champions league

FC Barcelona will face Manchester City in the last 16 of the Champions League following the draw held this Monday lunchtime in Nyon. The exact dates of the two legs will be announced shortly. The first leg will be played on 18, 19, 25 or 26 February at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium and the return on 11, 12, 18 or 19 March at Camp Nou. Manchester City were one of the strongest teams in the runners’ up group of the draw, having only finished second to Bayern on goal difference in Group D, despite beating the Germans in Munich. However, this will be the first time that City have played in the last 16 of the Champions League, despite their enormous wealth and quality squad.

Barça are looking to keep up the good work and consolidate top spot in the Spanish League in their game against Villareal this Saturday evening (20:00 CET). FC Barcelona could become the first club to ever lead la Liga for 54 consecutive weeks. Barça seem to have corrected their errors in Amsterdam and Bilbao with convincing wins against Cartagena in the Copa del Rey and Celtic in the Champions League, playing precisely the kind of football that has already brought the club one trophy this season, the Supercup, and put them in top spot in both the domestic championship and their Champions League group. However, following the setback at San Mamés, Barça’s lead has been cut down to mere goal difference, and an exciting weekend of football awaits.

Barça need one point against Celtic to secure the top spot of its Champions League H group in this Wednesday evening’s game at the Camp Nou (20.45 CET). The Catalans would end on the group’s top also if Milan draw or lose against Ajax at the San Siro. These are the current standings after Barça’s defeat to Ajax two weeks ago: Barça 10 points, Milan 8, Ajax 7 and Celtic 3. Another feat Barça hope to accomplish this evening is scoring the team’s 1,000th goal in international competitions. So far they’ve scored 999 goals, 487 of which have been scored in the current format of the Champions League. Messi, Valdés, Alves, Dos Santos and Afellay are injured but Tello, Xavi, and Iniesta have been declared fit for the match.

Barça lose 2-1 to Ajax after an unbeaten run of twenty-eight matches. It was Ajax who inflicted the first defeat on Gerardo Martino since he has been on the Barça bench. The Dutchmen went 2-0 up in the first half, but a red card for Veltman and a converted penalty for Xavi could have changed the match at the start of the second. But despite pressing hard for an equaliser, luck was not on FC Barcelona’s side on Tuesday evening at the Amsterdam Arena and it all ended 2-1. The Catalans will need at least a point against Celtic to ensure they top the group.

A draw in FC Barcelona’s first ever official visit to the Amsterdam Arena (20.45 CET) would be enough to secure the first place in the Champions League Group H. With qualification already secured, the Catalans need at least a draw to guarantee being seeded and playing the second leg at home in the first round of the knockout stages. Barça are missing several players, even though Xavi returns, with youngsters Adama, Dongou, Sergi Gómez and Patric all travelling to Holland. Ajax faces an essential game, as it needs to win in order to keep its options for making it into the last sixteen open.

Two goals from Messi and another from Busquets send Barça through to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League. with the opening and final goals against Milan at the Camp Nou on Wednesday evening. The first was a penalty and the second from a lovely move with Cesc. With Busquets grabbing one more in between the Argentinean’s brace,  Milan could only reply with a Piqué own goal just before the break.

This Wednesday’s match will bring together two of the continent’s most storied football teams for what is considered to be a classic in European football, a Barça vs Milan showdown. A victory for FC Barcelona would see the Catalans qualify for the next round of the competition. Adriano Correia has been declared fit for this evening's match against the Italians. Tata Martino has named a total of 20 players to the team for this evening’s game. Rotations are expected, but perhaps not as many as usual. AC Milan, with Balotelli ready for action, have been unable to win in their last four matches.

Messi goal gives Barça a point in Milan and keeps them top of Group H. This Tuesday’s draw Leith the Catalans on seven points – two more than Milan- at the halfway point in the Group phase. Barça could have been four points ahead had they taken their chances towards the end of the first half, once Messi had equalised Robinho’s early opener.

Barça return to the San Siro Stadium this Tueasday evening (20.45 CET), four days before hosting Real Madrid at the Camp Nou within the Spanish League. FC Barcelona’s big week features two top-shelf matches, two classics of European football. This Tuesday match with Milan will pit two European football giants against each other in the group stage of the Champions League. The San Siro is a very well known stadium to the Barça players. It will be the Catalan team’s sixth visit to the stadium in five seasons (two against Inter and four against AC Milan). The most recent match at the San Siro took place last season, when the home team won by 2-0 in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League.

Barça are away to Pamplona to play with Osasuna on Saturday (8 pm CET). On Monday the Catalans go to Milan for the third match of the Champions League group stage, which is to be played on Tuesday. Milan game will come four days earlier than the clásico against Real Madrid, to be played on Saturday 26^th October at FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou.

Cesc Fàbregas’ goal gives Barça the win against Celtic, a year on from last season's defeat, when the Scots beat the Catalans 2-1 despite the visitors’ dominating possession.Now, FC Barcelona made the ball their own once again, but with their lesson learnt. Barça patiently probed and looked to open up the flanks through Neymar Jr and the advanced Adriano and it was from the wings that their best chances arose.The win in Glasgow, together with Milan’s 1-1 draw in Amsterdam against Ajax means Barça stay top of the Champions League’s Group H and look favourites to progress to the knock out stages.

Barça take on Celtic in the second round of the Champions League group stage in Celtic Park this Tuesday evening (20.45 CET). Martino's men come into the match after securing the best ever start to a league campaign in club history, but they'll be without Messi, who is injured and out of the pitch for the next two weeks at least. Celtic Park is a stadium that Barça know well seeing that the Blaugrana have played there four times in the last decade. The most recent clash between the two teams was played last year, when Barça lost 2-1 in the group stage of the Champions League.

Barça failed to make it to the 2013 Champions League final at Wembley this month – it’ll be an all German affair between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Bayern confirmed on Wednesday night their place at the final, finishing 7-0 winners on aggregate after beating Barça 0-3 at the Camp Nou. Without the injured Leo Messi, Tito Vilanova’s side went for the fight back, but a Robben goal at the start of the second half ruined their hopes and settled the tie, with two more goals coming before the end - an own goal by Piqué and another from Müller- to confirm the first ever all-German Champions League final.

The FC Barcelona Manager believes that his players need to go into tomorrow's match against Bayern Munich with cool heads: “we have to play a good game and be the better team, then the goals will come”. “We have to hold our heads high if we are eliminated, we cannot give up; we need to make our fans proud”, he said. “We have to be ourselves and try to play a good game of football. We need to score goals through our style of play”, Vilanova added. “If we are going to mount a comeback we need our fans at the Camp Nou”, he concluded.

Barça Manager gave his first official press conference since he returned to Barcelona from New York, where he received treatment for his illness. “There were problems due to the distance. But in New York, my day to day life was generally good, and I was able to keep in contact with the team thanks to new technologies”, he said. “If ever I get two days off, I don’t know what to do. This job is no burden to me and the doctors told me that the best thing I could do was to work”, he explained.