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.

It's difficult to understand how Barça can play so well at home and so badly on their travels, but tonight's performance at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez was very poor. Barça were in the game for 27 minutes until Getafe's first goal but after this they were nowhere to be seen.

Barça began the game with the same eleven that had played so well against Rangers but there were early signs that it would not be so easy tonight. The first shot of the game came after nine minutes when Getafe's Pablo shot over from 25 yards. Barça replied with a neat back heel from Messi to Xavi whose cross was just too high for Henry.

Getafe continued to push forward with Uche causing all sorts of problems. First he had an effort blocked by Iniesta and then he dribbled past Abidal and Milito before getting in a shot ...

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...

Thierry Henry scored his first league goal at Camp Nou to put Barça on the road to a 2-0 win over Almeria. Leo Messi who was kept on the substitutes bench, came on with fifteen minutes to go and converted a controversial penalty after Giovani dos Santos went down in the penalty area.

Gianluca Zambrotta and Toure Yaya both returned to the starting line-up after recovering from injury, but Frank Rijkaard decided to leave Messi on the bench as a precaution, Giovani took his place on the right wing and was involved in both goals.

The game started slowly and there wasn't a shot until Toure tried a long shot after 12 minutes which was blocked by the defence. Ronaldinho who had a poor game tried to curl one in after 15 minutes but it was an easy save for Cobeño. Almeria then had two shots ...

Barça had to settle for a 0-0 draw this evening as they were unable to break through a packed Rangers defence. Barça had a great deal of possession but couldn't take any of the few chances they created. Frank Rijkaard made changes in defence, leaving out Oleguer and switching Puyol to right back with Thuram coming in to partner Milito in the middle. 

Rangers sat back and waited for Barça from the beginning and gave no room to Thierry Henry or Leo Messi who both had frustrating evenings. Ronaldinho, back in the team after missing the defeat against Villarreal, saw a lot of the ball but only managed to shoot from free kicks of which only one came close.

Rangers perhaps showed Barça too much respect at the beginning and they did not pressurize the Barça defence in the first ten minutes as ...

A poor performance from Barça was duly punished by a far superior Villarreal at El Madrigal this evening. A goal from Cazorla after just two minutes was just the beginning of a frustrating night for Barça. The only good thing in the 90 minutes was a goal from Bojan Krkic who at 17 years and 53 days becomes the youngest player ever to score a league goal for Barça.

Barça were hit by two early goals. Cazorla's came after a neat one-two with Guille Franco, and then after 12 minutes Abidal brought down Pires in the area and Senna converted the penalty. Barça pulled a goal back after 24 minutes when a fine pass from Messi found Bojan whose shot from just inside the area went in off the post.

Villarreal restored their two-goal lead ten minutes later through another penalty. Pires dribbled past P...

Football Club Barcelona sealed their sixth win in a row with a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid this afternoon with goals from Deco, Messi and Xavi. Ronaldinho started a game at Camp Nou for the first time since his injury and the crowd showed their support for the Brazilan when he was substituted ten minutes from the end.

Atletico had won their last five games and started the game well, causing problems down both flanks. After nine minutes they created the first chance when left back Pernia broke into the area only for Leo Messi to intercept with a good tackle befoe Pernia could shoot.

Barça took the lead after fifteen minutes. Deco played a long ball towards the corner flag for Messi to chase, the Argentinian kept the ball in, cut inside one defender and sent in a low cross which Abbiati, substi...

Goals from Carles Puyol and Leo Messi gave Barça a deserved victory over a hard working Stuttgart team who threatened to cause an upset. Barça paid a price for the victory with injuries to Rafa Marquez and Puyol which left Barça playing with Thuram and Abidal as centre backs for the last half an hour.

 Ronaldinho returned to the starting line up which meant Andres Iniesta moved back to the defensive midfield role occupied until his injury by Toure Yaya. Gabi Milito failed a fitness test so Barça began with Rafa Marquez and Thuram in the centre of the defence while Rijkaard preferred to keep Puyol on the bench. An injury to the right calf of Rafa Marquez after just six minutes gave Rijkaard no choice but to send on Puyol. Unfortunately Puyol could not complete the game as he also suffered...