It was a great night for both Leo Messi and Barcelona FC at the Camp Nou last night as the current league holders demolished Valencia by 5 goals to one. Barca, however, are still 10 points behind league leaders Real Madrid as they too had a field day at the Bernabéu against Real Sociedad where they won 4-0.

This means that Leo Messi takes his league goals tally to 27 for the season and 42 in all competitions which is quite a feat for the little Argentine.

Valencia’s Pablo Piatti put his team ahead before the Argentine responded with two goals in the space of five minutes.

Barcelona were in control of the match but some great goal keeping from Valencia’s Diego Alves, as well as some poor finishing, prevented them from giving Valencia a real spanking earlier on.

The Argentine got his hat-trick with 15 minutes to go on the clock after running clear of the defense and chipping the ball over a hapless Diego Alves.

Xavi Hernandez, who came on as substitute, lobbed the ball in for the fifth in the last moments of the game.

It was a great night at the Camp Nou and the crowd really got their money’s worth with little Messi, the world’s most gifted player, truly on song.

Two goals from Alexis Sánchez and one from little Leo Messi put Barcelona firmly in the driving seat for their showdown with Bayer Leverkusen at the Camp Nou for the second leg of the Champions League last 16 tie.

Barca dominated much of the game with their familiar style of play but to be fair to Leverkusen they were really “up for it” and quite dangerous at times. Thanks to an in-form Víctor Valdés the scoreline could have been even.

Messi produced a stellar performance last night unlike the his performance at Osasuna on Saturday where he was obviously not himself.

Barcelona had never ceded the majority of possession in their previous 44 Champions League games under Pep Guardiola and it became quickly apparent that particular statistic would not be in jeopardy in Germany. While Barca were as accomplished as ever with the ball at their feet, Leverkusen looked hesitant and unconvincing in front of their home supporters.

The consequence was that the Bundesliga side spent much of the first half chasing the ball and were unable to seriously trouble Victor Valdes in the away goal. Indeed, as Barca monopolised possession and restricted Leverkusen to only sporadic snatches of opportunity, it became apparent how they were able to restrict their opponents to just seven shots on target during the duration of the group stage. Original here.

This was the Barca we all know and they proved that they can cut it even being under tremendous pressure from recent criticism for their away from home performances.Baye Leverkusen now have to come to the Camp Nou knowing that the possibility of going through to the quarter finals is pretty remote as recent signing from Tottenham Vedran Corluka pointed out on German TV after the game.

Okay it was cold, freezing in fact and not many people like to watch football in these conditions let alone play the game! This was the reality last night and a shocked Osasuna managed to run away with three valuable points by trouncing Barcelona 3-2 in Pamplona. As of late Barcelona doesn’t have a good away record with just four wins in eleven away games. Thus a deathly blow was dealt to the current champions league title hopes and have left it hanging by a thread.

With bitter rivals Real Madrid sitting pretty at the top with a seven point lead, they will surely capitalize on Barca’s failure last night to secure another three points when they play Levante today (Sunday) to make it ten points clear and increase their cushion.

Barca rested a number of key midfielders and were made to pay that price on a freezing night in Pamplona, with Osasuna opening up a two-goal lead by half time with two goals from Dejan Lekic. Maybe they were thinking about their midweek Champions league match against Bayer Leverkusen.

After the break, Barcelona started to play with their familiar style and Alexis scored to give Barca some hope. With Alexis goal it was it 2-1. However they were unable to hold back Osasuna who promptly stuck a third in and left Barca trailing 3-1.Later on young Cristian Tello scored a nice goal to make it 3-2 and cut the deficit.

Barca thought they had levelled late on when Sánchez scored a scrappy goal, only to be denied by the offside flag. If truth be told a draw would have been insufficient in any case as the league title looks to be heading back to Madrid and some Cibeles celebrations for the first time since 2008.

To top it off Cesc then wasted a gift of a chance late into injury time when he headed straight at Fernandez following a cheeky lob from little Messi. The chance of a point evaporated, as in all likelihood did Barcelona’s chances of retaining the title.

An awesome performance from Cesc Fabregás ensured a 2-0 win from Barcelona over Valencia last night at the Nou Camp in their Spanish Cup second leg clash and a thoroughly deserved place in the final.

The former Gunner captain, who got his dream move back to the club where he started as a youngster last summer, scored one and set up Xavi Hernandez for the second to round off a stellar performance by Barca.

Barcelona, who were beaten in last year’s final by Real Madrid, will now play Athletic Bilbao in the final after they spanked third division Mirandes 6-2, 8-3 on aggregate, on Tuesday evening in Bilbao.

Cesc got on the scoreboard first in typical Fabregás fashion in the 16th minute, when Argentine Lionel Messi found him with a sweet pass.Cesc made no hesitation and from a tight angle lobbed ‘keeper Diego Alves to go one up.

Valencia carried on regardless and while they did give Barca some problems, it was two good saves from keeper Alves that kept them in the match.

However, their hopes quickly disappeared with just nine minutes remaining on the clock when Alexis picked out Fabregás in the middle of the penalty area, but realized that Xavi was in a better scoring position than himself.

