“Lionel Messi struck his 300th and 301st goals for Barcelona as the Primera Division leaders overturned a half-time deficit to win 2-1 at plucky Granada. Barca dominated possession for the first 25 minutes, but were stunned when Odion Ighalo put the hosts ahead at the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes. Messi tapped in a deserved equaliser five minutes into the second half, though, and then curled in a trademark free-kick 17 minutes from time to complete the turnaround and move Barca 15 points clear at the summit.” ESPN

La Liga Review: Granada 1, FC Barcelona 2 – A Good Omen, or a Bad Appetiser?
“We’ve conquered the appetiser, which would normally be a good sign in views to the main course, except that if we have this much trouble with Granada, even Bojan on Wednesday might be too tough for us. The good news is that Roura seems to have lost his fear of rotation and gave us an exciting starting XI: VV, Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Adriano, Busquets, Cesc, Thiago, Pedro, Messi, and Alexis; that’s even more risqué than what I suggested in the match preview in that we got to see a midfield without Xavi (injured) or Iniesta (rested) for the first time in ages.” The Offside (Video)

“The Catalan grew up through Barça’s La Masia with friend Leo Messi and best friend Gerard Piqué. The talent of the young stars was clear but Fàbregas grew tired of his lack of promotion and made the bold move to Premier League side Arsenal. Under the influence of Arsene Wenger, Fàbregas devolved an edge to his game, learning new skills and combining them with the ones he learned in La Masia. The midfielder’s progress was much more rapid through the Arsenal ranks and by the start of 2008-09 season, Cesc was club captain.” Barca Blaugranes

“Lionel Messi scored in his 12th consecutive La Liga game to help leaders Barcelona to a 1-1 draw at Valencia that puts them 12 points clear at the top. The World Player of the Year bagged his 34th league goal from the penalty spot just before half-time after Ever Banega had given the livelier hosts a 33rd-minute lead.” Guardian

” Víctor Valdés is leaving Barcelona. On Thursday, the agent for the club’s longtime No. 1 goalkeeper released a statement through the Spanish news agency EFE announcing his “irrevocable decision” not to renew his contract with the club beyond summer 2014 when he will be 32. It is exactly a month since Barcelona announced that Xavi and Carles Puyol will finish their careers at the club, having signed new deals. Lionel Messi, too, signed an extension to 2018, when he will be 31. Valdés will not be following suit.” SI

“Barcelona, the unbeaten leaders, ended the first half of the La Liga season with a record 55 out of a possible 57 points when Lionel Messi scored one goal and had a hand in two more in a 3-1 win at Málaga. An 18th victory in 19 games for Tito Vilanova’s side restored their 11-point lead over second-placed Atlético Madrid, who secured a 10th win in 10 home matches this season with a 2-0 success against Real Zaragoza.” Guardian

Barca – 3, Malaga – 1
“Barca continued with their excellent start of the season with a well fought 3-1 victory against Malaga away from home. At the half stage of the season, we now have a huge 55 points out of 57 points. We have won all our away games this season in La Liga. Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the first half, Cesc Fabregas and Thiago completed teh scoreline for Barca. With Villa ruled out due to injury, Tito went with a front three of Messi, Pedro and Iniesta. Xavi, Cesc Fabregas and Busquets made the midfield. Alba, Pique, Mascherano and Alves made up the defense. Pinto, Puyol, Adriano, Song, Thiago, Sanchez and Tello made up the bench.” All About FC Barcelona

“Lionel Messi concluded his record year with his 91st and final goal of 2012 in Barcelona’s 3-1 win at Valladolid on Saturday, which the team dedicated to ailing coach Tito Vilanova. Messi scored in the 59th minute by dribbling between a defender’s legs before making it 2-0 after Xavi Hernandez had opened the scoring two minutes before halftime. Barcelona’s players wore T-shirts before the game with messages of support for Vilanova, who had throat surgery to remove a second tumor in two years on Thursday.” ESPN

