Barcelona - NouCamp Faithful

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Getafe 1 - 0 Barcelona : Barcelona lose to Getafe as USMNT's Sergino Dest gets first start

Barcelona fell to their first defeat in La Liga under new coach Ronald Koeman as they lost 1-0 at Getafe on Saturday in a match that saw United States youngster Sergino Dest make his debut start.

Getafe forward Jaime Mata sent Barca goalkeeper Neto the wrong way from the penalty spot to score the only goal in the 56th minute after visiting midfielder Frenkie de Jong had been penalised for treading on Djene Dakonam's foot.

The result left Barca ninth with seven points after four games, a week before the Clasico at home to Real Madrid, who remain top on 10 points having played five matches. Getafe's win puts them level on points with the league leaders.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 5 - 1 Ferencvaros : Messi, Fati score early goals in Barcelona rout over Ferencvaros

Lionel Messi became the first player to score in 16 consecutive Champions League seasons as he guided 10-man Barcelona to a 5-1 victory over Hungarian side Ferencvaros in their Group G opener at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.

Messi netted from the penalty spot in the first half for his 116th career goal in the competition, before the lively Ansu Fati added a second.

Philippe Coutinho grabbed another goal early in the second half but Barca defender Gerard Pique was dismissed for impeding Tokmac Nguen, leading to a penalty for the visitors that was converted by Igor Kharatin.

Any thoughts of a dramatic comeback were quashed though as 17-year-old Pedri netted his first Barca goal after arriving from second-tier Las Palmas at the start of the season, and Ousmane Dembele added the fifth late on.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 1 - 3 Real Madrid : Real Madrid overcome Barcelona 3-1 in entertaining El Clasico

Goals from Federico Valverde, Sergio Ramos and Luka Modric helped Real Madrid beat Barcelona 3-1 in an entertaining and end-to-end El Clasico. Ansu Fati scores for Barcelona which turns out to be a mere consolation.

The victory is a big one for Zinedine Zidane who was under pressure after two shock defeats to newly promoted Cadiz in La Lifa and an under strength Shakhtar Donestsk in the Champions League in midweek.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Juventus 0 - 2 Barcelona : Barcelona down Juventus with goals from Messi, Dembele

Barcelona made it two wins from two in the Champions League Group G with a 2-0 win over Juventus in Turin on Wednesday night.

Juventus were without Cristiano Ronaldo, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 13, meaning a matchup pitting the Portuguese against Lionel Messi for the first time since 2018 would have to wait until at least the second group encounter.

Barca problem child Ousmane Dembele got the start alongside Messi and he rewarded Ronald Koeman's faith early on with a goal from outside the penalty area to give the visitors the lead.

Juventus Alvaro Morata had 2 goals disallowed for offside after review by VAR.

The hosts' hopes of getting back in the game took a big hit in the 84th minute when Merih Demiral was sent off after receiving a second yellow card to leave Juve with only 10 players to the match.

Messi then put the game away from the penalty spot after Ansu Fati was hauled down in the box to reach the final scoreline.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Alavés 1 - 1 Barcelona : Griezmann goal helps struggling Barcelona draw after Neto gaffe

Barcelona goalkeeper Neto made an embarrassing gaffe as his side were held to a 1-1 draw away to Alaves on Saturday, despite playing the final half an hour with an extra man.

Barca fell behind in the 31st minute after a moment of madness from Brazilian keeper Neto, who clumsily allowed a back pass from Gerard Pique to trickle through his legs towards goal, and Luis Rioja nipped in to nudge the ball into the empty net.

Alaves midfielder Jota was sent off in the 62nd minute for a second booking and Antoine Griezmann levelled moments later but while the Catalans kept on pouring forward they failed to take their flurry of late chances.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 2 - 1 Dynamo Kiev : Messi, Ter Stegen help Barcelona fend off Dynamo Kiev

Barcelona earned a far from convincing 2-1 win at home to a depleted Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday as Lionel Messi scored a penalty for the third Champions League game in a row with the Spaniards maintaining their winning start to the group stage.