Fabregas then produced the faintest of touches to pass it across to Xavi, who promptly blasted it into the far corner and out of the reach of Alves.

Barca beat Real Sociedad last night on a cold evening at the Camp Nou to stay seven points behind the La Liga leaders Real Madrid. Goals came from young Cristian Tello and Leo Messi and Real Sociedad’s goal came from Carlos Vela.. The merengues also won their match by beating Getafe 1-0 with a goal from in-form Sergio Ramos.

The game kicked off in freezing temperatures and burst into life on four minutes when first Messi was denied by Sociedad keeper Claudio Bravo, before Victor Valdes blocked from Diego Ifran at the other end.

Four minutes later and Barca were ahead when Tello beat the advancing Bravo to convert a slide rule pass from Messi.

Messi was the provider again on 26 minutes when it was Fabregas who shot just high and Sociedad were struggling to make any headway against the quick passing Barca.

Next it was Jonathan Dos Santos, starting his first league game of the season, who tried from long range and forced Bravo into a save.

On the stroke of half-time Dani Alves shot wide from close range and Messi had a shot blocked by Bravo seven minutes into the second-half.

Messi again was close to adding the second on 63 minutes when he rounded Bravo only for centre-half Inigo Martinez to block his goal bound effort, but he was to finally hit the target on 72 minutes.

The little Argentinian was quick to latch onto Dani Alves’ chipped pass and beat Bravo with a flick of the left foot to make sure he did not complete four consecutive games without a goal.

Vela quickly grabbed one back for the visitors, cooly finishing an Antoine Griezmann pass, and the lead was back to the single goal it had been for nearly all the game.

Barca lost Sergi Busquets to what seemed to be a nasty knee injury in the closing stages but held on for the all important three points.Read more here.

So, Barca pass the test on an icy evening to keep the pressure on Real Madrid and limit the damage the merengue side do. Something to look forward to this week is the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi final against an in-form Valencia side who want to win at the Camp Nou and earn a place in the final.

Barcelona salvaged a draw at Mestalla with a great header by Barca captain Carles Puyol.

Barca Central defender Carles Puyol saw the Spanish champions come from behind to draw 1-1 with Valencia in their Copa del Rey semi-final first leg match on Wednesday at the Mestalla stadium.

And Barca could have sown it up in the second-half on 55 minutes with a penalty from Leo Messi but was well saved by Diego Alves.

Valencia, who have won La Copa del Rey seven times, had taken a well deserved lead in the 27th minute thanks to Brazilian forward Jonas’s strike from just inside the penalty area.

Barcelona though, were back on level terms eight minutes later as captain Carles Puyol leapt like an NBA All-Star at the back post to head into the net and give Barca an invaluable away goal for next week’s second leg at the Camp Nou.

It was a valuable win for the Catalans as coach Josep Guardiola had to do without five of his first choice players due to injury including Pedro and Iniesta.

The other Copa del Rey semi-final had seen Athletic Bilbao take a 2-1 advantage into next week’s second leg after beating third division Mirandes away with two goals coming from Fernando Llorente.

It was certainly a tough game last night at the Madrigal stadium where Barca played Villareal. Molina’s men brought the game to Barca and played their hearts out. Both teams had missed chances and Villareal had a goal disallowed for off-side. Barca were perhaps a bit lax in finishing and Cesc of all people squandered a few good chances to put the Blaugrana’s firmly in the lead.This is another setback for Barca after beating Real Madrid in La Copa del Rey the other day.

They needed to capitalize on their win over the merengues and they were left stunned by the result.Leo Messi was his usual busy self but also squandered a few chances, the first being a cheeky little lift over the keeper which somehow went just wide of the net.It seemed more of a Premier league match than a La Liga match as it was furious end to end stuff. Pep was getting anxious and both teams saw decisions going the wrong way. Villareal had a clear penalty and one tackle that probably deserved a red and not a yellow by a Villareal player was not deemed so, much to the dismay of the Barca coach.

So, with Barca now trailing by seven points in the Spanish league behind leaders Real Madrid who beat Zaragoza by a comfortable 3-1, time is running out for Pep to play catch-up. With Andrés Iniesta out for at least 3 weeks for injuring himself in the clash last Wednesday in La Copa del Rey, Guardiola has to come up with a plan B.

Pep said after the game:

“Being five [points behind] is better than seven,” he added. “We have been too attentive to the things they do well, we have lacked luck when putting the ball in the net but my assessment is that I am satisfied, especially after last week’s work.”

The semi-final clash will see them meet up with Valencia, a team they drew with in September. If they manage to beat them, they may have to face  Basque side Athletic Bilbao who Barca drew with in November.

Unbelievable game of football last night at the Camp Nou. Real Madrid actually stepped up to the plate and played some very good football. Real Madrid played a very tidy first half of football where they could have scored four or five times but it was Barcelona who ended up 2-0 in front with goals from Pedro and Dani Alves.

