Record books show 1-1 could be enough

Barça has qualified for the next round on six of the eight occasions when the Club has drawn 1-1 away from home in the first leg of a Spanish Cup tie.

But the only time this has happened against Real Madrid, Barça was beaten 1-2 in the Camp Nou and knocked out of the competition.

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  Callejón and Jordi Alba / FOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ-FCB

1-1 is a good score line for Barça, though the draw has left a bittersweet taste in the mouth. The team could have come back from the Bernabéu with a win and inclined the tie even more in Barça’s favour. Nevertheless, an away 1-1 draw is usually a guarantee of success in the second leg: Barça has qualified for the next round on six of the eight occasions when the Club has drawn 1-1 away from home in the first leg of a Spanish Cup tie.
A year ago
We only have to look back to last year to find the first example. In the semifinals, Barça drew 1-1 away to Valencia and went on to clinch the tie with a 2-0 win in the Camp Nou. In the 2007/08 season, a goalless draw in the second leg away to Sevilla was enough to see Barça through to the quarterfinals.
Defeat in the only precedent against Real Madrid
However, there’s no room for complacency. A 1-1 draw in the 1992/93 season – a semi-final first leg in the Bernabéu – was followed by a 2-1 victory for Real Madrid in the Camp Nou. The same happened against Celta in the 1977/78 season. These are the only two occasions when Barça hasn’t gone through to the next round of the Cup after drawing 1-1 in the first leg.
50:50 for Real Madrid
Strangely enough, Real Madrid has also draw 1-1 eight times at home in a Cup tie first leg. The final outcome of these ties is split evenly 50:50 – four times eliminated and four times successfully through. On the last three occasions Real Madrid has been eliminated from the Cup after drawing 1-1 at home in the first leg.
Slightly better record for Barça
Putting aside the Cup for one moment, recent contests in all competitions against Real Madrid in the Camp Nou show that neither side can be considered a clear favourite, though Barça has a slightly better record. Since the 2008/09 season, a repeat of any one of five score lines would see Barça through to the Final (2-0 in 2008/09, 1-0 in 09/10, 5-0 in 10/11, all in league matches, and 3-2 in the 2011/12 and 2012/13 Super Cups), two would favour Real Madrid (1-2 in the league in 11/12 and 2-2 in the Cup in 11/12) while one result would take the tie to extra time (1-1 in the Champions League 2010/11).

Alves: “We deserved to win at the Bernabéu”

Dani Alves admitted that he and his teammates "are unhappy with the result" from last night's match but he notes that the tie will be resolved at the Camp Nou: "it's a marvelous opportunity for us"

"We're fighting against racism but the racial abuse still happens. For me it's a lost war," says the Brazilian

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  Dani Alves / PHOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ - FCB

“I know that we’re fighting against racism, but for me it’s a lost war"

Dani Alves is a footballer that isn’t afraid to say what he thinks. The Brazilian admitted this Thursday that the team “left the Bernabéu unhappy because of the circumstances of the game.” He added, “we didn’t take advantage of the chances we had and now the tie will be decided at the Camp Nou. It’s a marvelous opportunity for us. We deserved to win and return from Madrid with a better result.”

Alves isn’t surprised that Madrid are celebrating the draw more than FC Barcelona: “Barça are the team to beat. Everyone wants to play he game of their life against us. The only thing I’m concerned with is playing a good return leg and qualify for the final.”

Pushing the limits of fair play

Alves explained that since he arrived at Barça that “Real Madrid have always tried to play beyond the rules of the game.” He added, “we play football. I don’t think we can do anything in this regard.” Turning his focus specifically to yesterday’s match against Madrid, he said, “I still don’t understand how Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t booked. If that play had been reversed I would have been given a red card. But, of course, it seems as though we can’t have a Clásico without Cristiano.”

In any event, Alves said that he’s “vaccinated” against that type of football and that “whatever happens on the pitch stays on the pitch, beyond dirty play or any attempt to provoke.”

Upset with racial abuse

Without specifically mentioning Wednesday’s match, the FC Barcelona defender confessed that he’s upset with the racial abuse he was subjected to: “I know that we’re fighting against this type of behaviour, but for me it’s a lost war. I’ve been playing in Spain for 10 years and it’s been going on since the first day.

“Drastic measures need to be taken. For example, clubs should be drastically penalized - something beyond [the current] 1,000 or 2,000 euro fine. We need to go further. In England this doesn’t happen and when it does, the penalty is exemplary,” explained Alves.

Confident in himself

Finally, the Brazilian said he never lost his self confidence: “all of the injuries that I’ve never had in my career hit me at the start of the season. I’ve always tried to be good enough to play for this team and I think I’m managing to do that well. I’m not too concerned with what people think of me. I’m doing what I enjoy and those that are close to me know how much this profession means to me.”

