champions

Neymar Jr gets the first and Luís Suárez adds two absolute blinders to put Barça on fine course for the Champions League semi-finals. Barça unleashed all their class in the French capital on Tuesday evening to inflict a more than convincing 3-1 defeat on Paris Saint-Germain. In a wonderful performance all round for Luis Enrique’s team it was hard for any single player to stand out, but with two brilliant solo goals, Luis Suárez managed to do just that. Barça will start next week’s second leg at the Camp Nou with a two-goal head start. Things could not be better for a side that will have set legs trembling all around Europe after tonight’s exquisite display n Paris.

The draw for the Champions League quarter-finals brought the blaugranes face to face once again with the current French League champions. The two teams were in the same group earlier in the competition with Barça pipping Laurent Blanc’s team to top spot in Group F. With the Catalans having overcome Manchester City in the last 16 and Paris Saint-Germain having eliminated Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea, the two clubs are now set to battle it out for a place in the Champions League semi-finals. Luis Enrique’s side trained at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday with the Barça coach having brought his entire squad to Paris minus the recovering Thomas Vermaelen and the suspended Dani Alves. Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc will have to make do without the former Barça striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Suárez nets a brace, Messi and Bartra chip in as Barça roll past Andalusians. ??Offensive balance once again as strikers score and a defender delivers. To the casual observer Wednesday night’s La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Almería at Camp Nou was what one might expect as the Catalans thoroughly dominated their opponents in virtually every statistical category on their way winning by a score of 4–0. But to anyone who has been following Barça closely this season, what transpired out on the pitch is likely to be taken as a rock-solid confirmation of how this team got here. Here just happens to be first-place in La Liga, four points clear of Real Madrid with 8 games to play — with a UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie versus Paris Saint-Germain and a Spanish Cup final versus Athletic Club Bilbao waiting in the wings.

The draw for the Champions League quarter finals has been made, and Barça have been drawn against PSG in a head-to-head battle for a place in the semi-finals of Europe’s premier club competition. The first game will be played in Paris on April 15, and a week later, on April 21, the sides will meet again at the Camp Nou. The two teams, who know each other well from this year's Group F, were the first pair to be drawn. In their group-stage matchups, PSG won the first match in Paris 3–2, but Barça were victorious in the return at Camp Nou, winning 3–1 to top the group, leaving PSG in second. The first match will be without a few big players. Paris Saint-Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marco Verratti, and Barça's Dani Alves will all be serving suspensions.

FC Barcelona rode a solitary score from the foot of midfielder Ivan Rakitic to top Manchester City 1–0 on a crisp evening at Camp Nou, capping a 3–1 aggregate result and putting the Catalans through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Barça goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen made a diving stop on a late Kun Agüero penalty kick to preserve the victory. Leo Messi, despite being kept off the score sheet, was at or near his best. Manchester City played at the limit of aggressivity throughout the encounter, drawing four first-half yellow cards. Barça’s next opponent will be determined in the quarter-final draw, set for Friday in Nyon, Switzerland.

Barça have the advantage from the first leg and will be looking to secure their place in the Champions League quarter-finals for the eighth successive Seaton. Barça knocked out Manchester City at this stage of the Champions League last season and will be looking to repeat the feat on Wednesday at Camp Nou after the 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium last month in the first leg. FC Barcelona boss Luis Enrique boss named an 18-man squad on Wednesday morning, with Masip, Montoya and Douglas missing out, alongside the injured Vermaelen and Sergio Busquets. Manchester City coach Manuel Pellegrini welcomes back former Barça midfielder Touré Yaya to his squad after suspension.

The two sides meet in El Madrigal in the second leg of their Spanish Cup semi-final on Wednesday evening (20h CET). The blaugranes have the upper hand in the tie following their 3-1 win in the first leg last month at Camp Nou. In addition, Barça have the advantage in their Champions League last 16 tie against Manchester City following their 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium. Their 3-1 away victory in the Spanish League at the weekend over Granada has allowed them to cut Real Madrid’s lead at the top of the league to just two points. Now, only Villarreal stand between them and a 36^th appearance in the Spanish Cup final. Coach Luis Enrique has his entire first team squad available with the exception of the injured Thomas Vermaelen.

