Barcelona- Valencia 5-1

BARCELONA - VALENCIA 5-1 (19.02.2012)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21vMWmQleO8

Barcelona-Arsenal 2011

Into the quarters with magic and drama (3-1)

Jordi Clos

On a magical evening, Barça outplayed Arsenal to make amends for the 2-1 defeat in the first leg. Leo Messi made it 1-0 before the break, and the Catalans clinched it in the second half through Xavi and Messi. Barça are back in the quarter finals.

Talent and pride have guided FC Barcelona into the quarter finals of the Champions League in a gripping encounter with Arsenal. There was no arguing who dominated the possession. It was Barça, while the Premiership side had clearly only come to defend the 2-1 lead from London. They succeeded until Messi broke the deadlock just before the break. What followed was an absolute thriller of a second half, where Arsenal managed to tie the game without having managed a single shot on target. In the end, Xavi and Messi responded by finding the target and securing Barça’s passage into the second round.

Barça on the attack

Things started well for Barça. They had Arsenal absolutely smothered and created constant pressure, with Busquets and Mascherano simply magnificent. All the football was in Arsenal’s half, and things looked even worse for them when in the 18th minute they were obliged to switch their injured keeper Szczesny for Almunia. But the English club managed to weather the storm with some very intense defending, although the home fans may have had a point when they screamed for a penalty on Messi.

Messi passes judgement

Despite Barça’s staggering dominance, they were missing that extra spark to convert it into goals. Adriano came closest when he hit the post after a zippy 36th minute run down the left, but five minutes into first half injury time, it looked like it would still be all-square at the break. But then Iniesta found Messi, and the Argentinian cheekily chipped the ball over Almunia and met the ball as it came down to make it 1-0.

Equaliser and Van Persie off

In the first half, Barcelona had looked the only side that wanted to win it, but Arsenal were now obliged to take more risks. It became a feast of end-to-end football, and then in the 53rd minute, the Gunners equalised when Busquets headed a corner into his own net. The Londoners hadn’t had a single shot on target, yet they were back level! But then came another unexpected twist, when Van Persie got himself sent off for shooting when offside, a second bookable offence, and from there on Barcelona had the game under their complete control.

Just rewards

It was disturbingly similar situation to the one we had against Inter a in the semi finals last year. But Arsenal are no Italians. Enjoying even more space than ever, it was only some last-ditch defending and excellent interventions by Almunia that kept the score level. The second goal finally came in the 69th minute when Iniesta, Villa and Xavi produced a brilliant combination play, and the latter completed the move with the kind of brilliance we have come to expect of him. This scoreline would have sent the game into extra time, but the Catalans didn’t want to wait, and Messi made it 3-1 by converting a clear penalty on Pedro. The Camp Nou could start celebrating.

Quality and sacrifice

Facing Barça’s passing machine and with one man less was proving too much for Arsenal, and they were visibly tired of being outnumbered and outclassed. But there were twenty minutes left to play and one goal was still all they needed to qualify. The Barça fans had their hearts in their mouths when Danish striker found himself through on goal in the 87th minute, but a match-saving tackle from Mascherano saved the day. Ultimately, the best side clearly won, and Barça also showed that they know how to battle for the right result. They are into the last eight and the Wembley dream is still very much alive.

Source : www.fcbarcelona.cat

www.uefa.com

EL CLASICO

Fourth 5-0 win over the eternal rival

Real Madrid CF's unbeaten opening to the Liga campaign came to a shuddering halt at Camp Nou as FC Barcelona crushed José Mourinho's men 5-0 in the season's first 'Clásico'.

Josep Guardiola's team never looked back after storming into a two-goal lead inside 18 minutes with strikes from Xavi Hernández and Pedro Rodríguez. David Villa's double in the space of four second-half minutes underlined the superiority of the home side on the night with Jeffren ensuring Madrid were toppled from the summit to two points behind an irrepressible Barça.

Barcelona quickly forced their rivals into retreat and Lionel Messi's brilliance almost broke the deadlock after five minutes, his sublime curling effort striking the far upright. The Catalan faithful did not have long to wait for the opener, though, as Andrés Iniesta's purposeful burst and incisive pass allowed Xavi to poke past Iker Casillas from close range in the tenth minute.

Ángel Di María tested Víctor Valdés as Madrid attempted to establish a foothold but instead the rug was pulled from under them as the hosts added a second. Xavi fired a cross-field pass that found Villa in space, the striker darting past Sergio Ramos and driving in a low cross that evaded the grasp of Casillas leaving Pedro the simplest of finishes.

Mourinho shuffled his pack at the interval with Lassana Diarra replacing Mesut Özil but the Blaugrana continued to dictate with Villa thwarted by Casillas and Xavi slicing into the side-netting with the goalkeeper scrambling back shortly after the resumption.

The third goal, ten minutes after half-time, came as no surprise with Messi's scything pass controlled by Villa and the Spain striker finishing with aplomb across the face of Casillas. Los Merengues were shell-shocked but Messi and Villa were relentless, another through ball from the Argentinian schemer dispatched by his strike partner on 58 minutes to send the Camp Nou supporters into early victory celebrations.

There was time for a final hurrah in stoppage time as Bojan Krkić sped down the right flank and crossed for fellow substitute Jeffren to flip a nonchalant fifth past a bemused Casillas. Madrid's misery was compounded when Sergio Ramos received a red card to complete a remarkable evening's entertainment.

