Barcelona - NouCamp Faithful

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Real Sociedad 0 - 1 Barcelona : Neymar helps Barcelona take slim advantage

1st Leg

Barcelona won at the Anoeta for the first time in nearly a decade to take a 1-0 lead after the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinal clash with Real Sociedad.

Neymar won a penalty on 21st min and then got up to convert it to give the Catalans a first win in San Sebastian since a 2-0 La Liga success in May 2007.

It was only the Brazilian's eighth goal of the season but it helped strengthen Barcelona's grip on the trophy they have won each of the past two years ahead of the return leg at the Nou Camp in a week's time.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Eibar 0 - 4 Barcelona : MSN score as Barca close gap on Real Madrid

Barcelona closed the gap on La Liga leaders Real Madrid to two points after a 4-0 victory at Eibar.

Substitute Denis Suarez scored his first senior club goal before Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar scored in the second half but Luis Enrique's side rode their luck early on against their spirited hosts.

Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved from Adrian before Suarez opened the scoring but Barca's victory was marred by an ankle injury to Sergio Busquets.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 5 - 2 Real Sociedad : Barcelona defeat Real Sociedad to advance to Copa del Rey semifinals

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

Barcelona saw off Real Sociedad on Thursday, scoring four times after half-time to win 5-2 in the second leg of their Copa del Rey clash and advance to the semifinals.

Denis Suarez scored the first and last goals on the night, with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Arda Turan also on target as Barcelona completed a 6-2 aggregate triumph at the Camp Nou.

Juanmi and Willian José scored for the visitors.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Real Betis 1 - 1 Barcelona : Late Luis Suarez strike earns Barcelona a point

Luis Suarez prevented Barcelona's first La Liga defeat since Oct. 2 by equalising in the final minute of a controversial 1-1 draw at Real Betis.

Suarez pounced on an error by Betis substitute Nahuel Leiva to slot home his 16th league goal of the season after Alex Alegria had given Betis a 75th-minute lead.

But the main fall-out at the Estadio Benito Villamarin will surround the goal that never was. Barcelona were left cursing the absence of goal-line technology in Spanish football after Matteo Piccinini had appeared to put through his own net two minutes after Alegria's opener.

Aissa Mandy cleared from under -- and on to -- his own crossbar, but television replays clearly showed the ball had crossed the Betis goal-line.



Time for goal line technology......

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Atletico Madrid 1 - 2 Barcelona : Suarez, Messi super strikes give Barcelona leg up

1st Leg

Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi were both on target as Barcelona survived a fightback from Atletico Madrid to take control of the Copa del Rey semifinal with a 2-1 win.

Suarez and Messi scored in the first half as Barcelona dominated the early stages of the first leg, taking a two-goal lead into the break.

However a revitalised Atletico emerged after half-time, pulling a goal back through Antoine Griezmann and created enough chances to feel hard done by as they were forced to concede a one-goal advantage to Barca.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 3 - 0 Athletic Bilbao : Lionel Messi's free kick helps Barcelona cruise to victory

Barcelona closed the gap on La Liga leaders Real Madrid to just a point with a 3-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou.

Paco Alcacer opened the scoring on 18 minutes with his first league goal for the club and after the visitors had failed to make the most of their chances, Lionel Messi's free kick squirmed past Bilbao keeper Gorka Iraizoz five minutes before half-time.

Defender Aleix Vidal added a third midway through the second half for Luis Enrique's side, who have now played two matches more than Real Madrid.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 1 - 1 Atletico Madrid : Barcelona hold off Atletico with nine men, reach Copa del Rey final

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

Barcelona secured a place in the final of the Copa del Rey after a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid at the Nou Camp, but will have to do without Luis Suarez who was one of three players sent off in a fiery clash.

Trailing 2-1 from the first leg in Madrid, Atletico knew they needed to score at least twice to progress.

The visitors made a positive opening with Fernando Torres and Antoine Griezmann leading the frontline, but failed to make the most of their chances before Suarez put Barcelona in front at the end of the first half.

Barcelona defender Sergi Roberto was sent off for a second yellow card just before the hour and Antoine Griezmann had an equaliser incorrectly ruled out for offside.

Yannick Carrasco was then sent off, Kevin Gameiro missed a penalty only to eventually draw Atletico level, before Suarez also received a red card in the closing stages of a heated contest.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Alavés 0 - 6 Barcelona : Luis Suarez nets brace as Barcelona thrash Alaves

Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi ran riot as Barcelona fired in four goals in nine second-half minutes on their way to a 6-0 thumping of Alaves.

Efforts from Suarez and Neymar late in the first half had the visitors in front at the break, but their hosts remained in the game until Messi added a third just before the hour mark.

The floodgates then opened, with Ruano Alexis' own goal, an Ivan Rakitic strike and another Suarez effort seeing Barca rack up half a dozen by the 67th minute.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Paris Saint-Germain 4 - 0 Barcelona : PSG thrash Barcelona as Angel Di Maria scores twice

1st Leg

Two goals from Angel Di Maria and one apiece from Julian Draxler and Edinson Cavani gave Paris Saint-Germain an unexpected and potentially unassailable 4-0 lead against Barcelona in their Champions League round of 16 first leg tie.

