Barcelona - NouCamp Faithful

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Napoli 2 - 4 Barcelona : Barcelona thrash Napoli on vintage night to reach Europa League round of 16

(Barcelona wins 5-3 on aggregate)

Barcelona turned in a classy display as they beat Napoli 4-2 in their Europa League playoff second leg at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium on Thursday to advance to the round of 16 by an aggregate score of 5-3.

Ahead of the match, players from both teams held up a "Stop War" banner following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday night.

The visitors wasted no time in taking the lead, with Jordi Alba finishing off a rapid-fire counter-attack and Frenkie de Jong curling in an absolute beauty from distance to stake Barcelona to a 2-0 advantage before 15 minutes.

Napoli halved the deficit soon after when VAR ruled that Marc-Andre ter Stegen fouled Victor Osimhen in the area and Lorenzo Insigne dispatched the resulting spot kick to bring the home fans back to life.

But Barca struck again before half-time, as Gerard Pique settled a ball in front of goal and fired past Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret to restore Xavi's side to a two-goal lead after a thrilling opening 45 minutes.

Napoli had their work cut out for them in the second half, but any thoughts of a comeback were put to rest just before the hour mark with a stellar strike from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who curled a first-time shot into the upper right corner from a pass across the box by Adama Traore.

The hosts scored a consolation goal just before full-time through Matteo Politano, but it was too little too late for the Naples side, whose European campaign came to an end on a night when Barcelona were simply the better team.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 4 - 0 Athletic Club : Barcelona stay hot in win over Athletic Club to keep Champions League qualification hopes alive

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored for the third game in a row and helped a much improved Barcelona to earn a comfortable 4-0 home win against Athletic Club in LaLiga on Sunday.

The win sees Xavi Hernandez's team climb to fourth place in the standings with 45 points, 15 behind leaders Real Madrid and ahead of fifth-placed Atletico Madrid on goal difference in the hunt for Champions League qualification.

Former Arsenal striker Aubameyang opened the scoring in the 37th minute, netting a rebound from a Gerard Pique header off the bar.

The second goal came in the 73rd with a fantastic finish by substitute Ousmane Dembele, who made peace with the Barca fans and received a standing ovation after almost leaving the club in January due to his reluctance to renew his contract.

The French winger received a long pass from Luuk de Jong just outside the box, cleared a defender and fired a bullet of a shot that flew past the goalkeeper into the top left corner of the net.

Dembele provided assists for the third and fourth goals, in stoppage time. First, he crossed perfectly to De Jong, who scored with a header, then, in the final play of the game, to Memphis Depay, who stroked in a volley from close range.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Elche 1 - 2 Barcelona : Ferran Torres, Memphis Depay strike as Barcelona rally to narrow win over Elche

Second-half goals from Ferran Torres and Memphis Depay helped Barcelona come from behind to claim a 2-1 victory away to Elche on Sunday.

Elche took the lead on the stroke of half-time through Fidel Chaves, who intercepted a poor pass from Pedri before racing into the box and striking home.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 0 - 0 Galatasaray : Barcelona held to disappointing draw in Europa League 1st Leg

Barcelona were held to a lacklustre, goalless draw against Galatasaray in the first leg of their round-of-16 match at the Camp Nou on Thursday.

Despite dominating possession in the first half over the Turkish Super Lig side, Barcelona were unable to find a breakthrough and the score remained level at 0-0 at the break.

Barca rained shots on Galatasaray with 14 goal attempts against only three from the visitors, who were indebted to 23-year-old Spanish goalkeeper Inaki Pena for several fine saves.

Galatasaray also made good chances with winger Kerem Akturkoglu a constant threat to the Barca defence with his pace and range of skills.

Ousmane Dembele skied a powerful shot from distance over the bar as the second half wore on and Frenkie de Jong hit the post shortly after as Barcelona sought an elusive opener in the match.

Galatasaray looked to have grabbed the lead against the run of play through Bafetimbi Gomis in the 78th minute, but the linesman's flag had gone up for offside and the goal was disallowed.

The two teams meet again in Turkey on March 17 for the decisive second leg and a spot in the semifinals.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 4 - 0 Osasuna : Ferran Torres brace fires Barcelona to emphatic win

Ferran Torres scored twice and Ousmane Dembele added two assists as Barcelona ran rampant with three goals in the opening 30 minutes to cruise to a 4-0 win over Osasuna at the Camp Nou on Sunday.

The result, Barcelona's fourth league win in a row, moved them back into third place in LaLiga, above Atletico Madrid and Real Betis, as the Catalans' sharp resurgence under Xavi continued apace.

And the sparkling performance, which also featured goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and substitute Riqui Puig, added to a celebratory day at the Camp Nou. Barcelona's women's team paraded the freshly clinched Primera Division trophy ahead of kick-off and Gerard Pique took his place in the starting lineup for his 600th appearance for the club.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Galatasaray 1 - 2 Barcelona : Barcelona rally past Galatasaray to book spot in Europa League quarterfinals

2nd Leg - Barcelona advance 2-1 on aggregate

Barcelona came from a goal down to beat Galatasaray 2-1 at the NEF Stadyumu to advance to the quarterfinals of the Europa League on Thursday.

