Barcelona - NouCamp Faithful

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Barcelona 3 - 0 Cartagena : Easy win for Barca

2nd Leg
Barcelona wins 7-1 on agg.

Players always say competitive games keep you fit -- the muscles ticking over and the technique sharp -- so there is no harm playing the odd dead rubber like the one Barcelona did with Cartagena in the Spanish Cup on Tuesday after a 4-1 win away from home in the first leg.

Barca ran out easy 3-0 winners, with goals from Pedro Rodriguez, Cristian Tello and Neymar in front of 47,000 people who turned up for one of those unnecessary 90 minutes that have to be faced if you want to taste the glamour of cup success at the end of the season.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Getafe 2 - 5 Barcelona : Pedro sparks Barca comeback

Pedro scored a hat-trick in the space of eight minutes as Barcelona came from two goals down to beat Getafe 5-2 and return to the top of the Primera Division for Christmas.

A much-changed Barca side, without the suspended Neymar plus the injured trio of Xavi Hernandez, Lionel Messi and goalkeeper Victor Valdes, conceded twice in the opening quarter of an hour, with Sergio Escudero breaking the deadlock and Lisandro Lopez scoring a header.

But Pedro's stunning burst of scoring was followed by a volley and a penalty from Cesc Fabregas in the second half, with Pedro getting an assist and then winning the spot-kick to crown a brilliant individual performance.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 4 - 0 Elche : Alexis treble inspires Barca rout

Alexis Sanchez stepped up to the plate in the absence of star playmakers Lionel Messi and Neymar to power Barcelona back to the top of the Primera Division with a clinical hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Elche.

Barca were missing both Messi, who is recovering from injury, and Neymar, who started on the bench, but still boasted far too much firepower for lowly Elche, with Pedro adding to Alexis' first treble for the Catalan giants.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 4 - 0 Getafe : Messi returns to action with a bang

1st Leg

Lionel Messi capped his long-awaited return from injury with two late goals from the substitutes' bench as Barcelona recorded a 4-0 win over Getafe in the Copa del Rey last 16 first leg on Wednesday.

Messi, who returned to Barca last week after completing the last stage of his recovery from a thigh operation in his native Argentina, replaced Andres Iniesta in the 64th minute, just after midfielder Cesc Fabregas had scored his second of the night from the penalty spot.

Messi almost set up Pedro minutes after his arrival on the pitch, but he soon found the back of the net himself when Sergio Busquets floated a ball to Martin Montoya, with the striker pouncing on the rebound from goalkeeper Jordi Codina.

The returning star then added his second three minutes later in the third minute of stoppage time after he raced onto the end of Alex Song's through ball to rifle it past the Getafe gloveman.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Atletico Madrid 0 - 0 Barcelona : Title race set to tighten after Calderon draw

Atletico Madrid and Barcelona showed the battle for the La Liga title would be a long, drawn-out affair after the co-leaders drew 0-0 on Saturday.

Both clubs finished the first half of the season tied on 50 points after an exciting, back-and-forth showdown at Vicente Calderon Stadium yielded no winner.

Barcelona were troubled by Atletico striker Diego Costa throughout, while second-half substitute Lionel Messi enjoyed the visitors' best chances as the Barcelona forward headed wide before forcing goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois into a clutch stop in the 81st minute.

Neymar also came on in the second half for Barcelona but the Brazil striker made little impact as the teams played out their third straight draw following the summer Spanish Super Cup series.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Getafe 0 - 2 Barcelona : Neymar off injured as Barca cruise

2nd Leg (Barcelona wins 6-0 on agg)

Barcelona forward Neymar faces a spell on the sidelines after suffering a suspected sprained tendon in his right ankle during the club's Copa Del Rey tie at Getafe on Thursday evening.
Neymar leaves the pitch at Getafe with his ankle strapped up after suffering a suspected sprain.

Barca cruised into the quarterfinals, where they will meet Levante, winning 2-0 on the night, and 6-0 on aggregate.

While Barca seem certain to be without Neymar for a number of weeks, they were boosted by the return to the starting lineup of Lionel Messi -- who duly scored both goals in the 44th and 63rd minutes. Messi had made his first appearance after a two-month injury layoff in the first leg -- and scored twice in that game too despite only being introduced with 26 minutes left on the clock.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Levante 1 - 1 Barcelona : Pique saves point

Barcelona dropped points for only the fourth time this season in Sunday's Primera Division clash as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Levante at Cuidad de Valencia.

Levante went ahead in the 10th minute through Loukas Vyntra's headed goal but Barca were quickly back on level terms thanks to Gerard Pique's close-range header nine minutes later.

Levante defended in numbers after that and frustrated their visitors, who now find themselves entrenched in a three-way battle for the title with the two Madrid clubs.

The point moved Levante up into 11th place and ahead of Getafe on goal difference.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Levante 1 - 4 Barcelona : Tello treble powers Barca to Copa win

1st Leg

Lionel Messi marked his 400th appearance for Barcelona with a 4-1 win at Levante in the Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg, but for once found himself upstaged as Cristian Tello hit a hat-trick.

