1.5 million people demonstrated in the streets.

The activity of cruises in ‘Port de Barcelona’ provides 413.2 million euros to Catalonia’s GDP and each cruise generates on average a turnover of one million euros, according to a study from the University of Barcelona (UB) released this Tuesday. The total turnover, including the expenses of passengers, shipping companies and crews, amounts to 796 million euros in both direct and indirect expenses. The study also shows that the activity of these cruises generates around 7,000 jobs, besides the other positive effects on the Catalan economy such as increased demand at Barcelona’s main airport, ‘Aeroport del Prat’. The Catalan capital benefits the most from the cruise activity, as 75% of the revenues stay in Barcelona.

Around 2,000 war refugees will arrive in Catalonia in three months’ time and stay “for a long time”, Catalan Government spokeswoman Neus Munté announced at a meeting this morning. The main goal is to integrate the refugees as much as possible and to guarantee their access to health and education services. During the meeting, Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, and Neus Munté, urged the Spanish government to “accelerate the asylum process” and announce the resources that the EU will allocate for this matter. Colau declared that 2,000 families registered on the list of volunteers even before the authorities agreed on a coordinated answer. This shows “the solidarity of Catalan society and that of Barcelona city” Colau said “and it has been crucial in forcing the government to act”, she added. 

Since 2012, the demonstrations on Catalonia’s National Day, on the 11^th of September, have grown exponentially. Nearly two million pro-independence supporters have shown their demands regarding Catalonia’s political future at each of the different manifestations that have filled the streets of Barcelona and towns all over the territory. Two organisations, Òmnium Cultural, which is a civil society organisation promoting Catalan culture and language, and the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), a grassroots association demanding Catalonia's independence from Spain, have played a key role in turning these three demonstrations into massive, historic rallies. 

A goal from Vermaelen enough to give Barça victory in their first home league game of the season on a frustrating evening at Camp Nou. FC Barcelona gave a masterclass in sticking to the task and never giving up with a narrow victory over a dogged Málaga side. Thomas Vermaelen was the hero of the hour, the Belgian’s first ever goal for Barça in the second half enough to maintain the blaugranes’ 100 per cent record at the start of this 2015/16 league season.