The Argentine, who had also scored spot-kicks in wins over Group G opponents Ferencvaros and Juventus, tucked away a penalty in the fifth minute while Gerard Pique netted in the second half, glancing in a fine cross from Ansu Fati.

Dynamo, who were missing six players due to COVID-19 positives, which also afflicted five members of staff, gave a decent account of themselves and spurned a couple of chances to equalise as well as having a goal from a corner ruled out due to the ball going out of play.

They deservedly pulled a late goal back in the 75th minute when Viktor Tsygankov slid the ball into the net, pouncing on a rebound after Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen could only parry a shot from Benjamin Verbic.

The victory put Barca on the verge of a place in the knockout stages, leaving them top on nine points after three games, with Juventus second on six and Dynamo and Ferencvaros with a point each.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 5 - 2 Real Betis : Super sub Messi bags brace as Barcelona beat Real Betis

Substitute Lionel Messi made the difference with two goals for Barcelona in the second half as they beat Real Betis 5-2 on Saturday.

Messi was named on the Barcelona bench for the first time since September 2019, having played every minute of Barcelona's last 37 games, and was brought on for the second half with the sides level at 1-1 after goals from Ousmane Dembele and Antonio Sanabria.

The Argentina international quickly set up a goal for Antoine Griezmann and then scored a penalty before Lorenzo Moron pulled one back for Real Betis. However, Messi had more in the tank and scored his first non-penalty goal of the season. Pedri added a fifth to ensure a Barcelona win.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Atletico Madrid 1 - 0 Barcelona : Atletico Madrid beat Barcelona 1-0 for Simeone's first La Liga win over Messi & Co.

Atletico Madrid pulled off their first La Liga win over Barcelona in more than a decade as Yannick Carrasco capitalised on a blunder from Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to secure a 1-0 victory at an empty Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday.

Belgian winger Carrasco broke the deadlock at the end of the first half, pulling off a classy backheel to knock the ball through the legs of Ter Stegen and keep his composure in front of goal after the German had charged out of his area.

Atletico got the victory without joint-top scorer Luis Suarez, who was deprived of a reunion with his former side after testing positive for COVID-19, but they were more than worthy winners.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Dynamo Kiev 0 - 4 Barcelona : Barcelona win as Sergino Dest scores historic U.S. goal

Sergino Dest became the first U.S. international to score for Barcelona in their 4-0 Champions League win over Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday.

Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman fielded a team without talisman Lionel Messi and midfielder Frenkie de Jong, with both players staying behind in Spain to rest because of a club and country fixture pileup in recent weeks.

The Catalans seemed to miss Messi in the final third, as they dominated possession throughout a scoreless first half but never created any legitimate scoring chances.

However, the visitors found themselves in front when Dest, the first American to play for Barcelona, finished smoothly following a nice interchange with Carles Alena and Martin Braithwaite to put his side up 1-0.

The goal makes Dest the 10th U.S. international to score a goal in the Champions League.

Braithwaite doubled the advantage minutes later when he poked home at the far post from a flicked-on Oscar Mingueza header following a corner to pad the Catalans' lead.

Barcelona's third came once again courtesy of Braithwaite, who fired in his second of the night from the penalty spot around 70 minutes to secure his team's fourth win from four in the Champions League.

Substitute Antoine Griezmann added further gloss to the scoreline with a goal in stoppage time.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 4 - 0 Osasuna : Messi dedicates goal to Maradona in Barcelona win

Lionel Messi dedicated a goal to the late Diego Maradona on his return to the Barcelona team in a 4-0 romp against Osasuna on Sunday.

Messi, who had been rested for the 4-0 win against Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League on Tuesday, scored the fourth goal and celebrated by revealing a Newell's Old Boys shirt in Maradona's honour, after he died at the age of 60 on Wednesday.