But the Argentinian still more than played his part by laying on all of Barca's goals.

Denied by the hosts in the first half, Messi withdrew into midfield to turn playmaker and place four precise passes behind the defense that led to an own goal in the 53rd minute and Tello's treble in the 60th, 81st and 86th.

Levante had held Barcelona to a 1-1 draw at Ciutat de Valencia Stadium just four days earlier in the Spanish league, and it was on course toward a similar feat after Nabil El Zhar netted in the 31st.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 3 - 0 Malaga : Barca back on top

It was back to business as usual for Barcelona following a turbulent week that saw the shock resignation of president Sandro Rosell as they returned to the top of the Primera Division standings with a 3-0 win over Malaga.

Gerard Pique opened the scoring just before the break and then Pedro Rodriguez and Alexis Sanchez notched twice in quick succession around the hour mark to complete the scoring.

It would have been an even bigger margin of victory for the reigning champions but they twice saw efforts came back off the post while Malaga goalkeeper Willy Caballero made a string of saves.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 5 - 1 Levante : Alexis on the double

2nd Leg (Barcelona wins 9-2 on agg)

Alexis Sanchez scored twice to help Barcelona rout Levante 5-1 at home and advance 9-2 over two legs in the Copa del Rey. The Catalan club will play either Real Sociedad or third-tier Racing Santander next.

Andres Iniesta returned after missing four games for Barcelona. Adriano, Carles Puyol, and Cesc Fabregas added to Alexis's double after Levante went ahead through Loukas Vyntra's header that hit Barcelona's Sergio Roberto before going in.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 2 - 3 Valencia : First home defeat for Barca

Ten-man Barcelona suffered their first home defeat of the season as Jordi Alba was sent off in a 3-2 loss to Valencia.

Few would have predicted the outcome when Alexis Sanchez gave Barca the lead in the seventh minute, but Gerardo Martino's faltering side released their early grip on the game and went behind to goals from Dani Parejo and Pablo Piatti either side of half-time.

Lionel Messi responded quickly by equalising from the penalty spot, but Paco Alcacer scored the visitors' third goal on 59 minutes and this time Barcelona had no answer.

The Catalans remained top of the Primera Division on goal difference, but this defeat handed the initiative to the two Madrid clubs in the race for the title. Real and Atletico will both go ahead of Barca should they win their games on Sunday.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 2 - 0 Real Sociedad : Barca draw first blood in semi-final

1st Leg

Barcelona gained the upper hand in their Copa del Rey semi-final against Real Sociedad with a 2-0 victory in Wednesday night's first leg at the Nou Camp.

Sergio Busquets gave the Primera Division champions the lead just before half-time -- moments after Sociedad had had a decent penalty shout turned down when Carlos Vela appeared to be tugged down by Javier Mascherano. Inigo Martinez could not hide his frustration and was dismissed for dissent.

And the 10 men did not help themselves after the interval as Gorka Elustondo blasted an attempted clearance at helpless Sociedad goalkeeper Zubikarai, who inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net.

The result put Gerardo Martino's men in pole position to reach the final, most likely against arch rivals Real Madrid after Carlo Ancelotti's side downed city rivals Atletico 3-0 in the first leg of the other semi-final.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Sevilla 1 - 4 Barcelona : Messi hits brace in Barca rout

Barcelona made it a three-way tie on 57 points at the top of the Primera Division on Sunday night as they won 4-1 at Sevilla.

Having seen Real Madrid go top on Saturday, the Catalan side joined their bitter rivals and also Atletico Madrid thanks to a come-from-behind victory on a torrid night.

With heavy rain making passing football near-impossible, Barcelona found a way with Alexis Sanchez's botched header, Lionel Messi's brace and Cesc Fabregas' late goal washing out Alberto Moreno's opener.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Real Sociedad 1 - 1 Barcelona : Barca book Copa final with Madrid

2nd Leg (Barcelona wins 3-1 on agg)

Barcelona set up an El Clasico final in the Copa del Rey despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Real Sociedad in the second leg of their semi-final on Wednesday.

Barca held a 2-0 lead from the first leg and never looked in real trouble of giving that up as they moved into a final against Real Madrid who beat city rivals Atletico on Tuesday.

Lionel Messi scored the only goal for the visitors with Antoine Griezmann grabbing an equaliser with three minutes to go.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 6 - 0 Rayo Vallecano : Messi climbs scoring charts in win

Lionel Messi moved into joint third place in the all-time Primera Division scoring charts with a brace as Barcelona warmed up for their Champions League showdown against Manchester City with a comprehensive 6-0 demolition of Rayo Vallecano.

Messi struck in the 36th and 68th minutes of a completely one-sided match at the Nou Camp to move above Alfredo Di Stefano (227) in the record books and level with another Real Madrid legend, Raul, on 228 La Liga goals.

Adriano opened the floodgates in just the second minute and Alexis Sanchez (53), Pedro Rodriguez (56) and a fantastic Neymar goal (89) added to Messi's double as Barca reclaimed top spot in La Liga from Atletico Madrid, who won earlier on Saturday.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)