FC Barcelona

Next: Round of 16 FC Barcelona faced Tottenham Hotspurs at home as their final match in the Champions League for the group stages. Barcelona was already classified to the next round but Tottenham needed a positive result at the Camp Nou to advance with Barcelona to the next round. Therefore, Barcelona presented a young-unexperienced line-up to face the matchup. On the other hand, Tottenham went at it with their best players to gain a positive result that would put them through the next round.  Although Barcelona had a young and unexperienced team on the field, they still kept the style of playing from the club which is to keep possession of the ball to approach the goal. They created many chances of goal that couldn’t be capitalized. But, they took the lead early in the game in the 7 th minute of the game with a magnificent goal by Dembele. He started the counter-attack almost in half field when Tottenham lost the ball and he sprinted all the way to the goal to score....

What a victory at the rival’s stadium! As part of their local competition in the Spanish League, Barcelona had to face their region rival Espanyol at their home. So far, Espanyol had been a strong team in the competition. Barcelona had a tough test going away at their region rival’s home. But, Barcelona came out with the win at the end with a sensational performance once again by the team. Barcelona’s starters came back into the pitch like Suarez, Messi, and Rakitic who were rested by Valverde in the Spanish cup match in midweek.  Barcelona dominated the game, but Espanyol had a couple of good chances towards the goal that they couldn’t capitalize. The breakthrough in the game was going to be made by Barcelona’s Captain, the one and only Lionel Messi. He scored a sensational free kick from outside the box in the 17 th minute of the game to give Barca the lead. The second goal was scored by Dembele assisted by Messi in the 26 th minute of the game with a sensational curving...

Strong finish at home! As part of the second leg in the Spanish Cup competition, FC Barcelona faced Cultural Leonesa at home to decide who was going to advance to the next round. Barcelona won the first game 1-0 and the Camp Nou was the perfect place to make a great performance and advance to the next round. Cultural Leonesa seemed to want to win the game in the first minutes because they were pushing up the field making Barcelona to defend themselves in their own half.  The home team wasn’t finding the right passes to the right players on the field. Ernesto Valverde gave rest to some of his starter players to give the chance to others who don’t get as much minutes in the Liga. Anyways, the breakthrough in the game was going to be made by Munir in the 18 th minute of the game with a sensational kick inside the box. He was showing the coach that he can also score goals when the team needs it or when Suarez isn’t playing. Another player that had a phenomenal performance ...

Back on top! Barcelona had the chance to get back on top of the table in the Spanish League at home against Villareal. And they didn’t waste the chance to jump back on top of the table. Therefore, the Barcelona’s lineup looked pretty solid with a few absences due to injury like Arthur, Sergi Roberto, and their star forward Luis Suarez. The home side started dominating the game by keeping the possession of the ball, creating chances with Dembele and Messi. Although Barcelona controlled the game, the visitors found their way to create some chances of goal, but they couldn’t put it in the back of the net.  They were missing that forward in the center to get the centers coming from the sides of the pitch by Dembele and Coutinho. Yes, they were missing Suarez to complement their attack. But they kept insisting by sending centers to the box through the wingers. Furthermore, in one of these centers, the ball found a receiver to header it in the back of the net. Gerard Pique once ...

Good victory away from home As part of their European competition in the Champions League, Barcelona played away in Netherlands against PSV Eindhoven. Barcelona was already qualified for the next round but wanted the victory to win the group and advance as first. Therefore, the team didn’t defend all game instead they created many chances that would’ve been capitalize into goals. On the other hand, PSV wanted to get the three points at home because of their hopes to get that third place in the group so they could then play in the Europa League knockout rounds.  As the game got underway, Barcelona started to play their game with few chances in between for PSV that they couldn’t capitalize. The first half went scoreless as both teams couldn’t find the breakthrough. A different story was to play out in the second half of the game. Barcelona finally found the breakthrough with a sensational goal by their captain Lionel Messi in the 61 st minute. To double their lead, Gerard Pi...

What a game at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium!!!! After the international break, club competition returned to its normal phase. In the Spanish League, one of the most attractive games took place on November 24 at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium. The home side, Atletico de Madrid faced Barcelona with an incredible atmosphere by the local fans. It was a very physical game because both teams are top teams in the Spanish League and both are hoping to win the title at the end of the season.  The first half of the game went scoreless as the home side couldn’t finish the chances that they created. Barcelona couldn’t find their key players like Messi to finish the plays. It was a tough game for both sides as they battle through the first half trying to find the breakthrough. Atletico de Madrid is always a challenge for Barcelona because of the quality of their players and their good coaching staff commanded by Diego Simeone. And, playing at their stadium was even more difficult f...

