Barcelona - NouCamp Faithful

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Barcelona 6 - 0 Granada : Barcelona boss Luis Enrique heaps praise on Lionel Messi

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique once more hailed his side's star man Lionel Messi after the Argentine's double in Saturday's 6-0 La Liga stroll past Granada brought him past 400 career goals.

Neymar also scored a hat trick as Barca returned to the top of the early La Liga table, with Ivan Rakitic also getting on the scoresheet as Granada's initially solid resistance quickly crumbled at the Camp Nou.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)[/QUOTE]

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Paris St Germain 3 - 2 Barcelona : Paris Saint-Germain defeat Barcelona despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic absence

Paris St Germain shrugged off the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to inflict a first defeat on Barcelona under their new coach Luis Enrique with a thrilling 3-2 victory at the Parc des Princes.

Injury denied Ibrahimovic the chance to face his former club but PSG proved they are no one-man team as goals from David Luiz, Marco Verratti and Blaise Matuidi helped them take the spoils in Paris.

Barca responded with goals from their own star strikers Lionel Messi and Neymar but could not find an equaliser, with rising star Munir El Haddadi coming closest with an 85th-minute effort that hit the post.

The result sees PSG replace Barca at the top of Champions League Group F on four points, one more than the Catalan side.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Rayo Vallecano 0 - 2 Barcelona : Lionel Messi and Neymar on target as Barcelona ease past Rayo Vallecano

Barcelona remain at the top of the Primera Division table following a comfortable yet unremarkable 2-0 win at Rayo Vallecano, who had two men sent off in the second half.

The Madrid side made a promising start to the game but Lionel Messi got the visitors off the mark after 34 minutes and a moment later Neymar doubled the advantage to kill off Rayo's hopes.

The hosts were reduced to 10 men on the hour mark when Jorge Morcillo received a second booking, and Rayo forward Javier Aquino suffered the same fate in injury time, but they conceded no further goals.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 3 - 0 Eibar : Messi to the rescue

Lionel Messi marked the 10-year anniversary of his Barcelona debut by scoring his 250th league goal and providing an assist to see off Eibar 3-0 and keep the Catalans top of the Primera Division ahead of next week's clasico.

The Basque minnows produced a dogged performance at the Nou Camp but their resistance tumbled just before the hour mark when Messi assisted Xavi Hernandez.

Neymar then volleyed in a second and Messi rounded off the scoring to take him to just one strike away from equalling former Athletic Bilbao striker Telmo Zarra's record of 251 Primera Division goals.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 3 - 1 Ajax Amsterdam : Lionel Messi draws level with Ronaldo as Barcelona cruise past Ajax

Lionel Messi drew level with fierce rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the race to become the Champions League's all-time top goalscorer as Barcelona warmed up for El Clasico with a 3-1 victory over Ajax.

Both Messi and Real Madrid's Ronaldo have now scored 69 goals in the competition after the Argentinian followed up Neymar's first-half opener at the Nou Camp on Tuesday night.

He was later withdrawn with a view to keeping him fresh for Saturday's showdown at the Santiago Bernabeu and remains, along with Ronaldo, two goals shy of former Real striker Raul's record tally.

Ajax steadily gained a foothold as the second half progressed but, shortly after Anwar El Ghazi halved the deficit, Sandro Ramirez rubber-stamped the result with a stoppage-time strike.

The win sees Barca reach six points and retain second place in Group F behind Paris St Germain, who beat APOEL in Cyprus.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

[Johnbass]

Real Madrid vs Barcelona FTW!!!
Fark BPL tonight...

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Real Madrid 3 - 1 Barcelona : Real Madrid spoil Luis Suarez debut as Barcelona fall to defeat

Real Madrid overcame Neymar's early opening goal to see off arch rivals Barcelona 3-1 at the Bernabeu as Luis Suarez made his long-awaited debut for Barca.

A Cristiano Ronaldo penalty levelled things up before the break and then a header from Pepe and Karim Benzema's counterattack goal flattened Luis Enrique's side, who suffered their first defeat of the season and also conceded for the first time in 776 minutes.

In the build up to the first El Clasico of the season the focus was on Suarez and Lionel Messi, who was hoping to become the Primera Division's all-time top scorer, but it was Los Blancos that took centre stage to cut the deficit behind the Catalans to a single point.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 0 - 1 Celta Vigo : Barcelona fall to second successive defeat as Celta Vigo seal win

Luis Suarez's Nou Camp debut turned into a Halloween nightmare for Barcelona as they were beaten 1-0 by coach Luis Enrique's former side Celta Vigo.

The Catalan giants had nine shots on target and hit the woodwork three times, but the game was decided by Joaquin Larrivey's strike in the 55th minute - dealing Barca a first home defeat since January.

The result was a second straight loss in La Liga for Luis Enrique's side following last weekend's Clasico reverse at the Bernabeu, and meant Barca also surrendered top spot to their arch rivals following Real Madrid's 4-0 win at Granada earlier on Saturday.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)[/QUOTE]

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Ajax Amsterdam 0 - 2 Barcelona : Lionel Messi equals goal record as Barcelona beat Ajax

Lionel Messi equalled Raul's record of 71 Champions League goals with a brace to earn Barcelona a 2-0 win over Ajax in Group F.

