Euro Sports Events

Messi Scores Four as Barcelona Routs Valencia [Bloomberg]

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:53:50 +0000

The league may already be decided, whether Barcelona and Madrid want to openly admit it, but that doesn’t mean to say that Barça can’t still show some stunning football. After madrid won their match against Racing Santander on Saturday, briefly opening their lead over the catalans to 13 points, Barcelona came back on Sunday to show what they can do. And Lionel Messi, playing his 200th league match(!), demonstrated why he is player of the year again, with four goals in total. Xavi also scored and with Valencia’s opening goal in the eighth minute the final score was 5-1. According to Bllomberg:

Messi, who was named soccer’s best player for the third straight year last month, scored two goals in each half at the
Camp Nou last night after Valencia had taken the lead. Xavi Hernandez completed the rout in second-half stoppage time.

Read “Messi Scores Four as Barcelona Routs Valencia” at Bloomberg

UEFA Champions League 2012 – Leverkusen-Barcelona [UEFA.com]

admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:40:51 +0000

Barcelona soundly beat Bayer Leverkusen last night in a 3-1 win that puts them in a good position for the return leg. Alexis scored two and Messi one, with Kadlecscoring a goal for the hosts. According to UEFA:

Alexis Sánchez scored twice as holders FC Barcelona took a giant step towards a place in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with victory at Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

Read “UEFA Champions League 2012 – Leverkusen-Barcelona” at UEFA.com

Real Madrid CF extend lead but Cristiano Ronaldo insists FC Barcelona can still win La Liga [Crunch Sports]

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:30:08 +0000

FC Barcelona kissed their already remote chance of winning the Spanish league title again this season after losing to Osasuna and allowing Madrid to open up their lead to 10 points. While Cristiano Ronaldo has said that barcelona can still win, things would have to go very wrong for Madrid for that to happen and barcelona would need to win all remaining matches. Cruch Sports quotes Ronaldo as saying:

“There is still a lot left, we are going to have to wait,” he said.

“We are playing well. This was a hard match in which we got off a bid badly, but then we scored and we changed.

“We are doing well and we have to continue like this.”

And the former Manchester United winger, who has now scored one more goal than Messi for the season to date, added: “Goals come as a result of work of the team.

“Personally, I am in a good moment and I want to continue like this.”

Read “Real Madrid CF extend lead but Cristiano Ronaldo insists FC Barcelona can still win La Liga” at Crunch Sports

Fabregas warns Barcelona team-mates there is still ‘much to do’ after Copa del Rey final progression [Goal.com]

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:10:16 +0000

valencia were knocked out of the Copa del Rey last night after losing 3-1 to Barcelona on aggregate. After a 1-1 draw in Valencia, Barcelona pulled out all the stops to ensure the won the home leg. Goals from Cesc and Xavi made sure of it, controlling possession and playing in a controlled manner. According to Goal.com Cesc praised his team after the win:

Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas praised his team’s performance in their 2-0 win over Valencia in the Copa del Rey second leg, but warned his colleagues that there was work to do for success in La Liga and the Champions League.

Read “Fabregas warns Barcelona team-mates there is still ‘much to do’ after Copa del Rey final progression” at Goal.com

Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola delighted with performances of Cristian Tello, Isaac Cuenca and Jonathan dos Santos during win over Real Sociedad [Goal.com]

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:57:30 +0000

With FC Barcelona facing Valencia in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, Pep Guardiola decided to rest some of his key players and according to Goal.com:

The 40-year-old tried out an experimental line-up against the Basque club, which included the youthful talents of Cristian Tello, Isaac Cuenca and Jonathan dos Santos, and was only too happy to speak proudly of his proteges, who he feels contributed remarkably well.

B team player Cristian Tello put Barcelona into the lead, follwed by Lionel Messi making it 2-0. However, Real Sociedad clawed back a goal just two minutes later. After the match Guardiola said how happy he was with their performance although with massive possession felt they should have scored more.

Read “Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola delighted with performances of Cristian Tello, Isaac Cuenca and Jonathan dos Santos during win over Real Sociedad” at Goal.com

Messi misses penalty for tired looking Barcelona

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:53:40 +0000

Things don’t appear to be going Barcelona’s way at the moment, despite their elimination of Real Madrid from the Copa del Rey last week. They were lucky to remain in the competition after madrid came to the Nou Camp with all guns blazing and came very close to beating the catalans in their home stadium. But at the weekend they suffered the setback of a goalless draw that looks like it’s game over for Barça as far as the league title goes.