What a bad day for Barcelona at the Camp Nou! With the return of their star player Lionel Messi from injury, the fans were expecting a positive result at their home. However, Real Betis came in with the mentality to beat Barcelona at their home. Unfortunately for Barcelona and their fans, it was a bad day due to the negative result at the end. Real Betis got the victory 4-3 at the Camp Nou over Barcelona. Betis played a great first half scoring two of their goals to upset Barcelona. The first goal was scored by Junior Firpo in the 20 th minute of the game with a counter-attack run making it past the goalie. And the second goal before halftime was scored by Joaquin 34 th minute of the game. He found himself alone in the box by the penalty spot and just tapped in to make it 2-0 in the first half. In the second half of the game, Barcelona came into the field with a different mentality. They started pressuring up high the field and creating chances of goal. In the 68 th min...

The Champions League As part of their European competition, Barcelona faced Inter de Milan on November 06 at their stadium. The surprise was that their star player Lionel Messi was part of the group that traveled to play this game. But, since he was still injured, he didn’t play. Playing in Italy has always been a struggle for FC Barcelona because Italian teams are tough at their home with their fans chanting the whole game. They pass the ball around hiding it from the Barcelona players. The Italian style of playing has always gotten Barcelona in a struggle to beat them. Even in this game, although the result ended in a 1-1 draw, Barcelona couldn’t keep the lead until the end the game. Barcelona had the possession of the ball throughout the whole game creating chances of goals. Suarez, Rakitic, and Coutinho had good chances of scoring in the first and second half but couldn’t capitalize the goal. It had to be a player coming out from the bench that scored the away goal for...

Tough Test! A tough matchup for FC Barcelona on November 3rd as they faced Rayo Vallecano at their home. Barcelona encountered a challenging game because the home team played well and fought until the end. An early goal scored by Luis Suarez to give Barca the lead and the possession of the ball throughout the first half. That goal gave them confidence to control the home team attacking players. However, in 35th minute of the game, Jose Angel Pozo with a long-range shot from outside the box scored the equalizer.  With the game tied at halftime, Ernesto Valverde wasn't finding the breakthrough the home side's defense. In the second half, Rayo Vallecano took the lead at the 57th minute in the game. The goal was scored by Alvaro Garcia after a fortunate ball came off the post leaving him with an open net just to tap it in the goal. After this goal, Barcelona's winning streak in the league seemed to come to an end. But, the game is not over until it's over.  In the 87...

Win, win, win! As part of the round of 32 in the Spanish Cup, FC Barcelona had to travel the northwest in Spain to take on the second division team Cultural Leonesa. For this match, Ernesto Valverde rested most of the first team to give other players in the bench playing time as well as some players from the second team. Players like Jorge Cuenca, Chumi, and Miranda made their debut with the first team. Valverde is known to be a coach that likes to give the opportunity to young players for their development. In terms of the match, the team that Valverde put into the pitch was a combination of young players with players that don’t have much playing time. As a result, it was reflected in the pitch and in the overall score. The team couldn’t finish the plays they created, and they weren’t finding chemistry between them. The inexperienced team couldn’t find their style of playing because they don’t usually play together. The final score of the game was 1-0 with a header in the 9...

Another game, another WIN! With over 93,000 fans at the Camp Nou, FC Barcelona defended their home from their biggest rivals Real Madrid. Although Messi didn’t play, the performance of the team led to the 5-1 win. Messi’s absence in the game allowed other players to stand out and play as a team. Players like Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho, and Jordi Alba had great performances as a collective team associating with the rest of the team. A fantastic performance from Suarez with a hat-trick gave Barcelona the confidence to win the game. The other two goals were scored by Coutinho and Arturo Vidal to seal the victory. The goal from the Madrid side came from Marcelo at the start of the second half. Barcelona gets the three points at home against their rivals to put themselves on top of the table with 21 points. Playing without their star player, Messi, didn’t stop them from getting the job done at home. Standings after 10 games played:  Here are the highlights of t...

Soccer is a worldwide sport that no matter where you go, there will always be people playing it. It brings people together from all backgrounds, race, and countries. Whether it’s played in a friendly match between friends and family or in a professional level, the passion for the sport is the same. Everyone who follows soccer, in the professional level, has their favorite team and players. They become the favorites of the fans around the world because of their hard work and for their abilities on the pitch. Therefore, here is a list of the top ten best soccer players in the world.  1.       Lionel Messi (Argentina) Lionel Andres Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina. He was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency when he was a child. The soccer clubs in Argentina that he joined couldn’t afford the medical treatment for him. Therefore, he had to pursue his dream to become a professional player overseas. FC Barcelona (Spain) offered ...