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Tag: Lionel Messi

  • FC Barcelona – Cesc Fabregas Finding His Place

    Contrary to popular belief, Cesc Fabregas played quite a lot for Barcelona last season. He featured in 28 league matches and 48 all together, scoring 15 goals and adding 20 assists. Not bad for a player who always feels left out due to the presence of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.

  • Messi vs Ronaldo – A Rivalry That Keeps Growing

    One of the noticeable things to say about the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry, is that it hardly ever appears above the surface. The two best players in the world, playing for two teams (Barcelona and Real Madrid) who are part of the greatest football rivalry, but we hardly ever see it materialize.

  • FC Barcelona – When Lionel Messi Has a Bad Day

    For the first time this season, Lionel Messi didn’t score. Barcelona managed to make it without his goals, backed by a stunning long range shot by Adriano to give them the 1-0 lead over Valencia, but for once, the best player in the world didn’t even have a decent match.

  • Andres Iniesta, European Footballer of the Year, Not Messi or Ronaldo

    For the first time since 2007, someone not called Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi wins the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, what was once the Ballon d’Or, won by Andres Iniesta of Barcelona for the 2011-2012 season.

  • FC Barcelona – Finding Ways to Help Andres Iniesta & Lionel Messi

    Barcelona lost the Supercopa after three consecutive seasons, just like they lost their league title to Real Madrid last year. Changing of the guards? Probably not – keeping it close with 10 men at the Santiago Bernabeu, putting themselves with a chance to win in the closing minutes thanks to Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta means that one bad half hour doesn’t mean it’s all bad.

  • Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi Can’t Stop Scoring in Clasico (Real Madrid vs Barcelona)

    It may only be the Supercopa, but it was a first for Real Madrid since 2008, taking full advantage of the Barcelona defensive problems with early goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo. Lionel Messi got one back for Barcelona with a beautiful free kick, but with 10 men, the job of coming back from 2-1 was too much, losing the two legs on away goals.

  • Supercopa 2012 – Real Madrid vs Barcelona Predictions

    The second Clasico of the season is still not the actual thing, being a Spanish Super Cup match and all, but with Real Madrid opening in somewhat of a disappointing fashion, Barcelona visiting the capital in hope of retaining the Supercopa after a 3-2 win in the first leg has a bit more significance than it should if the season would have started out properly for the champions.

  • FC Barcelona – Looking for the Formula to Help Lionel Messi

    If anyone was surprised that Barcelona struggled to get their regular dominant possession game to work yesterday in Osasuna, he probably didn’t watch the same match last season when the hosts grabbed a quick 2-0 lead that lasted till the end. It wasn’t much different in Tito Vilanova’s first away match, but this time Victor Valdes made enough stops, and Lionel Messi was there once again with his golden touch.

  • Lionel Messi Saves Barca With Two Goals (Osasuna vs Barcelona)

    Two matches, four goals. Lionel Messi wasn’t all that great once again; Barcelona were pretty bad for 70 minutes, struggling once again against Osasuna at the very difficult Estadio El Sadar, but their early goal wasn’t enough against Barca who improved during the second half and got a bit of help from the referee.

  • FC Barcelona – Tito Vilanova Can’t Rely on Lionel Messi as his Only Deep Threat

    The Clasico balance of power shifted, just a little bit, towards Barcelona after their 3-2 win in the first leg of the Spanish Supercopa, although the difficulty to score goals during their best moments of the match is a warning sign to Tito Vilanova that last season’s problems are still with his players.