The result equalled Barca's worst in Europe, last achieved by Bayern Munich at the semifinal stage fours years ago, but could easily have been worse as they were outfought, outrun and outclassed.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 2 - 1 Leganes : Lionel Messi brace rescues Barcelona

Lionel Messi's late penalty spared Barcelona further embarrassment as they bounced back from their Champions League humiliation by beating struggling Leganes 2-1 in La Liga.

Barca were thrashed 4-0 by Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday and almost fell victim to another shock as Leganes looked on course to snatch an unlikely draw at the Nou Camp.

Messi, however, held his nerve to convert an 89th-minute penalty, which moves Barca to within one point of Real Madrid at the top of the table. However, Madrid have two games in hand.

It was Messi's second goal of the game after he had given the Catalans an early lead but Unai Lopez stunned the favourites with a 71st-minute equaliser before the Argentinian's late heroics.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Atletico Madrid 1 - 2 Barcelona : Late Lionel Messi strike earns Barcelona three points

Lionel Messi was once again the downfall of Atletico Madrid with an 86th-minute winner that kept Barcelona firmly in the title race.

The Argentinian's 22nd goal in 22 league games against Atleti was also his 20th of the domestic campaign -- a figure he has reached for nine successive seasons -- as Barca turned up the heat on La Liga rivals Real Madrid.

It was far from a vintage Barca performance, with Rafinha's scrappy second-half opener having been cancelled out by Diego Godin's header, yet Messi's late strike in a 2-1 success seriously dented Atleti's own title aspirations as their winless run against Luis Enrique's men was extended to 20 domestic games.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 6 - 1 Sporting Gijón : Messi, Suarez and Neymar all on target as Barcelona romp

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were all on target as Barcelona cruised to a 6-1 LaLiga win over Sporting Gijon on Wednesday night.

Title-chasing Barca were 2-0 up after 11 minutes through Messi and a Juan Rodriguez own goal.
Relegation-threatened Sporting pulled one back after 21 minutes through Carlos Castro, but Suarez restored the two-goal lead before half-time.

Paco Alcacer added a fourth within four minutes of his half-time introduction in place of Suarez.
And Neymar struck his first home league goal of the campaign, in his 10th game at the Nou Camp, as Barca made it five before Ivan Rakitic added a late sixth.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 5 - 0 Celta Vigo : Lionel Messi scores twice to help Barcelona romp to win over Celta

Barcelona quickly reclaimed top spot in La Liga on Saturday night with a 5-0 rout of Celta Vigo, after having briefly been usurped by Real Madrid.

Real had stormed to a 4-1 win at Eibar in the afternoon kickoff to move two points clear at the summit, but Barca, whose boss Luis Enrique announced earlier this week that he would leave his post at the end of the season, responded in style.

Barcelona produced a scintillating display as a brace from Lionel Messi as well as goals from Neymar, Ivan Rakitic, and Samuel Umtiti completed the rout.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 6 - 1 Paris Saint-Germain : Barcelona complete stunning six-goal comeback

(2nd Leg : Barcelona wins 6-5 on agg)

Barcelona needed to become the first team in European history to overcome a 4-0 first-leg Champions League deficit and did so against Paris Saint-Germain as they scored six goals to knock out the French champions despite Edinson Cavani's away goal, ending the tie 6-5 on aggregate. With the win on Wednesday, Barcelona reached the quarterfinals.

Inside two minutes, they had one back. Luis Suarez took advantage of mayhem in the PSG backline as they failed to deal with a bouncing ball and the Uruguayan headed over the line in front of goalkeeper Kevin Trapp before Thomas Meunier could try and clear it from underneath the bar.

Breakthrough for 2-0 came in the 40th minute. Neat interplay between Iniesta and Suarez saw the ball looped over the top and Marquinhos failed to clear. Iniesta got goalside of his man, backheeled the ball across the six-yard box and Layvin Kurzawa mistimed his clearance to put the ball into his own net.

Shortly after half-time, Barcelona were 3-0 ahead and within one goal of completing the comeback. Iniesta flicked a ball through to Neymar was tripped by the falling Meunier in the box. Initially the referee did not give the penalty but his goal-line assistant did after some delay and Messi struck the penalty home with ease.

PSG got a hugely important away goal to make it 3-1 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate. Barcelona failed to clear a set piece and Cavani hammered a volley past Ter Stegen and into the roof of the net to give the Parisiens some breathing space.

Then Neymar kept things interesting with a wonderful curling free kick in the final minute that made it 4-1 on the night and Barcelona were awarded a last minute penalty as Suarez went down under a challenge from Marquinhos, converted by Neymar to make it 5-1, but still behind 5-5 on aggregate.

And, incredibly, in the final seconds, with Barcelona needing one more goal, Sergi Roberto struck to make it 6-5 and put to bed one of the most incredible games in Champions League history.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Deportivo La Coruña 2 - 1 Barcelona : Barcelona stunned at Deportivo

Barcelona were brought back to earth after their remarkable Champions League victory over Paris St Germain as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat at lowly Deportivo La Coruna in La Liga on Sunday.

Joselu, on loan from Premier League side Stoke, opened the scoring for the hosts with just five minutes remaining of the first half at the Riazor.

Luis Suarez drew the defending champions level moments after the interval with his 21st league strike of the campaign, but Alex Bergantinos headed home Depor's winner with 17 minutes to go.

Barcelona's defeat was only their third in La Liga this season and brought to an end a six-match winning streak in the division, a run which had seen them replace Real Madrid at the top of the table.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)