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...

Plenty of Rangers fans are already on the streets of Barcelona, mainly on the Ramblas and in Plaça Catalunya. I did see one guy looking lost on his own uptown on Diagonal, but he had plenty of time to find his mates. It never ceases to amaze me how the British fans that come here at this time of year behave as if it is the middle of summer. The funniest I remember was the Newcastle fans a few years ago who came in December when it was raining and only about 10ºC, they still walked around with their shirts off. Bravo to the chap in the picture, I hope his shoes have dried out.

Tomorrow night sees Champions League football again at Camp Nou with the visit of Rangers. Barça will be hoping to continue with their 100% home record this season. A win would almost guarantee a place in the last 16. However, Barça have a dreadful record against Scottish teams so anything could happen.

Rangers have only played Barça once at Camp Nou, in the Joan Gamper tournament of 1974, Barça won that game 4-1 (cheers Frank ;-)  ). For Rangers' other visit to Camp Nou see /blogs/FCBnews/posts/the-last-time-rangers-visited-camp-nou/.

Rangers are expected to play with similar tactics to those employed at Ibrox two weeks ago, so they will probably play a 4-5-1 formation. They will be without the suspended ...

Next Wednesday Barça face an important Champions League game with Rangers, but due to the demands of TV companies and lack of support from the Spanish Football Federation their preparation will be less than ideal.

First they were asked to play at Valladolid at 10pm on a Thursday evening, this being a few days after the clocks went back meant that it would seem like kicking off at 11pm and finishing the game just before 1am. This is no excuse for not winning as it was the same for the Valladolid players, but it is not an ideal situation with two games in the following six days.

Having played on Thursday Barça are forced to play their weekend fixture with Betis on Sunday. Spain's other Champions League teams, Real Madrid, Sevilla and Valencia all get to play on Saturday. Opponent...

One of the things I always enjoy about Barça playing British teams is the opportunity to compare the British and the Spanish press. It is interesting to see how the papers tend to write what they believe their readers want to read, rather than reporting impartially what they have seen.

A lot of the British press saw yesterday's match as a heroic performance from Rangers, and I feel I have to say I don't agree. Granted that Barça have the Messis and Ronaldinhos and on paper should win every game 5-0, but we all know that in football anything can happen. If Rangers are capable of winning 0-3 in Lyon and beating Celtic 3-0, surely they could have given Barça a run for their money in front of their own fans. Scottish football can't be so bad if their national team can beat France home and away, ...

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 ...

Tomorrow evening sees the resumption of the Champions League as Barça take on Rangers at the Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow. This match could be very important to see who finishes top of Group E as both teams are currently on six points. Ronaldinho is back in the squad for the game after missing Saturday's defeat at Villarreal, while Deco is out for five weeks after his thigh injury was confirmed.

Rangers go into the match on a high after beating arch rivals Celtic 3-0 on Saturday. Rangers have two Spanish players in their squad, ex-Osasuna defender Carlos Cuellar and Nacho Novo who was Saturday's hero scoring twice against Celtic. However, it is not certain that Novo will play as top scorer Kris Boyd may return to play alongside Daniel Cousin. Definitely missing will be the injured Jean-Claude Darchevill...

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...

Frank Rijkaard has said in a press conference this evening that he will wait until tomorrow before deciding if he will play Ronaldinho from the beginning against Stuttgart in the Champions League. He will also wait to see how Gabi Milito is after his injury against Levante.

 Ronaldinho and Rafa Marquez return to the squad after injuries while Toure Yaya is out for a month through injury. Rijkaard may well decide to leave Ronnie on the bench after the good performances in attack from Messi, Henry and Iniesta.

Stuttgart who were surprise winners of last season's Bundesliga are struggling to get going this season. They are currently in tenth position with just ten points from eight games, last Saturday they lost 2-1 to Hansa Rostock. Barça will have to watch out for Mario Gomez w...

The return of Leo Messi proved providential tonight for Barça who saw off a disappointing Lyon. An own goal from Clerc, one from Messi and then a  first goal from Thierry Henry in injury time gave Barça an important victory after all the criticism for the performance against Osasuna on Sunday. Barça were in control from the beginning. The first chance came after six minutes when Ronaldinho combined well with Eric Abidal down the left, Abidal put in a hard low cross and Thierry Henry was inches away from getting a touch. Shots followed from Toure, Deco and Ronaldinho without luck. In the seventeenth minute good work from Messi and Henry set up Ronaldinho with a good chance but instead of shooting Ronnie tried to run into the area only to be tackled as he was about to shoo...