Barca, who had begun the day 14th in La Liga, won comfortably with Martin Braithwaite, Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho also on the scoresheet.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Ferencvaros 0 - 3 Barcelona : Barcelona easily beat Ferencvaros ahead of Juventus bout

Barcelona out-classed Ferencvaros and eased their way to a 3-0 away win on Wednesday for a fifth consecutive Champions League victory which took them to the brink of clinching top spot in their group.

Lionel Messi was rested and missed a second European trip in a row but Barca barely noticed their captain's absence as goals from Antoine Griezmann, Martin Braithwaite and a penalty from Ousmane Dembele gave them a three-goal lead before the break.

Ronald Koeman's side continued to dominate in the second half and Dembele missed three chances to add to their lead while Miralem Pjanic also came close.

Barca, who have already qualified for the knockout stages, lead Group G with a maximum 15 points. They host second-placed Juventus in their final game next week and will finish top if they avoid defeat.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Cádiz 2 - 1 Barcelona : Cadiz shock Barcelona despite Lionel Messi's return for the Catalans

Cadiz pulled off a shock 2-1 win over Barcelona in La Liga on Saturday night, piling on to the mounting troubles for the Blaugrana in their domestic campaign this season.

The hosts took a shock lead from a corner kick when Marc-Andre ter Stegen palmed the ball into the path of Alvaro Gimenez, who simply had to tap it into the net to make it 1-0.

The goal seemed to enliven Barca, who were firmly in control for the remainder of the half, but save for a near miss by Martin Braithwaite the visitors could not score and went into the half-time break trailing.

Koeman rang the changes at half-time in an attempt to spark his team, with Pedri replacing Oscar Mingueza and Ousmane Dembele coming on for Philippe Coutinho.

Barca continued to dominate possession and drew level just before the hour mark when Messi played in Jordi Alba and his shot from a tight angle took a fortuitous deflection off Pedro Alcalá to beat Cadiz keeper Jeremias Ledesma for an own goal.

However, Cadiz took the lead again minutes later when a miscommunication between Clement Lenglet and Ter Stegen following a throw in left Alvaro Negredo alone for a simple tap in to Barcelona's open net.

Barca poured on the pressure down the stretch and Messi saw two good chances go right to Ledesma, but Cadiz were up to the task and saw out the match to take all three points and stay ahead of the Catalans in La Liga.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 0 - 3 Juventus : Ronaldo brace, McKennie volley power Juventus past Messi's Barcelona

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and Weston McKennie added another as Juventus beat Barcelona 3-0 in a much-anticipated Group G finale on Tuesday.

The win saw the Italians top the table on head-to head results with Barca, leaving Lionel Messi & Co. to settle for second place on a disappointing night at the Camp Nou.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 1 - 0 Levante : Barcleona's Messi on cusp of Pele's goal mark in nervy win

Lionel Messi dragged a nervous Barcelona to a 1-0 win at home to Levante in La Liga on Sunday to cool tensions after a chaotic week at the Catalan club.

With his 642nd goal in a Barca shirt, Messi now is on the cusp of tying Pele for most goals with a single club. The Brazil legend notched 643 for Santos during his playing days.

Barca had dominated Sunday's game but failed to keep their composure in front of goal until Messi latched on to a through ball from Frenkie de Jong and thumped it in off the far post in the 76th minute.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 2 - 1 Real Sociedad : Alba, De Jong steer Barcelona over La Liga leaders Real Sociedad

Barcelona finally made a statement of intent in what has been a chaotic season as they came from behind to beat La Liga leaders Real Sociedad 2-1 at home on Wednesday.

Brazilian striker Willian Jose gave the visitors the lead from close range in the 27th minute but Barca came right back at them, levelling four minutes later when Jordi Alba smashed the ball into the top corner with his weaker right foot.

The Catalans took the lead shortly before halftime when Frenkie de Jong arrived into the box and poked home a cross from Alba, initially seeing the goal ruled out for offside but then celebrating when it was awarded after a VAR review.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)