GROUP STAGE # 1
Barcelona kicked off their Champions League campaign with
3-1 victory over Iberian neighbours Sporting Lisbon at the Nou
Camp on Tuesday. Goals from Rafael Marquez and Samuel Eto'o had
put Barca in control, and although Sporting threatened to put
the cat among the pigeons by pulling a goal back through Antonio
Tonel, Xavi's late strike ended any chance of shock comeback.
GROUP STAGE # 2
Two late goals from substitute Lionel Messi sealed a dramatic
2-1 win for Barcelona over Shakhtar Donetsk and maintain their
100% start in Champions League Group C. Ilsinho's goal at the
end of the first half looked to have secured the points for the
hosts, but Argentina winger Messi struck twice in the last four
minutes to turn the match on its head and put Barca in a strong
position to progress to the knockout stage.
GROUP STAGE # 3
Barcelona made it three wins out of three in Champions League
Group C as they brushed aside Basle 5-0 in Switzerland.
Goals from Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Bojan Krkic (two) and
Xavi Hernandez saw the Catalans run up the joint highest away
win in Champions League history, while Bojan, Carles Puyol and
Thierry Henry all missed chances to add to the tally.
GROUP STAGE # 4
Basle substitute Eren Derdiyok struck seven minutes from
time as Barcelona forfeited their 100% record in this season's
Champions League, although the point was enough to book their
place in the knockout stages.
The hosts had been expected to coast past their Swiss visitors
after recording a 5-0 triumph in Basle a fortnight ago. But that
was not the case as they endured a frustrating night in front
of goal until Lionel Messi stepped off the bench to score his
fourth of the campaign after 61 minutes.
GROUP STAGE # 5
Barcelona sealed top spot in Group C of the Champions league
courtesy of a night of high farce among the Sporting Lisbon defence.
Barcelona were 3-0 up within 50 minutes courtesy of goals from
Thierry Henry, Gerard Pique and Lionel Messi, before Sporting
pulled two back in two minutes through Miguel Veloso and Liedson.
Barca responded immediately with a Marco Caneira own goal and
once Rui Patricio was sent off for the foul that led to Bojan
Krkic's penalty, the Sporting defence had played their part
in all five of Barca's goals.
16 -TEAM STAGE 1 st Leg
Thierry Henry earned Barcelona a 1-1 draw on his return
to France with a second-half equaliser against Lyon in a thrilling
Champions League last-16 first leg at the Stade Gerland. Les Bleus'
all-time leading scorer headed home in the 67th minute to give
the Spanish side a precious away goal, putting them in the driving
seat ahead of the second leg in a fortnight's time at the Nou
Camp.
16 -TEAM STAGE 2 nd Leg
A quickfire Thierry Henry double spurred Barcelona on to
a 5-2 rout of Olympique Lyon and a place in the Champions League
quarter-finals on Wednesday. Lyon scored either side of halftime
through Jean Makoun and Juninho to give themselves a ray of hope.
But their chances of progressing had all but disappeared by the
time substitute Seydou Keita went clear in added time to score
past Hugo Lloris and round off a superb Barca performance.
QUARTER-FINALS 1 st Leg
Barcelona took a giant step towards the semi-finals of the
Champions League as they thrashed Bayern Munich 4-0 at the Nou
Camp. Barca's rampant strikeforce did the damage in a completely
one-sided first half.
The Catalans raced into a two-goal lead within 12 minutes as
Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o struck early on. And the locals'
dominance brought two more goals before half-time, with Thierry
Henry setting up Messi for his second seven minutes before the
break and then slotting home a fourth himself just before the
interval.
QUARTER-FINALS 2 nd Leg
Bayern Munich shared a 1-1 draw with Barcelona to partly
make up for a crushing defeat in Spain last week - but they were
still eliminated from the Champions League 5-1 on aggregate. Franck
Ribery gave Bayern the lead in the 47th minute, but Barca hit
back with Seydou Keita's drive restoring parity in the 73rd minute.
SEMI-FINALS 1 st Leg
Chelsea's defensive discipline earned them a precious goalless
draw against Barcelona. Barca's strike force of Samuel Eto'o,
Messi and Thierry Henry have scored 90 goals between them in all
competitions so far this season.
However, Chelsea were defiant and disciplined with full-backs
Branislav Ivanovic and Bosingwa faultless while John Terry and
Alex were solid as a rock. Hiddink will be more than pleased with
the night's work and Chelsea should have enough in their artillery
to go on and finish the job in the return match next week.
SEMI-FINALS 2nd Leg
Ten-man Barcelona robbed Chelsea of a place in the Champions
League final in the cruellest of fashions with a 93rd-minute away
goal at Stamford Bridge. A stunning first-half volley from Michael
Essien looked to have earned Chelsea victory and set up a repeat
of last year's Champions League final against Manchester United.
But Andres Iniesta beat Petr Cech in the third minute of added
time. What a dramatic match!
THE FINAL
Manchester United discovered what it is like to lose a European
Cup final as brilliant Barcelona ruled Rome on Wednesday, securing
a comfortable 2-0 win. If there is any consolation in failure
to become the first side to retain the trophy in the Champions
League era, it is that they lost to a side as fluent and brilliant
to watch as they are.
Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi scored the goals either side
of half-time but to single those two out for special praise
would be unfair on their team-mates, and particularly Xavi,
who was simply awesome. For once Cristiano Ronaldo could provide
no magic of his own, instead getting increasingly frustrated
as defeat loomed.