“It was Pep Guardiola, the former manager of Barcelona, who once suggested that Lionel Messi should be observed instead of dissected. He is, after all, widely considered the world’s greatest soccer player, not a biology project. ‘Don’t try to write about him,’ Guardiola said. ‘Don’t try to describe him. Watch him.’ Last Sunday, Messi set an international record by scoring his 86th goal in a calendar year, for both Barcelona and the Argentine national team, delivering an average of one goal every four days, more frequently than a starting pitcher takes the mound, as often as Starbucks opens a new store in China. But Messi is best appreciated, Guardiola admonished, in the virtuosity of the moment, not against the backdrop of history and statistics. Soccer, like figure skating, demands art as much as sport. This is not baseball, where numbers mean so much that they seem to carry a moral weight. Soccer’s beauty is that it surpasses mathematics, or, in Barcelona’s case, conjures a sublime human geometry of triangular passing and movement.” NY Times

A Record 40 Years in the Making – Lionel Messi breaks Gerd Müller’s record
“It was a record most did not expect to be broken in their lifetime yet the history books have been rewritten by a player who just turned 25 this summer. Gerd Müller was 27 when he set a world record that remained untouched for 40 years and 16 minutes into Barcelona’s game against Betis Sevilla this weekend the prodigious Lionel Messi equalled Müller’s record of 85 goals in a calendar year. Almost inevitably and with the sports world holding its collective breath, less than ten minutes later he broke it with the eventual match winner. Somewhere in Munich meanwhile a sixty-seven year old Gerd Müller nodded in approval, knowing that the torch had finally been passed on four decades later.” Bundesliga Fanatic

“Barcelona had to dig deep to hold off the challenge of Real Betis and maintain their six-point lead at the top of La Liga ahead of next week’s clash with second-place Atletico Madrid. Barcelona had to dig deep to hold off the challenge of Real Betis and maintain their six-point lead at the top of La Liga ahead of next week’s clash with second-place Atletico Madrid. A brace from Lionel Messi not only ensured the Argentine’s place in history as the most prolific scorer in any given calendar year, but also secured the three points for the visitors who were forced to ride their luck at times after Ruben Castro pulled a goal back before half-time.” Barca Blaugranes

“Josep Guardiola i Sala was born in Santpedor on 18 January 1971. After a highly successful career as a Barça player and then gaining promotion as manager of Barça Atlètic, he won fourteen out of a possible nineteen major titles during his four years in charge of the first team. That record was based on an unyielding commitment to the Club’s youth products and to a spectacular style of play built on possession football, passing and pace, which some have described as a re-invention of the game of football. He was, without a doubt, Barça’s best ever coach.” FC Barcelona

YouTube: The Guardiola System 2008-2012 (Video)

“Barcelona continued its amazing start to the La Liga season with another victory Saturday evening, with Lionel Messi’s 83rd and 84th goals of the calendar year helping the Catalan club trounce Athletic Bilbao at the Nou Camp. Two goals in three minutes — from Gerard Pique and a deflected Messi effort — midway through the opening 45 minutes put Barca firmly in the ascendancy and Adriano added a superb third in first-half stoppage time.” ESPN

La Liga: FC Barcelona 5-1 Athletic Bilbao: Match Review
“A recap of Barcelona’s 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou as goals from Lionel Messi (2), Gerard Pique, Adriano and Cesc Fabregas secured another three points for the Blaugrana. Barcelona produced a five-star performance to run-out 5-1 winners against Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou on Saturday night. Gerard Piqué’s opener got the ball rolling for the Blaugrana who raced into a 3-0 lead before half-time courtesy of goals from Lionel Messi and Adriano Correia. Cesc Fàbregas added a fourth soon after the interval, and while Ibai Gomez pulled one back for the visitors, Lionel Messi’s 21st league goal of the season (!) restored Barcelona four-goal lead and placed pressure on both Real and Atletico Madrid ahead of the Madrid derby.” Barca Blaugranes

All About FC Barcelona: FC Barcelona – 5 : 1 – Athletic Bilbao All Goals (Video)

“As Catalonia votes in an election that could lead to a referendum on independence from Spain, Sid Lowe looks at one of the region’s great cultural sporting icons, FC Barcelona, and its role in Catalan identity. Key figures in the club’s history, including Johan Cruyff, Joan Laporta and current vice-president Carles Vilarrubí explore Barça’s motto ‘more than a club’ and its role in today’s political landscape” Guardian (Video)