Two goals from the Uruguayan have set things up perfectly for FC Barcelona for the Champions League last-16-tie’s second leg at the Camp Nou on March 18 by repeating last year’s feat of winning at the Etihad. Kun Agüero pulled one goal back for Manchester City. This Tuesday’s game ended 2-1, with Joe Hart giving Man City a glimmer of hope by saving a Leo Messi penalty in the final minute of injury time. However, a 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium, and playing such spectacular football, is nothing less than magnificent and the result leaves Barça with every right to feel confident about their chances of making it into the quarter finals.

In the press conference ahead of the first leg of the Champions League last 16 tie, Gerard Piqué has declared that he expects a “similar game” to the one last season. He also added that despite the defeat against Málaga in the Spanish League at the weekend, the Catalan team are in good form as well as highlighting Manchester City’s strengths. Piqué on the Champions League tie: “I think it will be a similar game to last season. We are two sides who like to attack and have the ball. There was a key moment in the first leg with Demichelis' sending off and the goal from the penalty spot, without that it would have been closer.”

FC Barcelona will go on a tour of the United States of America and Mexico in the summer four years after their last pre-season tour of the continent. Despite dates not yet being confirmed, the Catalan club has made official the news that the blaugranes will be returning to American soil for the fifth time in the last twelve years (2003, 2006, 2009 and 2011).In 2012 the team took part in various pre-season games across Europe and in 2013 they toured the Asian continent. In 2014 with Luis Enrique installed as coach, the squad enjoyed a pre-season training camp in Birmingham in the United Kingdom before playing in three friendly matches in Nice in France, Geneva in Switzerland and Helsinki in Finland.

The first leg in the last 16 of this season’s Champions League will be played in Manchester on the 24^th of February with the return leg at Camp Nou on the 18^th of March. The tie is a repeat of the encounter in the last 16 the previous season, which was the two sides' only previous meeting in Europe. Barça came through victorious. Manchester City appeared to be out of the competition at one point in the group stage but two excellent results in their last two matches earned them a place in the last 16. On Match Day 5 a late goal from Sergio Agüero gave them all three points against Bayern at home before they went to Italy to defeat Roma 2-0 to secure passage to the next round.

Barça’s trio of stellar strikers blew away PSG at the Camp Nou on Wednesday evening, coming back from an early Ibrahimovic goal with two first half strikes from Messi and Neymar – surely a candidate for goal of the season so far – and a third after the break from Luis Suárez. The three forwards fired the Catalan team to top spot in Group F of the UEFA Champions League. Juventus, Basel, Bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal, Manchester City, Schalke 04 or Shakhtar Donetsk will be FC Barcelona’s opponents in the Champions League round of 16 to be played from February 17. All will be revealed on Monday December 15.

At 8.45 PM CET, all eyes will be on the Camp Nou as top place in Champions League Group F is settled. A huge night awaits us this Wednesday evening. Barça are at home to Paris Saint-Germain. In other words, Messi, Neymar, Suárez, Iniesta, Xavi and co are up against a similarly star-studded side featuring the likes of Ibrahimovic, Cavani, Lavezzi, Thiago Silva and David Luiz. A fascinating winner-takes-all match with top spot in the Champions League group to play for. On the last day of the group stage, only three points will do if the Catalans want to topple the French club’s two-point lead.

FC Barcelona rolled to a dominating 4-0 victory over Apoel Nicosia on Tuesday night at the GSP Stadium. Besides, the Argentinian has his second straight three-goal performance while breaking the all-time Champions League scoring record. The Argentinian attacker surpassed previous record holder Raúl Gonzalez. It was the second record for Messi this week after breaking Telmo Zarra’s all-time La Liga scoring record on Saturday night versus Sevilla. Luis Suárez also marks a milestone with his first goal for FC Barcelona.

FC Barcelona overcame a plucky Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena to claim three points that ensure they will be joining PSG in the second round of the Champions League. Leo Messi was the man of the moment, scoring a goal in each half to equal Raúl’s all-time record of 71 goals in the competition. Barça and PSG will now fight it out for top spot in Group F. It was a lively game from start to finish, but there was a dearth of real chances for either side in the first half hour. The best chances all fell to Ajax, who actually out-possessed the Catalans in the first 45 minutes, with Lucas Andersen, Schöne and Klaassen all coming close, and Jordi Alba shining above everyone else with a series of last-ditch tackles.