pinto

FC Barcelona has announced the signing of the keeper from Borussia Mönchengladbach, Marc-André Ter Stegen, and the departure of José Manuel Pinto after six and a half years of service to the team. In addition, youngsters Gerard Deulofeu and Rafinha Alcantára will be returning to the Club after a year out on loan at Everton and Celta Vigo respectively. The Catalan winger and the Brazilian born midfielder both came up through the Masia and they have put in impressive performances on loan this year. Ter Stegen is one of the new signings for the 2014/15 Barça squad, announced by Football Director Andoni Zubizarreta and FC Barcelona's Board of Directors. On top of this, they also confirmed that José Manuel Pinto will no longer defend Barça’s goal now that his contract has expired.

Barça were finally unable to lift their fifth Spanish League title in six years, as Atletico Madrid held them to a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou to win the league and condemn Barça to a second place finish. Only a win would do for Barça and the team pushed for it right till the end – when Pinto went up for a final corner – but despite going ahead through an Alexis goal in the first half, Godin’s headed equaliser after the break proved enough to give the visitors the point and the title.

Barça see off Celta with 2 goals from Neymar and another from Messi, but Valdés' injury casts a pall over the win. Barça continue to pressure at the top of the Spanish League table after the weekend's win over Real Madrid. Luis Enrique made his return to the Camp Nou with a five-man defence that included Fontàs as a deep lying midfielder and with an untypical tactic of ceding possession, which allowed Barça to lay siege to the Celta area and reap the benefits within the first five minutes, as a clever move between Iniesta, Messi and Alexis ended with a simple tap in for Neymar. With Iniesta finding plenty of space through the middle to release Messi, Barça were playing elegant and incisive football which created chances for both Neymar and Messi.

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.

Barça once again take on Llevant (also called Levante) after the 1-4 from the first leg of the Spanish Cup quarter-final tie. It will be the third showdown between to two sides in ten days. Throughout the competition Tata Martino has had a policy of rotating players into the starting team for Cup matches, and it doesn’t look like there will be an exception tonight. Iniesta, Puyol, Song and Montoya are back in the squad, while Xavi, Busquets and Alves didn’t make the team. If Barça make good on the result from the first leg, it will be the team’s seventh semi-final Cup berth in eight years (they were eliminated in the quarter-final round in 2010).

Three goals from the Catalan and an own goal from Juanfran give FC Barcelona a 1-4 victory at the Ciutat de Valencia. Leo Messi assisted Tello all three times. Three goals for the Catalan – his first hat trick in the FC Barcelona strip – finished the game and perhaps the quarter-final tie. FC Barcelona bounced back from this weekend’s draw in the Spanish League as they comfortably defeated Levante in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals. They did it despite having to deal with a very similar match to the one played this Sunday. Now, Barça and Levante will close out the three-game series next week on Wednesday, January 29, at the Camp Nou (22:00 CET).

Martino’s take on Llevant (also called Levante) at the Ciutat de Valencia for the Spanish Cup match after drawing with the Valencia-based side three days ago in the League. The Blaugrana return to scene where they drew 1-1 with the Llevant side, but this Wednesday evening, Tata Martino’s men will try to get a good result ahead of the second leg of the Cup tie at the Camp Nou. The FC Barcelona manager named 18 players to the team for the match. Dani Alves, who missed this weekend’s game against Levante due to suspension, and Carles Puyol made the team. Piqué, Montoya, Cuenca (technical reasons), Iniesta, Neymar Jr, Afellay, Dos Santos and Oier (injured) did not make the team.

Barça reached the next round of the competition. Messi scored a brace, Xavi featured in his 700^th official match for the Catalan team and Neymar picked up an ankle injury. At first it looked as though the player had seriously injured his knee, but Barça’s medical team concluded that he had sprained his right ankle. FC Barcelona played a fairly practical game against Getafe. At the start, the Blaugrana controlled the flow of play through possession, and they managed to threaten Codina’s goal thanks to the Neymar-Messi partnership. In the first half, Getafe also had their chances to score, but Pinto was up to the task of denying the home team.

Goals from Cesc (2) and Messi (2) crush Getafe in the first leg of the 1/16 round of the Spanish Cup (4-0). Tata Martino was spot on when he said Leo Messi had the look of an assassin before Wednesday evening’s match at the Camp Nou against Getafe. It took the Argentinian forward only 30 minutes to score a brace and edge Barça ever closer to the next round of the Copa del Rey. Before Barça can clinch passage to the quarter-finals of the competition, they will have to travel to the Spanish capital to face Atlético Madrid in La Liga.

The Camp Nou will host the first leg of the 1/8 round of the Copa del Rey. Leo Messi was named in the squad while Dani Alves, Marc Bartra and Xavi will be rested.Pinto will be in goal despite Valdés’ recovery and it’s probable that Puyol, Adriano and Sergi Roberto, all of whom were on the bench on Sunday, will be named in the starting eleven. Gerardo Martino, Barça’s Boss, said on Saturday that Leo Messi “has the eye of an assassin” since he returned from Argentina. The FC Barcelona forward, who missed the match against Elche, was given the medical all-clear to play on Tuesday and he could make an appearance this Wednesday evening (22.00 CET).

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.

A 70^th minute goal from Muniain condemns Barça to their first defeat of the current Spanish League season. Four days after going down to Ajax in the Champions League, Gerardo Martino got another taste of defeat as a solitary goal from Iker Muniain split the sides in the 70^th minute of a game that could have panned out very differently had Barça made better use of their several chances in the first half hour. Despite the defeat, FC Barcelona stay top of the league table, although now only on goal difference.

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.