“For a guy who stands short of 6 feet and has spent the past few months holed up on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Pep Guardiola casts a huge shadow. In fact, you struggle to remember the last time a manager’s absence from the big time caused so much buzz around the game. Conventional wisdom has it that he can write his own ticket. And, in fact, he just about can. He could phone up just about any club in the world, say, ‘Hey, I’d like to be in charge there next year, what do you reckon?’ and you could probably count on one hand the clubs that would not return his call.” ESPN

“With this win, Tito’s Barça have now the best ever Liga start in club history, with 9 wins and 1 draw in the first ten matches. In spite of many more close scorelines than we were used to, this team is bringing in a series of excellent results. Tito deployed the following starting XI: VV, Adriano, Mascherano, Alba, Busquets, Cesc, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Messi and Villa. Initially, we thought Busquets would play as CB, but no, Tito decided to go for an exciting 3-4-3 to test our fortitude; Pinto, Alves, Montoya, Bartra, Song, Alexis and Tello were left on the bench, JDS was left out of the squad yet again. Only in Can Barça can you have two natural right-backs on the bench and decide to play a left-back in their place.” The Offside (Video)

“Lionel Messi was once again the inspiration as Barcelona underlined its La Liga title credentials with a thumping 5-0 win over Rayo Vallecano. Messi scored twice to take his tally for the calendar year to a hardly believable 73 as Barca, who struggled to see off Celtic in the Champions League in midweek, ran riot at the Campo de Futbol de Vallecas. It was not as comfortable for the visitors as the comprehensive scoreline suggested, however, and it was Rayo who looked more likely to score before David Villa broke the deadlock in the 20th minute.” ESPN

La Liga: Rayo Vallecano 0-5 FC Barcelona: Match Review
“Barcelona started slowly, but progressively improved en route to a Manita victory over Rayo Vallecano who put up a spirited performance against their league leading opponents. David Villa grabbed the opener on 20 minutes in an otherwise uneventful first half, but Barcelona pulled away after the break as Lionel Messi’s 48th minute strike was followed up by late goals from Xavi Hernández and Cesc Fàbregas, before the Argentine completed the Manita with his second of the evening. The win puts Barcelona three points clear at the top of La Liga, although Atletico Madrid can reduce that deficit tomorrow evening when they entertain Osasuna at the Estadio Vicente Calderon.” Barca Blaugranes

“Wow. What a game. First things first, we came out on top, and deservedly so, but boy, was that a roller coaster. After Barca’s three quick unanswered goals, naturally assumed this one would be in cruise control until the end. That notion was quickly dashed when Depor scored a dubious penalty then got another past Valdes. Fabressi calmed the nerves a bit right before the half combining to give us another, but the floor dropped out again when play resumed as Depor scored immediately off a free kick.” The Offside

“They say that you never really choose your football team. With little regard for your mental health, current (and prospective) relationships and general hopes and ambitions for the future, one big brutish bastard of a team will grab you by the hand and forcefully drag you down the aisle to be joined in irrational, passionate and bittersweet matrimony until the day you die. Not that it’s all bad – there are good times. Just enough of them to keep you blinded by hope when the shit invariably, and repeatedly, hits the fan (no pun intended).” In Bed With Maradona

“In the imagination of guidebook writers, who see places as they should be but rarely as they are, there is a passionate love affair between the city of Rosario and its famous progeny, global soccer star Leo Messi. I know this because it said so, right there on page 179 of the ‘Lonely Planet,’ which I thumbed through during the three hours of countryside between Buenos Aires and Messi’s hometown. An Irish ex-pat named Paul, my translator and friend, drove. He’d agreed to help me act on my obsession with Messi, who is one of the world’s most famous athletes, and most unknowable, the combination of which sucked me in. I’d been reading everything I could find, watching internet videos of him scoring one ridiculous goal after another for Barcelona. Other players seem to chase the ball, while Messi moves in concert with it, full speed to full stop.” ESPN

August 1936 – the Spanish Civil War has begun
“Sevilla FC 2:0 FC Barcelona – Up until the 72nd minute when Cesc Fabregas leveled the game with his second goal of the night, Culés worldwide had to reconcile with the idea of being dealt the first defeat in this ongoing 2012/2013 La Liga campaign. It’s not so much the idea of losing that is pestering, it happens to be best of sides. There’s no shame in losing to Sevilla FC at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. It’s about the manner in which an almost full-strength Barcelona side engaged with the match. FC Barcelona’s defense was quite simply horrible, whereas midfield and attack only fared marginally better. In the build-up to Sevilla’s first goal of the night Dani Alves decided to play spectator while Victor Valdes followed suit.” Sabotage Times

