Honours were shared tonight on Montjuic as Barça drew 1-1 with Espanyol in a thrilling derby which could have gone either way. Barça now find themselves four points behind Real Madrid but they will be heartened by a good performance away from home. They will surely win more away games if they continue to play like they did tonight.

For the second consecutive game Ronaldinho Gaucho started on the substitutes bench which meant another start in attack for Bojan Krkic while Eidur Gudjohnsen continued in midfield. The only change from the team that started in Lyon was the introduction of Rafa Marquez for Gianluca Zambrotta. Marquez played in central defence with Carles Puyol moving to right back. 

Barça took only six minutes to take the lead. Messi received the ball out by the touchline...

An early goal from Andres Iniesta and a second half penalty from Leo Messi were enough to earn Barça a draw in an intense encounter in Lyon. Ronaldinho was left on the bench for the first time in a game that mattered since joining Barça which meant a start for both Bojan Krkic and Eidur Gudjohnsen. The point means Barça have now definitely finished top of Group E thanks to Stuttgart beating Rangers in the group's other game tonight.

Barça began with a goal in their first attack. Xavi gave the ball to Messi who took the ball forward 20 metres, the Lyon defence were all watching Messi which gave Bojan room on the right, when Messi passed to Bojan the youngster delivered a superb low centre towards Iniesta who also found space running in from the left, Iniesta met the ball with a firm si...

I read somewhere this week that Barça hadn't scored a goal from a corner since a Rafa Marquez goal at Betis back in January. This was on my mind today as Barça struggled to penetrate the Recreativo defence, eleven corners went Barça's way in the first hour without creating any danger. Then in the 64th minute Xavi sent over Barça's twelfth corner of the game and it was met by a superb header from Gabi Milito that flew into the net to open the scoring.

As had been suggested Barça began without Ronaldinho who didn't even get a place on the bench. Gudjohnsen got the start he deserved for some good recent performances but unfortunately it was not going to be his day. Barça started slowly and didn't create anything until the 13th minute when Iniesta, playing on the left, cut inside to unleash a...

Xavi Hernandez and Thierry Henry both scored for their respective national teams tonight. Xavi scored the only goal as Spain beat Northern Ireland 1-0 to finish top of their group, Iniesta also played but Puyol was rested. Henry scored France's first goal in a 2-2 draw against Ukraine. There will be no mention here of what happened at Wembley, but I hope all the non-English readers of this page had a good laugh.
You can see Xavi's goal here.
And Henry's goal here.

Leo Messi's fantastic goal was not enough for ten man Argentina who went down 2-1 to Columbia in last night's World Cup qualifier. Carlos Tevez was sent off after just 24 minutes for a stupid off-the-ball kick on a Columbian defender. However, Argentina took the lead after 36 minutes thanks to a superb individual goal from Messi. Argentina could not hold on and second half goals from Ruben Dario Bustos and Dayro Moreno turned the game around for Columbia.
Click here to see Messi's goal

I have to admit I am always in two minds when Barça players represent their national teams; on one side I want them to do well because I love them all so much, etc, etc, but a part of me is secretly hoping they do badly so that they get knocked out of whatever tournament they are playing and then they can rest in the summer and be perfectly rested for the important business of playing for Barça. Would you want the woman you love to be happy with another man? It's a similar sort of dilemma.

Anyway, it was a successful night for the players if not for Barça's interests. Gianluca Zambrotta played in Italy's 1-2 win over Scotland, Italy have now qualified for the European Championship finals next summer and so have France as Scotland can now not catch them. So Abidal, Thuram and Henry will be ...

Barça cruised to an easy win against weak opposition tonight in the Spanish Cup. Goals from Thierry Henry, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Bojan Krkic now make the return leg at Camp Nou on January 2nd a foregone conclusion. Alcoyano lasted twenty-five minutes before Barça scored with their first decent move of the game.

Barça played with a front three of Giovani dos Santos, Henry and Iniesta, but Iniesta moved back to help in midfield and popped up all over the place. Gudjohnsen played in midfield with Xavi and Toure. However, at first the formation did not seem to be working, and Barça only created danger from a Marquez free kick. Albert Jorquera playing his first game in goal of the season made an early save  from a header from the edge of the area but after that he was pretty much untroubled.

Barça are as good as through to the last 16 of the Champions League after easily beating an unambitious Rangers 2-0 at Camp Nou tonight. Only a highly unlikely combination of results, including a Lyon victory over Barça by at least three goals, could prevent Barça getting through.

Barça got the early goal they had talked about after just six minutes. Henry passed to Ronaldinho who sent in a long cross from the left towards Leo Messi, the Argentinian headed the ball back across the goal and Thierry Henry slid in to try to stab the ball home, Henry didn't quite make contact but the ball hit the post and bounced back towards the Frenchman who was still sliding, the ball hit his forearm and ended up in the back of the net. Barça were fortunate that the Dutch referee missed the handball, but p...

Barça saw off a weak Betis team with a much improved performance. Ronaldinho silenced his critics with a fine game which he capped with two free kick goals in the second half. Thierry Henry who has also faced criticism, opened the scoring in the first half and also hit the post.

Barça's three Frenchmen, Henry, Eric Abidal and Lilian Thuram all returned to the team, as did Gianluca Zambrotta. The players they replaced were Marquez, Milito, Sylvinho and Bojan. The defenders hardly had any work in the game as Betis threatened very little and didn't have a shot on target until the 77th minute.

Barça dominated from the beginning and Messi, Henry and Ronaldinho caused the Betis defence endless problems. In the eleventh minute Ronnie passed to Iniesta who chested the ball back and the...

Barça could manage no better than a draw against relegation candidates Valladolid tonight at the José Zorrilla stadium. Barça continue with their unimpressive form away from Camp Nou and now find themselves four points behind leaders Real Madrid.

Bojan Krkic came into the team for the injured Thierry Henry and nearly won it for Barça in the second half but his shot hit the base of the post. Sylvinho came in for Abidal, and Carles Puyol moved to right back with Marquez alongside Milito in the middle.

There was very little action worthy of comment in the game. Valladolid created more chances and went ahead after 16 minutes, a move down the right ended with the ball arriving to Llorente whose initial effort hit Valdés but the ball bounced back off Llorente and Puyol and ended in t...