Getafe - 1, Barca - 3

Three seasons ago, a visit to Getafe was quite difficult. But tonight's easy 3-1 victory has officially confirmed that those times have changed. FC Barcelona started the game in the third gear and stayed in that for almost entire first half and even lowered it a notch down in second half, still Getafe didn't have any decent chance of springing a surprise. Goals from Messi, Villa and Pedro was enough for Barca to wrap all three points, eventhough they made their life difficult by taking the focus away from the game. Guardiola started with his usual defense of Maxwell, Puyol, Pique and Alves. The midfield saw Mascherano pairing Xavi and Iniesta. Messi started in middle flanked by Pedro and Villa on right and left respectively.

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Six Barca Stars Make the Balon d'Or Shortlist

Six FC Barcelona players have made into the 23 Men shortlist of FIFA Balon d'Or. Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, David Villa, Lionel Messi and Dani Alves are the Barca team members who has made it into the list. In a World Cup year this award is believed to go to a World Cup winner and that makes Xavi Hernandez the Primier Choice to Win the Opening FIFA Balon d'Or. The final 23 men list is Xabi Alonso (Spain), Daniel Alves (Brazil), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlán (Uruguay), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Júlio César (Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Maicon (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Müller (Germany), Mesut Özil (Germany), Carles Puyol (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain). THe biggest surprise is teh absence of Diego Milito of Inter Milan in that list. But that may give an earlier indication that the performance at the World Cup is going to count the most.

AD Ceuta - 0 , Barca - 2

A young looking FC Barcelona side strolled to a 2-0 victory against third division side AD Ceuta in their opening match of this season's Copa Del Rey tournament. Goals from Maxwell and Pedro in the first half sealed a valuable away victory, which almost see us through to the next round. In the absence of a host of first team players, Bojan Krkic captained the team. Pinto has been our choice of keeper for this competition and that continued in this match also. We had a new central defense pairing with Fontas and Batra flanked on each side by the experienced Maxwell and Adriano. The midfield was much more experienced compared to defense with Thiago, Mascherano and Keita. Jeffren, Bojan and Pedro formed the attacking trio as expected.

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