El Weblog de Messi | El mejor jugador del planeta

The first in a run of four games against the top teams in the Spanish league saw FC Barcelona claim a conclusive 3-0 win at Sevilla FC’s Sánchez Pizjuán stadium last night.

The game was very physical and tactical in the first half, where Samuel Eto’o scored the only goal that separated the two teams after twenty minutes with a powerful right-foot shot. In the second period Barça controlled the possesssion and ruled the play completely. Leo Messi had more time on the ball and found space playing as a center forward. Messi ended up destroying Sevilla’s defence and securing the victory for his team with two fine goals. After 78 minutes the Argentinian striker beat Palop with a great volley from just outside the box, and near the end of the game he picked up a great through ball from Hleb to round Sevilla’s keeper and score Barça’s third.

This was Barcelona’s tenth straight win away from home. The following league date will see them take on Valencia at the Camp Nou next Saturday.

You can watch Leo Messi’s two goals against Sevilla in our video section.

FC Barcelona scored a conclusive away win over Sporting Lisbon (5-2) yesterday on the fifth date of the Champions League’s group phase. The blaugranas will finish top of their group and thus will play the return leg of their first knockout tie at home.

Barça showed their superiority over Sporting right from the start of the game, once again finding their main attacking asset in Lionel Messi. Leo scored one goal and created another for Thierry Henry before being subsituted in the 57th minute when the scoreline was already 3-0 (the other goal had come through Piqué). Sporting scored two straight goals shortly after thanks to Veloso and Liedson, but an own goal by Caneira and a penalty scored by Bojan rounded off a wide win for Pep Guardiola’s men, who will now be able to focus on the upcoming run of difficult domestic league games against Sevilla, Valencia, Real Madrid and Villarreal.

Note: for some reason I have not been able to access and update the site for the last month. Things seem to be back to normal now. I apologize for the inconvenience. I will try to prevent this problem from happening again in the future.

In a game played under difficult pitch conditions due to the heavy rain in Málaga, FC Barcelona showed great attitude and took a deserved 4-1 away win to reach the top of the Spanish Liga table for the first time in the season.

Barça could not display their usual passing game, but adapted their style perfectly to the conditions of the pitch. Pep Guardiola’s men attacked with intensity and were solid defensively. Leo Messi got one of the goals and was once again a major offensive asset for the team. The other Barça goals came through Xavi (2) and Wellington (o.g.), while Duda scored for Málaga.

Barcelona will next take on Basel in a Champions League fixture to be played at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.

A fantastic display of football from FC Barcelona ended in a 5-0 victory over Almería tonight at the Camp Nou in the 8th fixture of La Liga.

An on-fire Barça finished off Almería with five goals scored already in the first half. Samuel Eto’o got a hat-trick and Thierry Henry and Dani Alves scored the other two; Leo Messi didn’t score -his two best chances were wrongly ruled out by the referee- but did set up two of Barcelona’s strikes and contributed to the team’s excellent attacking football in the first period. The second half saw the home side lower their intensity and no more goals were added to the score sheet.

This was the ninth straight win for Pep Guardiola’s side, who will next take on Benidorm away on Tuesday in the first leg of the first round of the Copa del Rey.

FC Barcelona cruised to a comfortable 5-0 away win at FC Basel tonight in the third date of the UEFA Champions League’s group stage.

After only 22 minutes of play the scoreline was already 3-0 for Barça, which goes to show how one-sided the game was. Leo Messi got the opening goal after picking up a brilliant pass from Dani Alves, and produced many dangerous moves throughout the whole match. Bojan (2), Busquets and Xavi scored the remaining goals, which means that all five strikes came from players brought up in Barcelona’s youth structure.

Barça head the Group C table with nine points from three games. The Spanish Liga will be back on the weekend, with Pep Guardiola’s team taking on Almería at the Camp Nou on Saturday.

The Spanish first-division football league finally returned from the two-week break due to international encounters, and FC Barcelona maintained their winning ways claiming an important 1-0 victory at Athletic Bilbao.

Pep Guardiola decided to leave Leo Messi on the bench for the entire game. As the coach explained, Lionel was in good condition to play, but he preferred to give him a rest after the demanding games and long trips the Argentine star has been through in the past few days. Xavi was also out of the team due to a slight muscle injury. The game played at Bilbao’s San Mamés stadium was a close affair, with Athletic relying on their traditional spirited style and Barça having to work really hard to get the three points. After a mediocre first half, the second period saw an improvement in Barcelona’s attacking play. In the 63rd minute Thierry Henry made a fine move and set up Samuel Eto’o, who scored the only goal of the night. This win -the team’s fifth in a row- keeps Barça three points behind first-place Valencia CF on the league table. On an unfortunate note, both Keita and Márquez had to leave the pitch injured.

