Messi wins yet another FIFA Balon d'Or

Lionel Messi won the FIFA Balon d'OR for the second consecutive time after the inception of the award last year. With this victory he has won the FIFA World Player of Year and Balon d'Or for the third consecutive time. It was a no btainer from the time the three man shortlist was announced. There was no way Messi couldn't have won it. So it was no big surprise for Barca fans, but just a confirmation of their wishes. Messi won 47.88% of the votes, whereas Ronaldo who came second won 21.6% and Xavi won 9.23%. Japan's Homare Sawa was adjudged as the winner of FIFA Balon d'Or Women Player of the Year. Pep Guardiola who missed on the awards last year was judged the Coach of the Year. Once again there was no way he could have missed that award. Santos forward Neymar won the FIFA Puskas award for the best goal scored in last year. Five Barcelona players made it into the FifPro World XI - Iker Casillas, Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Nemanja Vidic, Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Lionel Messi, Ronald, and Rooney.

Espanyol hold Barca to a Draw; Espanyol-1, Barca - 1

FC Barcelona dropped two precious points in their pursuit of league leaders Real Madrid with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Espanyol. In teh 200-07 season, it was against Espanyol we lost the league title. There is still 21 games to be played yet, but maybe at the ned of the season we would be considering this match as a turning point. Barca players may think theye were hard done by the referee as he didn't award a definite penalty in the dying moments of the match. But their overall performance didn't deserve anything other than a draw.Real Madrid opened up a six point lead at the top with their victory yesternight. So it was upto us to cut the lead back by three points. Guardiola went with the best eleven available - Valdes, Abidal, Puyol, Pique, Alves, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Messi and Sanchez. That resembled a 3-4-3 line-up. Espanyol lined up as Alvarez, Amat, Rodriguez, Moreno, Didac, Forlin, Romaric, Bifouma, Verdu, Weiss and Sergio Garcia with a 4-5-1 formation.

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FC Barcelona -4, Osasuna - 0; Messi and Fabregas set up Barca Victory in Copa del Rey

FC Barcelona firmly placed their right foot in the next round of Copa del Rey with a 4-0 victroy against Osasuna at the Camp Nou. Now unless a seriously bad loss happens in the return leg, we will be firm favorite to face either Malaga or Real madrid in next round. A frist half brace from cesc Fabregas put Barca on course for a easy victory. Messi who came in the second half completed the tally with two neatly taken goals. Usually after a break we struggle to find our rhythm, but this time around there was no nerves like that. The performance was as clinical as it can get after the holidays. The line up for the first match of 2012 was Pinto, Mascherano, Puyola, Pique, Xavi, Busquets, Thiago, Cesc, Alves , Pedro and Cuenca. The formation was a 3-4-3.

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Good-Bye 2011, Welcome 2012

2011 has gone past us and we all are looking forward to the new year, 2012 with hope. The past year was something like a rollercoaster ride - the financial turbulence, a slew of nature's fury at various parts of world, the fight for democracy at other parts all made it a wonderful ride. Time Magazine has rightly named this year as the "Year of Protesters". From a footballing perspective 2011 will always be remembered as the "Year of The Clasicos". Seven Clasico clashes had left football players and fans a bit drained, but this is one clash we will be all craving for more. For a Barcelona fan the past year was nothing short of a dream calendar year. We have ended this year with five official silverware - La Liga, UEFA Champions League, Liga Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. Only year 2009 has been better in terms of Silverware, where we won the Copa del Rey also. But considering that we made it to the final of that tournament last year, this has to be considered a better year- especially taking into account the challenge posed by bitter rivals Real Madrid.

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Barca to meet Osasuna in Copa del Rey Last 16 Knock Out Round

FC Barcelona has been drawn with Osasuna for the next round of Cop del Rey clash. The draw took place today morning and had thrown up some interesting posibilities for next round. Guardiola wouldn't be happy with the dates for the Last 16 round. The frist leg will take place at Camp Nou between jan 3 to Jan 5. That could see the South american contigent being used in limited capacity as they would be just back from holidays. Having the second leg away from home means that Barca has to take a definie advantage in the first leg and that too with our problem usually after the breaks. The talk of the town is not the clash with osasuna, it's the supposed Quarter Final Clash with Real Madrid. Madrid has been drawn with rich boys Malaga for the round of 16. If both Barca and Madrid win, then the first leg of Quarter Final will take place at Bernebeu on January 18th.