Both teams played exciting football but Madrid had the edge  over Barcelona for most of the game. Madrid were attacking and creating chances and with Manuel Pinto in goal things weren’t looking too good for Barcelona as Madrid were going to score without a shadow of a doubt.

The game ended up 2-2 but Barcelona goes through to the semis on goal difference. It was a cracking game of football.

In the first half Cristiano Ronaldo had a few chances but squandered them and Ozil, the German maestro popped up with an unbelievable shot the rocked pinto’s crossbar – how that never went in and made goal of the season I’ll never know! At half time and Madrid one nil down all looked ok until Alves scored a beauty in the 47th minute. It looked like it would be another cakewalk for Pep’s Barcelona but Mourinho’s Madrid had other ideas. Instead of lying down and playing dead as per usual, madrid stepped up to the mark and brought the play to Barca. Cristiano scored in the 67th minute and Benzema added a second in the 71st.

Real Madrid had finally got the bit between their teeth and started to play. Barcelona looked scared and were committing defensive mistakes – quite unlike Barca.It was a question of time now and Real just needed a goal to launch themselves into the semi finals of la Copa del Rey.

This was no doubt the best performance from madrid against Guardiola’s dream team of Barcelona. Real Madrid can go back home and hold their heads up high because they finally played the football all the “Madrileños” were dying to see.

“The players played a good game,” a subdued Real boss Jose Mourinho told a news conference full of curt answers. “Before the game we came here with the hope and the motivation of winning,” he said.

“If you want I will congratulate Barcelona for the win last week. I am happy to do that as they deserved to win.”

Barcelona’s win however came at a price with Andrés Iniesta limping off in the 29th minute with a torn muscle and bullet man Alexis Sánchez was substituted 11 minutes from full-time with a shoulder injury and is expected to miss between one to two weeks.

The game at the Nou Camp finished 2-2 with Guardiola’s Barcelona going through 4-3 on aggregate.

It wasn’t Malaga’s day and Barcelona made light work of Pellegrini’s team as they trounced Málaga 1-4. Messi chalks up another hat-trick and alexis gets on the score sheet, too!  This could be the perfect pre-Copa del Rey match for Barcelona as they meet Real Madrid on Wednesday for the second leg of their quarter final match.

Real Madrid now have to face Athletic Bilbao in a few hours time knowing that Barcelona have cut their lead to 2 points. Will Real Madrid carry on their run of wins and face Barcelona on Wednesday with some pride or will Athletic put a spanner in the works at the Bernabéu tonight?

Malaga’s Rondón scored in the closing minutes of the game but it will serve as a mere consolation goal for the “Malagueños”. Puyol, Xavi and Cesc were all rested ahead of Wednesday’s big game as Guardiola wants a fresh team to face the “Merengues”.

Malaga almost restored a little pride with a late surge during which Rondon and fellow substitute Seba Fernandez came close to further reducing the defecit, but Messi too was twice denied at the death by Wilfredo Caballero in goal.

So with Real Madrid having it all to do tonight against the “lions” from Bilbao who are quite “in form” at the moment the Spanish league looks anyones game as Barcelona have temporarily reduced the deficit to 2 points. Of course, if Madrid win there’ll still be a 5 point gap to close but with Barcelona producing the goods like they have done tonight I wouldn’t bet against them winning the title again!

Barcelona won 1-2 at the Santiago Bernabéu last night and paved their way to a deserved semi final pass for this year’s Copa del Rey. The game started in typical “clasico” fashion with either team showing a full deck until Cristiano Ronaldo put the first goal past a hapless Pinto who is Guardiola’s keeper of choice for the Copa del Rey competition. That was it for half time but the second half saw Barcelona step into their stride more with a goal from captain Carles Puyol which stunned the “Merengues”. Later, Eric Abidal got on the score sheet with another goal and made it 1-2 in Barca’s favour.

Cristiano Ronaldo gave the defending champions the lead after 11 minutes, but second-half goals from Carles Puyol and Eric Abidal mean Barca will feel confident of avenging their defeat to Real in last season’s final when they play the second leg at the Camp Nou next week.

It was the third time Barca had beaten Real already this season, following victory in the second leg of the season-opening Super Copa and then a 3-1 win at the Bernabeu in their first league clash of the campaign back in November.

As is now customary in El Clasico, Real manager Jose Mourinho picked Pepe in midfield, and the Portugal defender revelled in the latest instalment of his ongoing battle with Barca’s Sergio Busquets to be crowned this grand old fixture’s most irksome agitator.

Mourinho also started Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain together for only the fourth time in their Real careers as he set his side up to hit Barca on the break.

Ronaldo has come in for some criticism from Real fans in recent weeks, despite him scoring 21 goals in La Liga so far this season to help the club go five points clear at the top of the league.

The world’s most expensive player has also not fared well against Barca, scoring just three times in 13 previous matches against them in his career.

In summary of last night’s match, Barcelona are well placed to reach the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey after trouncing Real Madrid 2-1 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final tie. Next stop is the Camp Nou next week. Can Real Madrid turn it around and see off old rivals Barcelona or will it be just another stroll in the park for Barca to book their semi final ticket? We will see!