Sevilla FC 2, FC Barcelona 3, Or, Cesc Steals The Spotlight
“Just got off the phone to my insurance agent, who was telling me that being a Barça fan might from now on be considered as a pre-existing condition. I really couldn’t find anything to say to that, not when I still have palpitations from last night… Visits to the Sánchez Pizjuan are always difficult. Even if Sevilla’s anthem doesn’t impress you (and it should!), the constant noise and pressure of the crowd are like a twelfth player on the home side, and a particularly persistent and annoying one at that. For this match, Tito chose the following starting XI: VV, Alves, Song, Mascherano, Alba, Busquets, Xavi, Cesc, Pedro, Alexis and Messi.” The Offside (Video)

“A stunning 87th-minute goal from substitute Xavi set Barcelona on their way to a hard-fought 2-0 Primera Division victory over Granada at the Nou Camp. The Catalan giants had looked to be on the verge of dropping their first points under new coach Tito Vilanova as the visitors defended resolutely – and themselves looked dangerous on the counter-attack. But Xavi, a 53rd-minute replacement for Thiago Alcantara, finally broke the deadlock with a sublime goal three minutes from time, latching onto the ball on the edge of the box and bending a brilliant shot with the outside of his right foot into the top-left corner via the bar.” ESPN

La Liga: FC Barcelona 2-0 Granada CF: Match Review
“FC Barcelona left it late, scoring two goals in the final five minutes to earn themselves a hard-fought win over Granada at the Camp Nou, thus maintaining their 100% record at the top of La Liga. Just like in midweek against Spartak Moscow, Barcelona struggled to take their chances due to a combination of exceptional defending and a jaw-dropping performance from Toño in the Granada goal, but eventually their pressure paid off as Xavi broke the deadlock on 87 minutes with a stunning shot that crashed in off the underside of the crossbar.” Barca Blaugranes

Daniel de la Feuille in 1706
“Lionel Messi climbed off the bench to score twice while his fellow replacement David Villa was again on the mark as Barcelona continued its 100 percent start to the new La Liga season with a 4-1 victory over Getafe on Saturday. Adriano capitalized on good work by Cesc Fabregas to notch a 32nd-minute opener before the visitors added three more goals in the final 16 minutes to seal their fourth win in four league outings.” ESPN

La Liga: Getafe CF 1-4 FC Barcelona: Match Review
“FC Barcelona dominated Getafe en route to a comfortable 4-1 win in the Spanish capital. Despite injuries to key members of the starting XI such as Andrés Iniesta and Alexis Sanchez, Barcelona were always in control of the game and got their breakthrough in the 32nd minute through Adriano Correia. Lionel Messi was brought on around the hour mark as Tito Vilanova looked to seal the game and the Argentine made sure of all three points with a quick-fire brace – one goal from the penalty spot, and a second from all of six yards. Getafe pulled one back thanks to a Javier Mascherano own-goal before David Villa restored the three-goal advantage with a clinical finish in added-on time.” Barcablaugranes

“Barça are now the only Liga team to have started this season with three wins out of three, and will spend the international break at the top of the table, at the lofty height of nine points. The match against Valencia promised to be complicated, with them having taken a worthy 1-1 draw at the Bernabéu, and Barça still recovering from the mid-week disappointment, so Tito chose Valdés, Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Adriano, Song, Xavi, Cesc, Pedro, Alexis and Messi before trudging off to the stands to sit out the first of the two matches he’s suspended.” The Offside (Video)

Barcelona 1 – 0 Valencia
“Barcelona retained the only 100 per cent record in Spain’s Primera Division with a fine strike by Adriano sinking struggling Valencia 1-0. Barca, beaten by rivals Real Madrid in the Supercopa, could have beaten Manuel Pellegrino’s side by more goals had Cesc Fabregas not failed to take two good chances. Tito Vilanova almost saw his side pay for those missed chances as Roberto Soldado and Victor Ruiz both went close, the latter also having a goal disallowed for offside.” ESPN