A disputed penalty converted by Zlatan Ibrahimovic was enough to give Barça a 1-0 victory over local rivals Espanyol in a game that began well but became more heated and scrappy as the game went on. Barça played a good first half and might have gone in at the break with a bigger margin but as Espanyol pressured forward in the second half we saw some nervous moments at the back which left us relieved at the final whistle.

Before the game Leo Messi presented the Ballon d'Or to the crowd but tonight we missed the skills of the little Argentinian who was replaced on the right wing by Pedro. the game started at tremendous speed with chances at both ends in the first 80 seconds. Espanyol had the first chanceafter...

Barça face Espanyol tomorrow (kick off 8pm) for our last league match of 2009 before jetting off for the Fifa Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. With Real Madrid playing away to Valencia it could be a good occasion to increase the five-point lead we currently hold over our rival at the top of La Liga. However, we go into tomorrow's local derby without Ballon d'Or winner Leo Messi, who is also doubtful for Wednesday's semi-final, and we should not forget that Espanyol have given us some horrible memories in recent seasons. In 2006/2007 a late goal from Raul Tamudo robbed us of the league title, while last season two goals from Ivan de la Peña gave Espanyol a 1-2 at Camp Nou in a game that saw Eric Abidal injured and Seydou...

Barça came from behind to win tonight in Kiev to assure top place in Group F of the Champions League which means we will play the return match of the last 16 at home against one of the following teams: Olympique Lyon, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Olympiakos, CSKA Moscow, Porto or Stuttgart. Xavi Hernandez and Leo Messi scored Barça's goals after Milevskiy had put Dynamo ahead but the main worry at the end of the game was an injury to Leo Messi in the last minute of the game which saw him limping off. 

The game could not have got off to a worse start, after we lost the ball in midfield Yarmolenko attacked down the left and Gerard Piqué was forced to come across and commit a foul in a dangerous position....

Many fans may feel the hard work has all been done after beating Inter Milan two weeks ago. But our visit to the Valeriy Lobanovskiy stadium has rightly been described by Txiki Beguiristain as "our most important game of the season". It is true that we will still qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League even if we lose 1-0 or 3-1 but if we go out to settle for that we could be in trouble. Dynamo have only lost twice in their last 33 home matches, and, despite losing, they showed a lot of talent in their visit to Camp Nou in September (Barça 2 Dynamo Kiev 0).

According to the Catalan press, coach Valeri Gazzaev could change his normal 4-3-3 formation...

Sorry if this is a bit late, I had a day out yesterday and this morning my computer decided it didn't want to work. Anyway, it's all sorted now and I just had to put this photo up. Messi received the Ballon d'Or yestersday and dedicated the award to his team mates. Messi is the first player produced by La Masia to win the award and also the first Argentinian - Diego Maradona never won it because until 1995 the award was only for European players.

Congratulations Leo!

Two goals from Ballon d'Or winner Leo Messi and a late goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic earned Barça a 1-3 over Deportivo de La Coruña in Riazor tonight. We played an excellent first half but were stunned by a Depor equalizer before half time when Victor Valdés failed to judge an awkward bounce from Adrian's header. The second half was more even and we had to wait for the goals but it was a deserved victory which is only our fourth win in La Coruña in 18 seasons. 

Right from the beginning the intensity of Barça's game was obvious and we looked much more concentrated than in the win over Xerez on Wednesday night. Xavi had the first attemt with a thirty yard shot that was easily gathered by...

Gerard Piqué and Sergio Busquets return to the squad for tomorrow night's game in Riazor against Deportivo de La Coruña (kick off 10pm), while there is no place on Pep Guardiola's list for Rafa Marquez, Jeffren Suarez and Johnathan dos Santos. There are bound to be some changes to the team that won unimpressively in Jerez and we can expect to see a return to the starting XI for Leo Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Carles Puyol, Piqué and Eric Abidal.

Deportivo will be without Lassad Nouioui, injured in last week's 0-1 win at Racing, and first choice striker Riki who pulled a muscle in training today. Rodolfo Bodipo could return in attack after recovering from a stomach problem or coach Miguel Angel Lotina could decide to play Adrian...

Barça go five points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga after a far from convincing 0-2 win at Xerez. Second half goals from Thierry Henry and substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic were enough to seal us the points tonight but it was a scrappy game that wasn't helped by the poor condition of the pitch. Pep Guardiola made several changes to the team with Marquez, Chygrynskiy, Maxwell, Toure, Pedro and Bojan coming into the team but with so many changes we struggled to find our rhythm.

The first half was especially poor as we failed to impose our style and suffered from too many wayward passes. Xerez began the better side and had two...

Barça travel to Andalucia tomorrow to play Xerez in a match that has been brought forward from the 20th December due to Barça playing in the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi. Xerez are in their first season in the top flight and the two clubs have never met in an official match before - which explains why I have no photo of a previous match - but we did win a friendly match 3-6 in Jerez in 1952. Pep Guardiola has named a 19-man squad for the game but there is no place yet for Gabi Milito while Gerard piqué has been rested and Sergio Busquets is suspended for his sending off in Sunday's 1-0 win over Real Madrid.

Xerez are struggling in their first season and are currently bottom of the table with seven points. They have only managed one victory, a 2-1 win over...

We are going to have our work cut out to retain the Copa del Rey this season after today's draw paired us with Sevilla in the last 16. The first game will be at Camp Nou on January 6th with the return in Seville a week later. The draw also made the pairings for the quarter finals and the semis, if we get past Sevilla we will play either Valencia or Deportivo with the first leg being away, and if we make it through we will play either Malaga, Getafe, Rayo Vallecano or Mallorca in the semi-final with the first game at Camp Nou. Whatever way you look at it, this could not be a tougher draw.

Last 16 (6 and 13 Jan):

1. Hércules - Osasuna
2. Celta  - Villarreal
3. Barcelona - Sevilla
4....