this is football

Just 10 days after their last meeting at the Camp Nou, Barça and Atlético Madrid face each other once again on Wednesday night at 10.00pm (CET) in the first leg of the Spanish Cup quarter-finals. Lifted by their performance in the 3-1 win last time out, Luis Enrique’s team have hit a good patch of form as they go into the match. However, the boss is well aware of the danger Atlético pose, warning at his pre-match press conference: “Atlético are a fearsome side over two legs … We are going to need a better attitude than them and to make the most of every footballing resource we have”. Xavi is coming back into the Barça squad after his injury lay off and Tiago and Ansaldi are the visitors’ only injury absentees.

The Argentinean scored his second consecutive hat-trick at Deportivo’s Riazor stadium in a 4-0 win – Sidnei putting the ball in his own net for the fourth. Riazor was silenced by yet another stunning display from Leo Messi. Just like he did the last time he visited the Deportivo stadium, the Argentinean found the net three times as Barça collected three hugely important points to maintain the pressure on Spanish league leaders Real Madrid, who won at Getafe earlier in the day.

Pedro in the first minute, Luis Suárez with his first goal in the Spanish League, Piqué with a header and Messi with a late brace scored the goals as FC Barcelona defeated Córdoba 5-0. The win means the Catalans will spend Christmas just one point behind leaders Real Madrid, who don’t play this weekend.Saturday afternoon got off to the perfect start when Barça took the lead in the very first move of the game. Ivan Rakitic chipped the ball forward and Pedro met it with a wonderful piece of control before slamming home the opener. The rest of the half saw Barça in complete control and having plenty of chances to extend their lead. Barça couldn’t have wished for a better end to 2014, and now it’s time for the players to get a well-earned rest over the festive season.

The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) presented the awards for the year 2013. Messi has been honoured as the highest goalscorer in the world’s main football leagues, and Iniesta as the best playmaker in the world. On Friday, Andrés Iniesta and Leo Messi received the awards at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper from Robert Ley, vice-president of the IFFHS. This is the second consecutive time that Iniesta has won the award after he also collected it in 2012, thus succeeding his team-mate Xavi Hernández, who has won it four times. Messi has also won his award for the second time in a row.

The Blaugrana beat a brave Huesca side at Camp Nou with a convincing 8-1 victory at the second leg of the Spanish Cup’s last 32.?In a game that saw many of Barça’s regular players sitting and watching, it was one of their stars, Pedro, who did real damage. Pedro’s first-half hat trick leads the way as the Catalans march onward and upward in the competition. Adama, who had come on for Munir in the 74th, scored his first career goal after just three minutes on the field. This Tuesday night’s win also provided two other milestones for Barça. Javier Mascherano played in his 200th career game with the Club while goalkeeper Jordi Masip was making his official debut.

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.

The Catalans dominated from start to finish, but the goals just didn’t want to come. Barça were by far the better side, but Getafe limited themselves to neutralising that superiority and got away with a point. With Neymar absent through injury and his place in the Barça frontline occupied by Pedro, the game got off to a quiet start, with neither side doing anything of note for the first quarter of an hour. The second half saw Barça continue to pile on the pressure. Messi produced two fine free kicks, but one hit the woodwork and the other was saved by Guaita. This a game that Luis Enrique will be ruing as a valuable opportunity lost, takng into account Barça’s 23 goal attempts compared to just 4 for a Getafe.

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.

The Catalans eased to 4-0 victory in Wednesday evening's Spanish Cup round of 16 first leg at Division 2B side Huesca. Rakitic, Iniesta, Pedro and Rafinha provided the goals that set things up perfectly for the return at the Camp Nou on December 16. Luis Enrique opted for an eleven made up largely of fringe players in Wednesday’s cup opener, and the whole team shone as they made their superiority tell against their lower division opponent. Although most pundits had expected the Asturian to play Masip in goal, it was Ter Stegen who finally got the nod, while the game was also used to give Andrés Iniesta his first run-out after a 40-day absence through injury.

It was a gripping encounter from start to finish. All that was missing was the goal. But just when it looked like Sunday's game between Barça and Valencia was heading for a 0-0 draw, in the third and final minute of injury time, Sergio Busquets produced a winner to secure three massive points for the Catalans. Either side could have won a high tempo match at Mestalla stadium, with Suárez being denied a second half goal for apparent offside.The only change with respect to the previous Liga game was Mascherano coming in for Rakitic, with Luis Enrique taking the gamble on playing the Argentinian alongside fellow defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets. The first half produced plenty of good quality football but little in the way of genuine chances for either side.The second half saw a change of script, with Valencia more willing to take the initiative.

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.

The FC Barcelona's forward surpassed the previous record of 251 goals held by Telmo Zarra since 1955. On Saturday evening, Leo Messi scored 3 goals against Sevilla at Camp Nou, giving him a total of 253 in only 289 Spanish league matches (0.87 per game). It's been almost a decade since Messi's first goal against Albacete in May 2005. His best year saw him get 50 targets in La Liga. Telmo Zarraonaindía played for Athletic Bilbao from 1940 to 1955, scoring 251 goals in 277 games (0.91 per game). Almost 60 years later, Messi has gone past him. The 27 year-old Leo Messi has now reached the summit, one season after surpassing the career marks of Hugo Sánchez (234), Raúl (228), Alfredo Di Stéfano (227), César (224) and Quini (219).

Late goals by Neymar and Alba erase 1-0 deficit and hand Barça the victory. Luis Suárez also decisive, chipping in with sublime assists on both goals. On a beautiful sunny afternoon in Andalusia, Almería took the field with tight man-to-man defence. Both sides exchanged possessions in the opening minutes until Leo Messi and Munir El Haddadi led a Barça counterattack, stemming from an Almería corner kick, each having a shot blocked in a scramble right in front of the net. By the quarter hour mark, it was evident that the hosts had no plans to back down. Despite Almería’s hard work, Barça did have their chances.

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.