thiago

Less than a week ago a superb second half from the blaugranes at Camp Nou gave them a 3-0 victory over the German champions in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final. Two exquisite goals from Leo Messi in his 100th game in Europe for the blaugranes and an injury time effort from Neymar mean that Pep Guardiola’s Bayern side have it all to do in the second leg in the Allianz Arena in Munich which kicks off at 8.45pm CET. Barça coach Luis Enrique decided to take his entire first team squad plus three players from the B squad, Munir, Sandro and Sergi Samper, to Munich. Jérémy Mathieu was included in that 26 man list after receiving the medical all clear after Sunday’s training session. Bayern boss Pep Guardiola still has plenty of injury headaches before the return leg at home to Barça. Arjen Robben, David Alaba, Franck Ríbery and Holger Badstuber all missed the defeat in Barcelona last week and they will also sit out the second leg

Barça 2013/14 started the preseason with defeat to Guardiola’s Bayern at the Allianz Arena. They couldn’t have had a more daunting task in their first game back from the break, and under the circumstances it was a fine performance from the Catalans. Lahm (min 13) and Mandzukic (min 86) scored against a side that had clearly had more time to prepare. There are plenty of conclusions to be drawn from a game packed with curiosities, including the reencounter with Pep Guardiola and Thiago and the first game in the shirt based on the colours of the Catalan flag.

FC Barcelona begin the 2013/14 preseason with a friendly against the reigning champions of Europe, Bayern Munich. Pep Guardiola and Thiago Alcántara, now on the bench and in the midfield of the German team, will face off against their ex-team. Barça is made up of 12 first team players and 11 Barça B players. After the match against Bayern, the Catalan team will travel to Oslo.

The agreement to sell the mildfielder includes a clause that stipulates both teams will play against each other in a friendly. The match will be played sometime in the next four years. The 22-year-old leaves the Blaugrana after playing for the first team for two seasons. Thiago Alcántara do Nascimiento, born in San Prieto Vernotico, Italy, started playing in FC Barcelona’s youth system at the age of 14, in 2005. Thiago has played a crucial role for Spain throughout his international career. His excellent performance in the latest U21 EURO Championship in 2013, where Spain claimed the title, saw the midfielder win the MVP of the tournament award.

Barça put four past Malaga in the last game of the season and hit the 100 point mark. The Catalans were three up after a quarter of an hour thanks to goals from Villa, Cesc and Montoya. Iniesta got the fourth in the second half before Morales got a consolation goal for Malaga. Abidal came on to a standing ovation on 75 minutes for his final minutes as a Barça player.

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.

A last minute equaliser from Ander Herrera means FC Barcelona could not be mathematically proclaimed champions on Saturday evening. Barça’s last ever game in San Mames will be remembered as a real epic battle, played in the rain at a typically high tempo and with plenty of goals and chances. Susaeta opened the scoring in the first half and nearly got the second with a shot that rattled the woodwork. Barça turned the score around after the break when Messi came off the bench and in a three minute flurry the Argentinean and Alexis made it 1-2 and seemed to have ensured the points until Ander’s last minute effort.

An 84th minute goal from Cesc Fàbregas gave Barça the points against a defensive Llevant (also called Levante) at the Camp Nou on Saturday evening. Now the Spanish League title is just six points away. Abidal returned to a starting line up after 14 months, which was roundly applauded. This wasn’t the most exuberant FC Barcelona performance of the campaign, but the league leaders showed patience as they controlled the game. Now the league title is one step closer… but first, it’s time for Bayern on Tuesday evening!

Spanish League leaders power past Zaragoza, despite playing without Messi, Iniesta, Sergio, Piqué and Pedro. Thiago and Tello were on target for Barça, who were two up at the break and three up before the hour mark, as they brushed aside Zaragoza. FC Barcelona are 13 points ahead of Real Madrid with just 21 points left to play for.

Two second half goals from Boateng and Muntari at San Siro have left Barça with a mountain to climb in the second leg of the Champions League’s last 16. The clash of titans at the San Siro has ended with AC Milan celebrating their 2-0 win over FC Barcelona as if they had won the title. The Barça forwards failed to create a single clear-cut opportunity and in defence allowed Milan to take practically the only two real chances they had in the entire game. On the 12th of March, FC Barcelona will be looking for yet another magnificent night in front of their own fans to turn around a tie that currently sees them in a very tricky situation indeed.

Milan is the venue for tonight’s Champions League second round match (20.45 CET) in which Barça will be without either of the injured Villa and Adriano. The ‘rossoneri’ and ‘blaugrana’ have eleven European Cups between them. Both teams are in excellent form going into tonight’s encounter at the San Siro.

Barça and Málaga drew in the Spanish Cup’s quarter final first leg. Camacho’s late goal cancelled out Barça’s comeback and leaves everything wide open ahead of the return leg in Andalusia. Iturra put the visitors ahead and although Barça almost immediately bounced back with goals from Messi and Puyol, not even against ten men after Monreal was ordered off were they able to extend their lead.

Goals from Messi, Cesc and Thiago gave Barça their 18th win from the first 19 Spanish League games, the championship record. The three points keep Barça 11 ahead of Atletico Madrid and stretch their advantage over the reigning champions Real Madrid to 18 after an incredible first half to the campaign. The win was a perfect example of Barça’s collective spirit, with a wonderful performance of possession football that left Malaga with no options whatsoever.