league

Barcelona faces the French club at Camp Nou in a game which will decide who goes through to the quarter finals of the Champions League

Valverde’s men secure an important victory in a classic, end-to-end match in London to maintain their perfect start in the Champions League group stage

Italy rejects safe harbor for Proactiva Open Arms

Goals from Džeko, De Rossi and Manolas allow Italians to turn around three-goal deficit and qualify for the semi-finals on the away goals rule

Yellow balloons thrown onto pitch  during Champion’s League game against AS Roma

FC Barcelona said farewell to the Champions League on Wednesday night at the quarter-final stage, with Luis Enrique’s men simply unable to break down a resilient Juventus> backline in a 0-0 stalemate at the Camp Nou  (0-3 aggregate). The game began with the frenetic intensity envisaged, but without the early chances, or goal, seen in the comeback against  PSG last month. A blazed strike over the bar from each side, first from  Gonzalo Higuain and then from Ivan Rakitic were about as close as either came to goal inside the first quarter of an hour.

The famous Camp Nou has seen more incredible moments than most, but it will take an almighty effort to top what was witnessed on 8 March 2017. Barça pull off one of the most epic comebacks in the history of the Champions League to get into the quarter-finals, scoring three in the last seven minutes to clinch a 6-5 aggregate win. But if anyone was to achieve the inconceivable, it was always going to be Barça, as the hosts struck thrice late on, with Sergi Roberto clinching a heart-stopping 6-5 aggregate win over PSG. After eventually catching his breath, Luis Enrique was kind enough to share his thoughts on the epic 6-1 win over PSG which seals the team’s passage to the last-eight of the Champions League. “The joy we gave to all Barça fans is dedicated to all those who had faith, who supported us each day, especially in the tough moments, after losing in Paris”, he said. 

Difficult. Very, very difficult. But not impossible. At the club and all around the city there is a shared belief that the team can turn around the 4-0 deficit. What's certain is that Barça will not be going out without a fight... No team has ever managed to turn around a four-goal deficit in UCL knockout history, but after seeing some glorious football in the last two games at the Camp Nou, there is a very strong belief among both players and fans that on Wednesday night from 8.45 CET, we could be about to see one of the most remarkable comebacks in sporting history. Barça boss Luis Enrique knows full well what a difficult task lies ahead, but like his players, knows that if they give it their best shot, anything might happen. “We have to score a lot of goals, which we have done plenty of times before” he told a packed pressroom on Tuesday. “But let’s not get crazy, tomorrow we have nothing to lose and everything to win.”

In 23 games against FC Barcelona, coach Unai Emery only had one win. Now he has two. And it’s a win that cannot be begrudged. His Paris Saint Germain side was simply the best on the day, and a 4-0 win in Tuesday’s Champions League first leg puts the French club on very good course for a place in the quarter finals. All Barça can do is lick the wounds and start thinking about March 8, when the action resumes at Camp Nou. It’s an almost impossible task that they have before them, but if there is any team in the world that’s capable of doing the impossible, then that’s FC Barcelona. Goals from Di Maria (2), Draxler and Cavani make it a miserable night at the Parc des Princes, leaving Barça with a massive job to do at Camp Nou in March. But if anyone can do this, then Barça can…

The Champions League is back with the blaugranes travelling to take on the French champions in the first leg of their last 16 tie in the Parc des Princes.  “We expect a tough tie against a daring PSG side who will put us under pressure in front of their own fans. “It will be an attractive game between two ambitious sides”, said Barça’s coach Luis Enrique, in his press conference ahead of Tuesday’s game. FC Barcelona have lost just once in their last 22 competitive fixtures, against Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey back at the beginning of January. Since then the blaugranes have won eight of 11 fixtures in all competitions, the most recent the 6-0 win in Mendizorroza against Alavés last weekend in the league.

Two goals from Leo Messi see off a brave challenge from the Scots and coupled with Man City’s draw in Germany the Catalans clinch a seeded berth in the round of sixteen FC Barcelona have won 2-0 at Celtic Park. And not only does that send them through to the knockout stages of the Champions league for the thirteenth  time in a row, but Manchester City’s 1-1 draw in Monchengladbach means that they’re already guaranteed one of the eight seeded berths. All that with one game to spare, so we won’t be finding out who Barça will be meeting next until the draw on December 12. Moreover, Messi reached yet another landmark, after scoring his 100^th goal in the international competition: 92 have come in 110 Champions league games, three in four European Super Cup matches and five in five in the Club World Cup.

The Catalans head north to chilly Glasgow for Wednesday night's Champions League Matchday 5 fixture and the chance to clinch the top spot in Group C (8.45pm CET). Although a bevy of scenarios abound, the Catalans are comfortably in the driver’s seat, and a triumph will usher them into the next round, regardless of what materializes in the group’s other fixture, which pits Borussia Mönchengladbach against visiting Manchester City. If City fall, however, a Barça win will bag them the top spot in Group C, thereby steering them clear of all other group winners in the round of 16, the first knockout stage of this tournament of tournaments. The Barça boss has taken his 19 available first team player plus Marlon from the B squad to Scotland.

Manchester City staged an exhilarating comeback and beat FC Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday at Etihad Stadium (3-1). Pep Guardiola’s team stole the game and the three points to Barça, who had the opportunity to sentence the first half, but started to feel the pressure six minutes before the interval, after an error by Sergi Roberto, leading to a goal and the resurrection of Manchester players. Ilkay Gundogan was undoubtley Manchester City star, scoring twice. The blaugrana, who were chasing a fourth consecutive win on English soil, did not achieve their objective. The home side desperation to get the three points beat Barça’s desire and marked a sense of urgency in their football.

A sweet victory for Luis Enrique on Wednesday night, soundly defeating his friend and former teammate, Pep Guardiola, 4–0, in the third Group C game for FC Barcelona and Manchester City. Lionel Messi, of course, was the star of the show, scoring thrice to leave not just his former manager on the losing end but his leaving his current manager almost lost for words. “He was decisive,” Luis Enrique said after the game. “He was involved in all the game’s key moments.” Guardiola was handily defeated at Camp Nou for the second time in two matches since leaving his lifelong club five seasons ago.  Besides Messi’s seventh career Champions League hat-trick, Neymar Jr added a late goal.

Camp Nou welcomes back Pep Guardiola on Matchday 3 of the Champions League for what promises to be an exhilarating game. “There are games against opponents in which possession is not that important. It will be against Manchester City, but that does not mean that who has more possession will win”, said Barça’s coach, Luís Enrique, on Tuesday. Most manager’s fear facing Leo Messi, but Guardiola spoke of his joy to see former star back: “It’s always a pleasure to see him play and I am happy he is fit again,” before adding that, in his opinion, Barça are “the best team in the world”. Barça are looking for their third straight win of the campaign to consolidate their place at the top of the group while Manchester City will be craving a good result after drawing away to bottom side Celtic last time out.