VIEW THE GOALS !!!

Images and text from : www.fcbarcelona.cat and www.uefa.com

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New Camp Nou

THE NEW CAMP NOU

The Camp Nou of the 21st century

After 50 years, the Camp Nou can look to the future with optimism. The prestigious Foster + Partners team of architects is in charge of the project to remodel the stadium.

On the basis of Francesc Mitjans’ original design, the Camp Nou is set to become an essential architectonic reference for the 21st century. The renovated stadium will be seen as an architectonic entity in its own right.

The whole stadium will be contained within a clearly defined volume, with a unified appearance from the outside. The added spaces and installations are totally integrated both functionally and architectonically.

When the work is complete on restructuring the Camp Nou, visitors will be able to enjoy a renovated stadium offering a unique and distinct image of FC Barcelona, which will be totally integrated into the city’s architectonic heritage. From street level it will look like a totally modern stadium, but it will also look that way on the inside, with large service areas, and electronic escalators to take spectators up to the highest levels.

This is the new Camp Nou

The new Camp Nou will be seen as an architectonic entity in its own right. The whole building will be contained within a clearly defined volume, with a unified outward appearance created by its mosaic design.

Characteristics

When the work is complete on remodelling the Camp Nou, visitors will enjoy a stadium offering the following characteristics:

• The image of the renovated stadium will be unique and distinctive of FC Barcelona. Its carefully constructed architecture will be strong and vibrant. It will make sure that the image of the Camp Nou is as powerful as ever and has been based entirely on elements that define FC Barcelona’s identity.

• Everybody will see the new image as a strong and daring item within the urban environment. The design will be totally integrated into the architectonic heritage of the city of Barcelona, with so many colourful and distinctive buildings. From the street, people will appreciate a fully modern stadium that has been proudly built on the basis of local heritage.

• Barcelona fans will be able to enjoy a transformed public leisure area. The new escalators will take them to the higher parts of the stadium, where there will be a large number of new areas aimed at the general public, and plenty of service areas to cater for spectators.

• The renovated stadium will separate the routes taken by visitors and by club staff through the creation of new vertical and horizontal routes.

• The stadium will cover all of the spectator safety requirements and will be totally adapted to the needs of disabled people.

• Spectators will enjoy a much clearer and more logical distribution of entrance points into the respective zones on either side of the stadium.

• The new stadium will have a two-directional service lane at a 360 degree angle, as well as a new circular all-round walkway for the club’s operations staff.

• The stadium will offer visibly improved facilities for the media that will be separated from the public zones.

• The players and auxiliary staff will enjoy brand new dressing rooms, new work areas, a new presidential zone and new offices.

• VIP guests will experience improved hospitality services in the new exclusive areas on both sides of the stadium. The VIP zones will offer an exceptional space and top standard services to ensure that the high demands of such zones are respected.

• The new facilities, given their majestic nature, will make FC Barcelona an excellent basis on which the club will be able to look towards the future with even more confidence than ever.

CAMP NOU

A Five Star Stadium

 

The old Les Corts ground after several expansions had increased its capacity to 60,000.

It was still not big enough to cope with the surging interest in the team though, especially after the arrival of Hungarian superstar Ladislau Kubala and the new Barça stadium was built to replace it.

The stadium was designed by architects Francesc Mitjans Miró and Josep Soteras Mauri, with the collaboration of Lorenzo García Barbón, and it was constructed between 1954 and 1957, using mainly concrete and iron. The whole project cost a staggering 288 million pesetas, which meant the club would spend the following years in heavy debt.  

Although it was originally going to go under the official name of ‘Estadi del FC Barcelona’, it soon came to be popularly known as the 'Camp Nou' (the ‘new ground’), as opposed to the club’s old home at Les Corts. It was not until the 2000/2001 season that, following a mail vote made by the club membership, that the decision was made to make ‘Camp Nou’ the official name of the stadium. Of the 29,102 votes the club received, a total of 19,861 (68.25%) preferred Camp Nou to Estadi del FC Barcelona. 

The stadium’s maximum height is 48 metres, and it covers a surface area of 55,000 square metres (250 metres long and 220 metres wide). In accordance with UEFA stipulations, the playing area has been downsized to 105 metres x 68 metres. 

With a capacity of 98,787, it is now the biggest stadium in Europe. However, the total capacity has varied over the years owing to different modifications. When it was first opened in 1957, it held 93,053 spectators, which would be increased to 120,000 in 1982 on occasion of the FIFA World Cup. However, the introduction of new regulations outlawing standing areas reduced the stadium’s capacity in the late 1990s to just under 99,000. 

In the 1998-99 season, UEFA recognised the services and functionalities of the Camp Nou by awarding it five star status. In the whole of Spain there are only three other stadiums that can claim that, the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, also in Barcelona, the new Cartuja Olympic Stadium in Seville and the Vicente Calderón, home of Atlético Madrid. 

Of the different facilities on offer inside the stadium, of particular note are a chapel next to the changing rooms, the presidential box, the VIPs lounge, the press rooms, several television studios, the Sports Medicine Centre, the Operative Control Unit (UCO), the veteran players area, the FC Barcelona club museum, the nursery and the offices of all of the many different club departments.