FC Barcelona’s standout players against Atlético Madrid: Messi, Adriano and Busquets

Barça established a new goalscoring record in a calendar year thanks to goals from Messi, the Brazilian defender and the Spanish international
Messi isn’t the only one breaking records in 2012. FC Barcelona managed to break the 170-goal mark that was set last season. In fact, Tito Vilanova’s men have netted 172 times this year: 118 were scored in La Liga, 26 in the Champions League, 24 in the Cup and 4 in the Super Cup. Here’s an overview of Barça’s standout players against Atlético Madrid:

Adriano Correia:

Falcao opened up the scoring and gave Atlético Madrid the lead thanks to a beautiful chip over Valdés, but FC Barcelona struck back thanks to an absolutely sublime curling shot from Adriano. The equalizer was Adriano’s sixth goal of the season.

The Brazilian defender has scored two goals with his right foot, and four with his left. Against Valencia, Adriano scored a beautiful goal, however, that one was with his right. He’s fundamental for Barça on both sides of the pitch.

Sergio Busquets:

Sergio Busquets proves his worth every game he plays for FC Barcelona. He's the fundamental link between Barça’s offence and defence. This time, against Atlético Madrid, the FC Barcelona midfielder gave his team the go-ahead goal right before the break.

Lionel Messi

The Argentine forward is making sure to notch up as many goals as possible in 2012. With his brace this evening against Atlético Madrid, he has 90 goals this year. In addition, Leo has scored 25 goals so far this season in La Liga, a mark that sees him clear of his immediate pursuers for the Pichichi trophy. It’s worth mentioning that Atlético Madrid are the team that Messi has scored against the most: 20 career goals, 17 in La Liga.

Busquets: "The title race is far from over"

The midfielder scored the go-ahead goal against Atlético. On the play that led to the goal, Busquets said: "I knew that the defender and the keeper would go to the ground, that's why I waited to shoot"

The midfielder admitted that "we have a good advantage," but he warned that La Liga is far from over

Sergio Busquets scored the go-ahead goal against Atlético Madrid, his first of the season, after Falcao gave the visiting side the lead in the first half. The midfielder explained that after he received the rebound in the area that “I knew that the defender and the keeper would go to the ground, that’s why I waited to shoot.” The Blaugrana noted that he’s very pleased with his personal performance as well as the team’s form: “it’s important that we stay at this level. I always try to help the team and so far it’s been going great.”

Important advantage but not definitive

With last night’s victory over Atlético Madrid (4-1), the Colchoneros are now 9 points adrift of Barça, while Real Madrid are 13 points back. On Barça’s advantage, Busquets said that “it’s a very good lead, but there’s a lot of Liga left and we can’t rule out Atlético or Real Madrid.” The midfielder commented on the notion that La Liga is Barça’s to lose: “There’s no way we’d allow this lead to slip, we can only focus on the match against Valladolid so that we can go to the Christmas break with a certain degree of tranquility.”

Pedro, cautious on Barça’s lead

The FC Barcelona forward, who was given a standing ovation when he was subbed out, noted that “Real Madrid will not give up,” in addition he said that “the advantage we have is important  . . . this week has gone really well for us.” Pedro then warned that “we cannot lose focus, we haven’t won anything yet.”

On the match against Atlético and Barça’s accuracy in front of goal, Pedro declared that “there are matches where you shoot a lot and you don’t score, and then there are matches where you shoot fewer times and they go in.” On Barça’s next match, Pedro noted that Valladolid are a very dangerous rival. “They always make it difficult for any team, besides, chances are it will be very cold when we play against them.”

Here are the statements made by Perdo and Xavi after the match:

Pedro:

“In the first half they played well and they took the lead, but after that we were the better side.”

“Despite Real Madrid’s result against Espanyol, we knew that we were in for a tough match.”

“I’m very thankful for the support I get from the fans, it helps me work hard.”

Xavi:

“Atlético defend really well, it was very difficult for us.”

“We are the leaders and we know that we have a big advantage.”

“We’re in a good situation, but this isn’t over and we cannot allow ourselves to relax.”

Vilanova: “We've won a lot of points, but it hasn't been easy”

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“Adriano’s goal was very important, it was very difficult for us at first to break through, and that’s largely due Atlético’s brilliant performance. The goal gave us morale and from that point on we carried the initiative of the match”

Barça thrashed their immediate pursuer in La Liga, Atlético Madrid, and are now nine points clear at the top of the table.In addition, Real Madrid are 13 points adrift of the league leaders. However, Tito Vilanova made sure to downplay Barça’s advantage in the post-match press conference: “We’ve won a lot of points, but it hasn’t been easy. We’ve had to battle back to win games and perhaps we won’t be able to do that in the future. La Liga is not easy, and it certainly isn’t boring.”