Leo Messi will have a chance to come back into Barça’s line-up on Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League game at FC Basel.

A spectacular first-half display from FC Barcelona saw them crush Atletico Madrid on the sixth round of the Spanish Liga yesterday at the Camp Nou.

From the very start of the game Atlético proved themselves completely unable to handle the intensity of Barça’s play. After only eight minutes the score was already 3-0 with goals from Márquez, Eto’o and Messi. Maxi scored for the colchoneros shortly after, but further strikes by Eto’o and Gudjohnsen made the score a stunning 5-1 at the break. The game was obviously over and in the second half Barça reduced the pace of their play. Thierry Henry, who came on substituting Samuel Eto’o, rounded off the night with a beautiful goal.

Leo Messi put in a fantastic performance. He was superb on the ball and made great touches and dribbles, including a brilliant run from the center circle finished with a shot that went inches wide. Lionel scored a sly free-kick and also showed great defensive spirit, winning many balls off the Atlético defenders. The Argentine star was substituted halfway through the second period to a standing ovation from the Camp Nou crowd.

After this great victory, Barça will take a two-week break to give way to international matches. Leo Messi will join Argentina’s national side for two World Cup qualifying games against Uruguay and Chile.

Lionel Messi scored two goals in the last five minutes of play to lift FC Barcelona to a 2-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk tonight on the second date of the UEFA Champions League’s group phase.

Barça had a mediocre performance, particularly in the first half. Pep Guardiola’s men had most of the possession but their attacking play lacked speed and clarity. Shakhtar had already threatened early on with their counter attacks and eventually opened the score right before the end of the first period when Ilsinho took advantage of a defensive misunderstanding to beat Valdés’s goal.

Guardiola had decided to leave Leo Messi on the bench at the start of the match, but the need to turn the game around forced him to bring the Argentinian star on after 60 minutes. Messi’s presence on the pitch provided spark to Barça’s play, and the team started to create better scoring chances. The goal did not arrive until the 87th minute, when a mistake by Shakhtar’s keeper found Leo Messi on hand to pick up the ball and score the equalizer. Five minutes later a fine pass by Xavi found Messi clear on the left side of the box; Leo lifted the ball brilliantly over the keeper and into the net to get his second goal and give his side the three points.

Barcelona sit at the top of the Group C table with six points from two games. Coming up next for them is an exciting league clash with Atlético Madrid at the Camp Nou on Saturday.

FC Barcelona defeated city rivals RCD Espanyol 2-1 yesterday at the Estadi Olimpic on the fifth date of the Spanish first division league.

It was an exciting and eventful derby, marred by the incidents taking place in the stands during the second half, due to which the match had to be stopped for ten minutes. Barça dictated the play from the start and played good attacking football, but both their lack of proper finishing and defensive fragility resulted in the first half ending 1-0 to Espanyol thanks to a goal scored by Coro in his team’s only chance in the period.

Espanyol had been reduced to ten men (midfielder Nené was sent off) right before the break, which meant that Barça’s domination was made even stronger in the second half. Eto’o and Bojan were brought on to put all of the team’s available attacking assets on display. Henry picked up a through ball from Xavi and equalized after 76 minutes, and in the last minute of added time a penalty was given for a challenge on Samuel Eto’o. Leo Messi, who had been Barça’s most threatening player all through the game, converted the penalty kick to bag his fourth league goal and give Pep Guardiola’s side the three points.

Barcelona have now obtained four wins in a row and will next take on Shakhtar Donetsk on the Champions League’s second date on Wednesday.

FC Barcelona beat Real Betis (3-2) tonight at the Camp Nou to claim their second win in the 2008/09 Spanish league campaign.

What looked like a placid game for Pep Guardiola’s men in the first half, which finished 2-0 (both goals scored by Samuel Eto’o), turned into a tough affair in the second period after lapses in Barça’s defensive concentration allowed Betis to come back. Monzón scored from a free kick and José Mari made it 2-2 with 23 minutes to go; Gudjohnsen, Bojan and Busquets then came on as substitutes and helped Barcelona to push forward again; finally in the 80th minute a cross by Daniel Alves was fired into the net by Gudjohnsen, securing the three points for the home side.

Leo Messi was on the pitch for the whole game and played a role in Barça’s two first-half strikes; he provided Samuel Eto’o with the ball that led to the opening goal, and then created the Cameroonian’s second with a fine dribble and pass. After the break, Messi continued to participate in Barça’s best attacking moves, despite being repeatedly fouled by the Betis defenders.

After having grabbed three straight wins, Barça will try to extend their good streak of results in the city derby against Espanyol to be played on the weekend.