The Catalans came into the round of 16 second leg level on aggregate after a 0-0 draw in the first leg at the Camp Nou on March 10, before sealing passage with the win in Istanbul.

The hosts took the lead shortly before the half-hour through Marcao, but Pedri finished off a nice team move by Barca with a lovely display of individual skill to draw his team level before the break.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put Barca ahead three minutes into the second half with a close-range header after two magnificent stops by Galatasaray goalkeeper Inaki Pena, who is on loan from the Spanish club.

Barca ran down the clock as Galatasaray pushed for an equaliser, infuriating the home crowd who started throwing bottles and plastic cups onto the field. The referee stopped the game for a few minutes while the Galatasaray players tried to calm their fans down.

Despite the sideshow, Barca stood tall and saw out the result to book a spot in the quarterfinals, with the draw set to take place on Friday.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Real Madrid 0 - 4 Barcelona : Barcelona thrash Real Madrid in El Clasico as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang nets brace

Barcelona continued their remarkable renaissance under Xavi, snapping a five-game losing streak against Real Madrid in emphatic fashion with a 4-0 victory over their fierce rivals in Sunday's El Clasico at the Bernabeu.

One of the prime architects of their revival, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice, once in either half, sandwiching goals from Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres. Ousmane Dembele, another player reborn since the start of the year, assisted both first-half goals as Barcelona ran rampant against a Madrid side badly missing the injured Karim Benzema and Ferland Mendy.

The victory, their first over Madrid since 2019, moves Barcelona back up to third place in LaLiga and now only behind second-placed Sevilla by three points, with a game in hand. Despite a chastening night in the Spanish capital, Real Madrid's lead atop the standings remains a healthy nine points after Sevilla could only draw with Real Sociedad earlier in the day.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 1 - 0 Sevilla : Barcelona overcome resolute Sevilla to leapfrog Andalusians and go second in LaLiga

Barcelona managed to break Sevilla's resolve to defeat the Andalusian side 1-0 on Sunday night at Camp Nou, a result that saw the Blaugrana leapfrog their guests and climb to second in the LaLiga table.

Sevilla were decidedly second best for much of the contest, but their resolution kept their hosts off the board. After a scoreless first half, Barca began to tilt the pitch in their favour in the second half, creating chance after chance but without any luck.

Eventually the breakthrough came, in the 72nd minute, from the right foot of Pedri. The 19-year-old midfielder feigned two shorts, coaxing defenders to leave their feet, before finally threading an inch-perfect 18-yard finish into the far corner.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Eintracht Frankfurt 1 - 1 Barcelona : Barcelona rally for draw with Eintracht Frankfurt in Europa League quarterfinal first leg

Barcelona rallied for a 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt in their Europa League quarterfinal first leg on Thursday night.

The hosts soaked up the pressure early on, hoping to hit Barca on the break, but were in danger after three minutes when Kevin Trapp tipped Ferran Torres' shot over the bar.

Trapp was at it again to deny Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but the game was to swing the Bundesliga side's way.

Sergio Busquets appeared to bring down Rafael Santos Borre in the area before the break, but referee Srdjan Jovanovic overturned his initial penalty call out after a VAR review as the first half ended scoreless.

Eintracht kept going, though, and were rewarded three minutes into the second half when Ansgar Knauff found the back of the net with a stunning shot from outside the box after a poor clearance by the Barca defence.

Barcelona hit back on 66 minutes when substitutes Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembele started a slick team move to set up Torres for the finish to level the score.

Eintracht's hopes of a late winner were dashed in the 78th when Tuta got a second yellow card for a rough challenge on Pedri, leaving his team to finish the game a man short.

Xavi's side continued to force the issue in the second half but couldn't find the go-ahead goal, setting up a winner-take-all second leg at the Camp Nou on April 14.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Levante 2 - 3 Barcelona : De Jong, Barcelona claim epic victory despite conceding three penalties to Levante

Barcelona striker Luuk de Jong scored a header in added time to give his side a 3-2 win at struggling Levante after a remarkable, end-to-end game in which his side gave away three penalties.

Barca are the first team in LaLiga to win a match after conceding three penalties and De Jong's last-gasp goal saw them record a seventh consecutive league win, lifting them into second in the standings on 60 points after 30 games.

But they are still a long way behind leaders Real Madrid, who have 72 points from 31 after beating Getafe 2-0 at home on Saturday. Levante are 19th on 22 points.

Levante took a surprise but deserved lead against a lacklustre Barca in the 52nd minute when captain Jose Luis Morales scored from the spot after a foul by Dani Alves.

Moments later the hosts earned a second penalty, for a handball by Eric Garcia, who had prevented Levante from taking the lead in the first half when he scrambled a shot from Morales off the line.