While Valencia are no pushover, Barça looked tired last night and with some key players off due to injury. While Valencia went ahead, Puyol soon equalised. But even Messi was not immune to barcelona’s agony, missing a penalty in the second half that would have seen them take three points into the return leg. However, it was not to be and Barça can at least content themselves that they have the advantage at home.

Guardiola refuses to give up on La Liga title [ZeeNews.com]

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:40:40 +0000

While it is looking increasingly like Real Madrid are set to take this season’s Spanish League title, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has yet to give up. He has been quoted as saying that Barça will fight for the title until the end, although madrid has dropped just eight points this season. According to ZeeNews.com:

Barcelona`s 0-0 draw away to Villarreal Saturday, coupled with Real Madrid`s 3-1 home win against bottom of the table Zaragoza means Barcelona are now seven points behind Madrid in the race for the title.

Given that Madrid have only dropped eight points in their first 20 games this campaign and three of those were against Barca, it does show that Catalan giants rely on other sides to help them out.

Read “Guardiola refuses to give up on La Liga title” at ZeeNews.com

Real recover pride and belief despite Cup exit [Reuters]

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:20:35 +0000

After the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinal last week it looked like it was game over for Real Madrid. However, they took the fight to the Nou Camp and despite a 2-2 draw resulting in elimination, it looked touch and go for the Catalans at one point. According to Reuters:

The offensive lineup, the asphyxiating pressure on Barca’s playmakers and their never-say-die spirit were a stark contrast to their poor showing in the first leg, which led to the first serious signs of protests against Mourinho’s stewardship.

Read “Real recover pride and belief despite Cup exit” at Reuters

RFEF to rule on Real Madrid defender Pepe’s stamp on Barcelona’s Lionel Messi on Wednesday [Goal.com]

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:58:54 +0000

It has been widely reported that Real Madrid defender Pepe escaped punishment by Span’s football association, the RFEF, in stark contrast with a similar incident in the UK where Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli was charged with violent conduct after apparently stamping on a player at the weekend; Balotelli received a fout match suspension for his action. However, it seems that Pepe may be punished after all, according to an article on Goal.com, which says:

RFEF president Alfredo Florez has indicated that the federation will rule on Pepe’s stamp on Lionel Messi on Wednesday.

The federation’s Competition Committee convened on Monday to analyse the reports of the referees who officiated the first-leg matches of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.

The article goes on to say:

With Florez announcing that the incident will be addressed on Wednesday, this means that Pepe may still be punished ahead of Wednesday’s Clasico at Camp Nou.

Certainly the Spanish authorities have been slow to react to the incident, which was beamed around the world and received widespread condemnation, let’s hope that they do finally wake up to the fact that they can help prevent such scenes occuring in the future.

Read “RFEF to rule on Real Madrid defender Pepe’s stamp on Barcelona’s Lionel Messi on Wednesday” at Goal.com

All 4-1, but not one for all – jeered Jose Mourinho needs a Real Madrid makeover as Lionel Messi banishes Barcelona away-day blues [Goal.com]

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:23:23 +0000

Real Madrid ended the weekend 5 points ahead of their bitter rivals FC Barcelona after both teams won their matches 4-1. However, while things are looking rosy at Barcelona, it is a different story at Madrid. The Catalans visited Malaga, who started off testing keeper Victor Valdes but ended with a Messi hat-trick, while Athletic Bilbao ended with 10 men at the Bernabeu. According to Goal.com:

Both teams won 4-1, but the scoreline barely begins to tell the story. Barcelona looked back to their brilliant best as they trounced a mediocre Malaga side in Andalucia, a game which saw the Catalans banish their recent away-day blues in La Liga, and one which heralded a return to scoring form on the road for hat-trick hero Lionel Messi.

After a spat with Sergei Ramos and Iker Casillas there are claims in the Spanish press that Jose Mourinho has caused a split between the Spanish and Portuguese players, with the article going on to say:

At Real Madrid, however, things were rather different… The capital club also claimed a 4-1 success, over Athletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu, but while Catalans were cheering, the Castilians were jeering.

We’ll have to wait and see whether Mourinho can hang on to his job, but many Real Madrid supporters are unhappy with how he is tarnishing the name of the club and pro-Madrid sports media have definitely turned on him.

Read “All 4-1, but not one for all – jeered Jose Mourinho needs a Real Madrid makeover as Lionel Messi banishes Barcelona away-day blues” at Goal.com