The FC Barcelona manager reminded the gathered journalists that “in my first year (2008/09) we were 12 point back and we had to go to the Bernabéu and play for the title. Now, there’s a team that’s only nine points behind us.” He added: “I don’t think that this title is ours to lose. If there is a team that has the capacity to win a lot of points, and they overtake us, then they deserve the title. It happened in 2009 and it could happen again.”

Adriano’s goal, key for Barça’s chances

On the match against Atlético, the manager said: “Adriano’s goal was very important, it was very difficult for us at first to break through, and that’s largely due Atlético’s brilliant performance. The goal gave us morale and from that point on we carried the initiative of the match.” On the Brazilian defender, Tito Vilanova said, “he’s playing at a great level. The most important thing is for him to feel good. He went through a program to improve his fitness and that’s helped him a lot. His progress has been fantastic.”

Complicated line-up

Vilanova admitted that his players are making it increasingly difficult for him to pick the team’s starting line-ups: “Naming 11 players to start isn’t easy. I thought we’d do well with the team I sent out and that Villa could help us in the second half. I understand that this isn’t easy for him, but we have a lot of talented players, Mascherano and Alves also watched the match from the bench . . .”

Finally, the manager praised one of FC Barcelona’s standout players against Atlético, Sergio Busquets: “It’s easy to focus on other players, but his work was simply spectacular. He’s the best in the wold in his position and he can only get better.”

FC Barcelona vs Atlético Madrid: post-match details

Messi’s 90th goal of 2012, the 6th time the team have come from behind to win this season, and Adriano’s 6th goal of the campaign were the highlights of the game

Messi isn’t the only one breaking records in 2012. FC Barcelona managed to break the 170-goal mark that was set last season. In fact, Tito Vilanova’s men have netted 172 times this year: 118 were scored in La Liga, 26 in the Champions League, 24 in the Cup and 4 in the Super Cup. Here’s an overview of Barça’s standout players against Atlético Madrid.


After FC Barcelona victory over Atlético Madrid this Sunday, Gerard Piqué was interviewed on Barça TV’s El Marcador. He declared that “only we can lose La Liga,” and “we can allow ourselves the luxury of losing points, but we cannot allow ourselves to fall into a bad run of form." Piqué added that the Liga is far from over.

Barça thrashed their immediate pursuer in La Liga, Atlético Madrid, and are now nine points clear at the top of the table.In addition, Real Madrid are 13 points adrift of the league leaders. However, Tito Vilanova made sure to downplay Barça’s advantage in the post-match press conference: “We’ve won a lot of points, but it hasn’t been easy. We’ve had to battle back to win games and perhaps we won’t be able to do that in the future. La Liga is not easy, and it certainly isn’t boring.”




This Sunday’s match against Atlético Madrid was Gerard Piqué’s 200th official match in the Blaugrana strip. Piqué, who celebrated his first century for FC Barcelona on September 22 of 2010 (Barça-Sporting), played his 200th official match for Barça with a goal tally of 14 goals for the Blaugrana. His 200 games for Barça are divvied up in the following competitions: 120 in La Liga, 46 in the Champions League, 23 in the Cup, 7 in the Spanish Super Cup, 3 in the Club World Cup, and 1 in the European Super Cup.

Cristian Tello signs through 2016

This Monday afternoon Cristian Tello extended his contract with FC Barcelona. He'll remain with the Club through June 30 of 2016. The player’s buyout clause is set at 10 million euros. It’s worth noting that the player and the Club agreed to terms on Thursday, the 13th.
“I’m very proud”

The player talked to Barça TV and fcbarcelona.com after he signed his contract extension: “I’m very proud and I’m very happy, I’ve dreamed about this since I was a child. I want to return the confidence to those that had confidence in me.” The forward also noted that since he made his debut for the team, against Villarreal, that the first team players “have always treated me like one of their own.”
Tello also said that he hopes to keep the jersey number 37 through the end of the season - it’s given him luck, he said - and he believes he can help the team with his “speed.”

La Masia

Tello, who played in the Club’s youth program from 2002 through 2007, also played for Damm and Espanyol (two seasons). In the summer of 2010 he made his return to Barça. Despite being a Barça B player, he’s often featured for the first team this season.

The 21-year-old made his debut for the first team on November 8 of 2011, in the Cup match against Hospitalet (he scored twice). He made his debut in La Liga on January 28 of 2012 away to Villarreal. His first La Liga goal was scored against Real Sociedad on February 4, 2012.