This time striker Roger Marti stepped up to take it and his effort was saved by Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The visitors quickly made Levante pay, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang heading home a cross from Ousmane Dembele in the 59th minute.

Teenage midfielder Pedri then gave Barca the lead in the 63rd, thumping a first-time shot into the bottom corner after being teed up by 17-year-old Gavi, who had also been hauled on from the bench in the second half.

Levante then won a third penalty of the second half when Dani Gomez latched on to a through ball and was tripped by Barca defender Clement Lenglet. Gonzalo Melero assumed taking duties and made no mistake against Ter Stegen to level in the 83rd.

But there was time for one final twist in an enthralling encounter when substitute De Jong connected with a Jordi Alba cross and headed into the bottom corner in the second minute of added time.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 2 - 3 Eintracht Frankfurt : Eintracht Frankfurt outclass Barcelona as Xavi's side bounced out of Europa League

(2nd Leg - Eintracht Frankfurt advance 4-3 on aggregate)

Filip Kostic scored twice for Eintracht Frankfurt as they fended off a furious finish to beat Barcelona 3-2 in the second leg of their Europa League quarterfinal tie Thursday night.

The result sees the Bundesliga side advance to the semifinals on the back of a 4-3 aggregate win across the two legs, while Barca's hopes of a European trophy in 2021-22 were ended.

The visitors, roared on by massive travelling support at the Camp Nou, got off to a dream start when Barca's Eric Garcia hauled down Jesper Lindstrom in the area and Kostic calmly beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen from the spot to give Frankfurt the lead inside of three minutes.

Xavi Hernandez's side settled quickly after conceding and began to force the issue, with Ousmane Dembele setting up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for a header that went over the crossbar and Ronald Araujo volleying straight at Frankfurt keeper Kevin Trapp in the following minutes.

Despite the hosts' pressure, Frankfurt scored again to double their lead, this time courtesy of Rafael Borre's absolute thunderbolt from distance that blistered past Ter Stegen in the Barcelona goal.

With Barcelona trailing 2-0, the match was wide open from the start of the second half. Aubameyang forced a point-blank save from Trapp in the 48th minute and Ter Stegen did well to keep out a powerful Lindstrom shot at the other end soon after.

Xavi brought on Adama Traore for Aubameyang just past the hour mark and substituted Sergino Dest in place of Oscar Mingueza in hopes of jumpstarting the attack, but Kostic scored his second of the night with a low drive past Ter Stegen in the 67th minute to effectively seal the victory for Frankfurt.

Sergio Busquets scored for Barca as second-half stoppage time began and Memphis Depay added one from the spot just before the final whistle, but the deficit was too much to overcome as Frankfurt saw out a famous result.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 0 - 1 Cádiz : Barcelona stunned by Cadiz for second Camp Nou loss in a row

Cadiz handed Barcelona their second home loss in a row with a shock 1-0 win over the Catalans at the Camp Nou on Monday night.

The hosts really never got going in front of a disgruntled crowd as the first half ended scoreless, but Cadiz took a surprising lead early in the second half when Lucas Perez scored from close range after a scramble in front of Marc-Andre ter Stegen's goal.

Barcelona pushed for the equaliser, but Cadiz stood firm and saw out the match as the hosts fell further adrift in the standings and put their chances of finishing in the Champions League places in jeopardy.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Real Sociedad 0 - 1 Barcelona : Barcelona hold on to beat Real Sociedad thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang goal

Barcelona moved back into second place in LaLiga after battling to a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad in San Sebastian on Thursday.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the game's only goal after just 11 minutes before Barcelona were forced to withstand heavy pressure from their opponents, particularly in the second half.

Aubameyang had given Barca the perfect start when heading in from close range following Ferran Torres' lobbed ball across the six-yard box. The goal was Aubameyang's ninth in LaLiga for Barcelona since joining from Arsenal in January.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 0 - 1 Rayo Vallecano : Barcelona lose three-straight home games in same season for first time ever

Barcelona have lost three consecutive home games in the same season for the first time in their illustrious history after slumping to a shock 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou on Sunday.

Alvaro Garcia struck the only goal of the game after just seven minutes, with Barcelona struggling to build attacking momentum during much of the contest. Still, Barca hit the woodwork toward the end of both halves, while Gavi had a strong penalty appeal rejected as the clock neared the 90-minute mark.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 2 - 1 Mallorca : Barcelona get back on track with win over Mallorca

Barcelona returned to winning ways at Camp Nou with a much-needed 2-1 victory over Mallorca on Sunday.

Memphis Depay scored a team-leading 11th LaLiga goal of the season to give Barca the lead on 25 minutes before Sergio Busquets struck a rare goal nine minutes into the second half to seemingly make the victory safe. But a Mallorca team fighting to avoid relegation ensured a nervy finish when Antonio Raillo found the net following a free-kick with just over 10 minutes remaining.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)