jordi alba

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.

Barça put five past Levante in Valencia on Sunday evening, with Neymar, Rakitic, Sandro, Pedro and Messi all on target. FC Barcelona has obtained 12 points from 12, 11 goals scored and none conceded for Luis Enrique’s team, who’ve made an impressive start to their three game week, with Malaga and Granada next up. Barça beat Llevant to continue both their unbeaten record and keep yet another clean sheet, which Luis Enrique feels “goes to show even more our idea of playing as team … Rather than singling anyone out in particular, I’ll just say that I was happy with all of them.”

Barça are about to get their 2014/15 Champions League bid under way against APOEL of Nicosia at the Camp Nou. Top of the Liga table with three wins out of three and no goals conceded, they’re in a buoyant mood at the moment, and now’s the time to carry that excellent form across into Europe against the Cypriot champions, the first game in a group that also includes Ajax and Paris Saint-Germain. Luis Enrique has called on the fans for their support and promised a "spectacular game". This will be the Asturian’s first game in charge of a team in Europe’s premier club competition, for which Dani Alves is included after being declared fully recovered from his knee injury, and fellow Brazilian Douglas has been named in the side for the first time since arriving at FC Barcelona.

FC Barcelona's young player Munir El Haddadi made his full debut with the Spanish team in Spain's 5-1 win over Macedonia in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier in Valencia on Monday night. The 19-year-old player came on for Koke on 77 minutes of the game. Sergio Busquets scored his first goal for the international team, getting the third goal in first half injury time. Pedro also scored and Jordi Alba and Marc Bartra both played. Besides, Rafinha played the full 90 minutes in Brazil’s Under 21 team’s 2-2 draw against Lebanon in Doha.

With less than a week to go till the start of the Spanish League season, Barça put on an encouraging show for the Camp Nou this Monday evening, putting six past Club Leon to take the 49th edition of the Joan Gamper Trophy.  Goals from Messi, Neymar (2), Munir (2) and Sandro gave the side their second 6-0 win of the pre-season and to add to the upbeat atmosphere, Luis Suárez  made his debut, coming on for the final quarter of an hour. With only Ter Stegen and Vermaelen unavailable, Luis Enrique sent out a strong starting XI, with Alves and Jordi Alba outside Mascherano and Mathieu at the heart of the defence and a front three of Messi, Rafinho and Neymar Jr,  ahead of Rakitic, Busquets and Iniesta.

Despite the result, Wednesday’s match was a great test for Luis Enrique’s side against Napoli in Geneva. Claudio Bravo made his Barça debut against the club that finished third in Serie A last year, and although the Italians took the win thanks to the only goal of the night, the Catalans played strong and confident football despite the absence of some of their biggest stars, such as Messi, Neymar and Xavi. Despite posing very little threat in the friendly in Geneva, Napoli edged it thanks to a Dzemaili strike after 80 minutes.

FC Barcelona drew away to Olympique Nice in their second preseason friendly on Saturday evening. They travelled there straight from Birmingham, where the Catalan team undertook a 6-day training stay. There were plenty of signs that things are coming together for FC Barcelona in Nice's wonderful Allianz Riviera. Xavi pulled level with a second half penalty after Nice had taken the lead, also from the spot. Barça players were always in control and could easily have gone on to win the game, had there been a little more luck on their side.

FC Barcelona are one step closer to the final of the Copa del Rey thanks to goals from Busquets and Zubikarai (og) in the first tie of the semi-finals. This Wednesday the Camp Nou experienced a match that had it all, from the stands to red cards to plays that bordered on the nonsensical, like Barça’s second goal of the night. Gerardo Martino sent in a nearly identical team to the one he fielded on the weekend, only Valdés – who was replaced by Pinto – wasn’t named to the starting line-up. Now FC Barcelona will have make good on their 2-0 advantage when they travel to Anoeta next Wednesday.

FC Barcelona have suffered painful defeat at home to Valencia, which brings an end to a wonderful run of 25 consecutive wins in league matches at the Camp Nou. The visitors, coached by former Barça man Pizzi, took a practical approach to the game and took their chances when they came. They go home with all three points from a match that looked to be safely under Barça’s control at half-time, but from that moment on, luck was simply not on Barça’s side. Not even Messi’s penalty to put Barcelona back in contention, or the immense pressure in the final minutes despite being a man down following Alba’s sending off, were enough to prevent Valencia from winning at the Camp Nou for the first time in a decade.

Barça are close to the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey. The 4-0 from the first leg at the Camp Nou against Getafe give the Blaugrana quite a bit of breathing room this Thursday evening (22:00 CET) in Madrid. However, the tie isn’t over and Barça must secure passage to the next round of the competition at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez. Two experiences, in 2007 and this season, show how dangerous is Getafe in his own stadium. FC Barcelona’s Boss, Tata Martino, left Busquets, Jordi Alba and Iniesta out of the team. If Xavi Hernández. features this evening against Getafe, it will be the midfielder’s 700^th official match in the Blaugrana strip.

On Thursday, the French sports paper announced its team of 2013, and there are two players from FC Barcelona in the eleven. They are the only FC Barcelona representatives in an XI dominated by Champions League winners Bayern Munich, with five players: Neuer, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Müller and Ribéry. The rest of the team is made up by Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Thiago Silva (PSG), Touré (Manchester City) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid). This is the second accolade of the week for Leo Messi, who was named player of the year on Tuesday by English newspaper ‘The Guardian’.

Barça qualify for the 1/8 round of the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) after defeating Cartagena at the Camp Nou on Tuesday evening. Barça came into the match with a 1-4 advantage from the first leg in Cartagena, and Gerardo Martino’s competitive line-up earned passage to the next round. Pedro (min 30), Mariano (og) (min 67) and Neymar (min 88), scored for the Blaugrana. Barça’s Club Member Solidarity Day was a complete success as 47,280 filled the Camp Nou, and the team put in a reaffirming performance.

Despite Cartagena's shock opener, goals from Pedro (2), Cesc and Dongou put Barça in clear command of their Copa del Rey tie. FC Barcelona have got their Spanish Cup campaign off to a fine start. The many positives to take from this game included Jean Marie Dongou not only making his debut but also scoring his first goal for the first team, and Jordi Alba returning from injury to play 80 untroubled minutes.

Gerardo Martino's side open their Spanish Cup campaign on Friday evening. Barça travel to third tier Cartagena without Piqué, Xavi and Iniesta, whilst Carles Puyol and Jordi Alba return. The latter could return after being out since September. Although Cartegena are on paper the underdogs, Barça will be aware that any slip up could cost them dear and the boss himself insisted yesterday: “it's a very important game” and coming on the back of defeats in Amsterdam and Bilbao, the team need to get back to winning ways.

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.