Next Tuesday, Chelsea and Barcelona will renew one of the greatest footballing rivalries of the 21st century. Beginning in 2000 and ending with that Fernando Torres goal scored almost six years ago, Barca and Chelsea met 12 times in the Champions League, including the 2000 quarterfinals, the 2005 and 2006 Round of 16 and the 2009 and 2012 semifinals.
WATCH THIS: Greatest Games, 2009 UCL Semifinal
18-year-old Canadian phenom Ballou Tabla, who transferred from the Montreal Impact to Barcelona B on January 25, is in the midst of a sensational week in Catalonia.
You’d think we’d get tired of endless videos of Lionel Messi making opponents look silly in matches. Maybe you’d be right (not really, but just go with me for a minute). So to switch it up, here’s a Messi training video of the Argentinian making his own teammates look silly in practice.
We all know Lionel Messi is brilliant. Sometimes, though, we just need a reminder. José Gayà was our guinea pig to give us a reminder of how clever the little Argentine is with a superb Messi nutmeg of the Valencia defender during the Copa del Rey semifinals on Thursday.
El caño de Messi a Gayà es mucho más emotivo si le metés la música de Titanic de fondo. pic.twitter.com/xzbvlwrmKO
Philippe Coutinho scored his first goal for Barcelona after coming on as a halftime substitute in their Copa del Rey semifinal second leg against Valencia Thursday. Coutinho scored four minutes after coming on as Barcelona eased into the final with a 3-0 aggregate victory.
Coutinho’s finish was sure a tidy one, but the majority of the credit has to go to Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan brilliantly worked a bit of space before turning provider for Barca’s all-important away goal at a packed Mestalla.