Sep. 08 - Sporting Gijon, Real Madrid and Racing Santander
27th September 2008: Espanyol 1 - 2 Barcelona
Apart from the Barcelona v Real Madrid games home and away, the local Barcelona derby between the 2 Barcelona based teams are the two real big games. Espanyol are often the forgotten team in Barcelona, whilst FC Barcelona are far well known and supported. In recent years though, Espanyol have bridged the gap and are no longer an easy team to defeat.
This latest local derby was a tense afair and but for an injury time winner from Messi, this would have ended in a deserved draw for both teams. It was in fact Espanyol who took the initiative with a 20th minute lead from Corominas, who slotted in from close range. Espanyol maintained the lead throughout the first half and it took Barcelona a late 84th Henry goal to finally equalise and then the dramatic injury time Messi winner.
FC Barcelona also played in mid-week and a 3-2 home win against Real Betis means that Barcelona are now gradually climbing back towards the top of La Liga.
21st September 2008 - Barcelona knock Sporting Gijon for 6
Barcelona swept away all the questions hanging over them in the last few weeks with a dominant and impressive 6-1 away win against Sporting Gijon. The lack of understanding within the team in previous weeks was turned around with Barcelona dazzling the home fans.
It was Xavi and Eto'o who got the ball rolling with 27th and 33th minute goals. Gijon then came back on in the 2nd half to score 2 goals in ther first 5 minutes, the only problem being that one was a somple own goal, leaving Barcelona 3-1 up. Gerard of Gijon was then sent off for holiding Messi in the 57th minute, making Gijon's task even more impossible. Alas, Barcelona took advantage of the tired legs of Gijon and eventually took the game to 6-1 with extra goals from Iniesta and two from two from Messi.
FC Barcelona have a midweek game on September 24th at home to Real Betis. Tickets for Barcelona v Betis are still available online. Tickets for Barcelona v Real Betis.
14th September 2008 - Barcelona 1 Racing Santander 0
FC Barcelona are still finding their way and more work is needed on the training ground, after a disapointing 1-1 draw against Racing Santander. To make matters worse for FC Barcelona, their arch rivals, Barcelona based RCD Espanyol, went top of La Liga with 2 wins out of 2. There were some promising pieces of play by Barcelona, with Messi instrumental in many plays but the team are still trying to gel.
With 20 minutes to go in the game it looked as though the game might actually end in a draw, but it was Messi who broke the deadlock with a well sltted penalty kick, which was awarded after a Christian Fernandez hand ball. FC Barcelona's first win of the season was denied though with a suprise 77th minute equaliser, which left the Barcelona fans to face another week at least before their first win this campaign.
FC Barcelona now face Champions League football, with a home game versus Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday 16th September. Tickets are now available for sale for Barcelona v Sporting Lisbon tickets (Champions League).
1st September 2008 - Numancia 1 - 0 Barcelona
The first weekend of the La Liga season immediately threw up some surprises with the two big guns, Barcelona nd Real Madrid both losing. Real Madrid started their title defence away to Deportivo La Coruña and 'Real' finished the game losing 2-1 despite having many chances to pull level. FC Barcelona has quite a surprising loss away to Numancia, with this game a real David and Goliath style game, with Numancia not expected to beat the Barcelona big guns.
The season is still very young and there is little doubt that Barcelona will gradually begin to gel and with so many changes in the team, it is perhaps understandable that it will take time. With Real Madrid also losing, Barcelona will be relieved that Real have not already started to pull out a lead at the top.
This season might be even more competitive than ever and teams such as Valencia and Deportivo might fancy their chances this season. It already promises to be an interesting La Liga season. Barcelona play on the 14th September at home to Racing Santander. Next week sees a round of International games with several World Cup qualifiers taking place.
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