Holland goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen's howler gifted the opener to the Argentina star, who poked home his second in the 76th minute to move level with the record and one ahead of Raul's successor in the Real Madrid number seven shirt, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The win confirmed Barca's qualification for the last 16 along with Paris St Germain, who beat APOEL in France, with two games to spare.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Almeria 1 - 2 Barcelona : Alba seals Barcelona comeback as Suarez stars against Almeria

Luis Suarez came off the bench to rescue Barcelona from another disastrous defeat, providing both assists as the Catalans came from behind to win 2-1 at Almeria.

Former Espanyol striker Thievy Bifouma had given the hosts the lead before half-time against a Barca team that started without mainstays Neymar, Suarez, Gerard Pique, Dani Alves and Xavi Hernandez.

But Luis Enrique made decisive changes at the break in an attempt to avert a third straight league defeat, bringing on Neymar, Suarez, and later Xavi.

The Brazilian forward grabbed the equaliser thanks to a pass from Suarez and then the Uruguayan also played in Jordi Alba for the winning goal in the 82nd minute.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 5 - 1 Sevilla : Lionel Messi makes history with hat trick

Lionel Messi scored his first hat trick of the season and made history as he fired Barcelona to a resounding 5-1 win at home to Sevilla.

The Argentine's treble took him past former Athletic Bilbao forward Telmo Zarra's mark of 251 goals and on to 253. They have come in just 289 games.

The 27-year-old opened the scoring with a sensational free-kick to draw level with Zarra, but his strike was cancelled out by Jordi Alba's own goal at the start of the second half.

Neymar headed Barca back in front moments later and Ivan Rakitic extended Barca's lead before Messi broke the scoring record after an awesome combination with Neymar and then struck again to complete his treble.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)[/QUOTE]

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APOEL Nicosia 0 - 4 Barcelona : Lionel Messi makes history as Barcelona cruise to APOEL victory

Lionel Messi became the record Champions League goalscorer and Luis Suarez opened his account for Barcelona as the Catalan giants cruised to a 4-0 win over APOEL Nicosia.

Suarez put Barca ahead with his first goal for the club since his 64 million-pound summer move from Liverpool before Messi took centre-stage with a hat trick -- all with his less-favoured right foot.

The first of those saw him break former Real Madrid striker Raul's tally of 71 to make the Argentina superstar the leading scorer in the competition's history.

As well as being a memorable night for Messi and Suarez, the victory keeps Barcelona in with a chance of pipping Paris St Germain to top spot in Group F.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Valencia 0 - 1 Barcelona : Sergio Busquets nets late winner as Barcelona beat Valencia

Sergio Busquets netted a last-gasp winner as Barcelona's late pressure paid off in a 1-0 Primera Division victory over Valencia at the Mestalla, with the late goal proving too much too handle for one home supporter who threw a water bottle towards the players, hitting Lionel Messi on the head as he celebrated the winner.

Messi complained to the referee and was subsequently booked as he exited the pitch rubbing his head after what was a hard-fought win, which extended their winning streak to five matches.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Huesca 0 - 4 Barcelona : Ivan Rakitic, Andres Iniesta and Pedro boost Barcelona in Copa del Rey

1st Leg

There was good news all over the pitch for Barcelona on Wednesday night as manager Luis Enrique was able to rest key players yet still field a strong side that ran out 4-0 winners over third-tier Huesca in the last-32 of the Spanish Cup.

The dynamic of Barca's play was completely different from Sunday's 1-0 away win at Valencia (albeit against much weaker competition), when Enrique's team struggled to create chances.

On Wednesday, there were spectacular goals and strong performances from Ivan Rakitic, Andres Iniesta and Pedro Rodriguez -- all left out Sunday for different reasons -- as Barca dominated from the first minute.

Perhaps with points to prove, all three were excellent throughout and they showed they are ready to step up to a place in the starting XI for Sunday's derby with Espanyol, if Enrique sees fit.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 5 - 1 Espanyol : Lionel Messi hat trick sees Barcelona earn comeback win over Espanyol

Lionel Messi's hat trick sparked Barcelona into life as they came from behind to thrash Espanyol 5-1 in the Catalan derby on Sunday.

A day after Cristiano Ronaldo set a new Primera Division record for hat-tricks with 23, Messi grabbed one of his own to move up to 21 himself and secure local bragging rights for Barca in Catalonia.

Messi came to the rescue on the stroke of half-time to cancel out Sergio Garcia's opener for Espanyol, before adding his second five minutes later.

Gerard Pique made it three goals in eight minutes to put Barca firmly in control before Pedro added gloss to the scoreline and Messi turned it into a rout.

The win means that Barca, who also saw Real Madrid equal their record of 18 consecutive wins after their 3-0 triumph over Celta Vigo on Saturday, remain two points behind Los Blancos at the top of La Liga.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)