Lionel Messi Won 2011 Fifa Ballon d'Or And Third Consecutive Player Of The Year Award.

Name: Lionel MESSI

Club: FC Barcelona

Country: Argentina

Position: Forward

Date of Birth: 24 June 1987 (age 24)

Defining moment of 2011: Running through the Madrid defence at the Bernabeu to score a stunning second in a 2-0 Champions League semi-final win


The three-time winner stuck to players from his club and nation when voting and set his sights on winning the World Cup in 2014. Lionel Messi revealed that he stayed faithful to his Barcelona and Argentina team-mates when it came to casting his own votes for the 2011 Fifa Ballon d'Or.The 24-year-old lifted his third consecutive Player of the Year award on Monday evening, equalling the record of Michel Platini.

"I am enjoying the fact that today my nation feels proud of me, prouder than they ever have before. It is something brilliant, they are showing me that [pride] and I appreciate in the prizes I have received and the recognition from both my country and my home city in more than anything is the love of the people and i noticed it in the short time I was in Buenos Aires and Rosario, walking in the street a young boy came up to me to i feel loved."

Messi's Barcelona won the Primera Division, Supercopa, Champions League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup in 2011 to 3rd straight Ballon d'Or success for Messi, who has now won the 1st two awards and the prestigious prize was merged with Fifa's World Player of the Year gong in 2010.

Messi was the clear favourite to claim the title after helping Barca to a third straight Liga title in 2011 and a second Champions League success in three years to a Argentine reveived 47.88 per cent of the overall vote, Cristiano claiming 21.6% and Xavi in third with 9.23%.

And Cruyff, who has watched Messi emerge at Barca over the last few years, believes the Argentine can go on to claim the award six or seven times and the argentine scored 59 goals in 70 appearances for club and country in 2011, including 55 in 57 for Barcelona. He also racked up an incredible 35 assists in the calendar year.

BARCELONA QUEEN OF EUROPE 2011

BARCELONA QUEEN OF EUROPE 2011

Wembley once again

David Saura (enviat especial)

Barça gave a footballing lesson at the home of football tonight. Guardiola’s team claimed the title back with an exhibition of football never seen before in the final. The Club now have four European Cups and are the envy of the world.

Guardiola promised that his players would deliver and they certainly did at Wembley tonight as they turned on the Barça style to see off one of the best teams in the world, Manchester United, who were helpless against the tide of footballing brilliance that Barça showed.

It was Wembley that was the scene for another great success as this Barça, who combine tradition and modernity made the passage from Cruyff’s team’s win at the grand old Wembley to Guardiola’s victory at the new stadium. From romanticism to the avant-garde in football –it’s taken just 19 years for Barça to make that journey!

Into the European pantheon

Barça’s win takes them up into the pantheon of European greats, with four European Cups to their name. Four titles that truly do justice to a Club who have raced to their titles under Johan Cruyff, Frank Rijkaard and Josep Guardiola – three coaches who have given continuity to the Club’s success with their way of understanding the game.

But it’s been Guardiola who has made most of the formula invented by Cruyff. Proof of Guardiola’s commitment to the Club’s philosophy is the fact that seven of his starting players in the last two Champions League finals have been products of La Masia. He has also built a solid defence for his attacking players’ brilliance to sit on and brought out the very best form his stars with his empathy and understanding. He’s also spent hours and hours studying the game, the opposition and his own players’ abilities and that helps explains his phenomenal success – 10 titles as a manager in just three years. It’s this tenth title that has proved the qualitative leap for Guardiola - as he has become the only Barça manager to win two Champions League titles and at just 40, he has become the youngest ever manager to lift the trophy twice - beating José Mourinho’s previous record.

Guardiola’s success has also put him alongside Sir Alex Ferguson as the leading coach in Europe- just like the Scot, Guardiola embodies the values of a Club and his teams always have the stamp of their manager’s commitment to the attacking, attractive style of play that has become synonymous with Barça.

Players are the cornerstone

For all Guardiola’s success though, it’s the players who have also, as the boss would be the first to admit, been the cornerstone of the team’s success. Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Villa, Pedro, Piqué... all the names that every youngster aspires to emulate right now. Above all though, it’s Messi who has delivered week in and week out, with an astonishing 53 goals this season, with tonight’s his 12th in the Champions League, a total never before achieved in the competition.

Ferguson predicted “the game of the decade” and tonight’s final has confirmed Barça’s position at the top of contemporary football - a win against a team who have rivalled Barça over recent years and that give it an importance that the fans’ mosaic before the game: “We love football” perfectly sums up.

~~~VIEW THE GOALS HERE! HIGHLIGHTS ! ~~~

SOURCES : www.uefa.com

www.fcbarcelona.com

www.youtube.com

BARCELONA QUEEN OF EUROPE 2011

BARCELONA QUEEN OF EUROPE 2011

Wembley once again

David Saura (enviat especial)

Barça gave a footballing lesson at the home of football tonight. Guardiola’s team claimed the title back with an exhibition of football never seen before in the final. The Club now have four European Cups and are the envy of the world.

Guardiola promised that his players would deliver and they certainly did at Wembley tonight as they turned on the Barça style to see off one of the best teams in the world, Manchester United, who were helpless against the tide of footballing brilliance that Barça showed.

It was Wembley that was the scene for another great success as this Barça, who combine tradition and modernity made the passage from Cruyff’s team’s win at the grand old Wembley to Guardiola’s victory at the new stadium. From romanticism to the avant-garde in football –it’s taken just 19 years for Barça to make that journey!

Into the European pantheon

Barça’s win takes them up into the pantheon of European greats, with four European Cups to their name. Four titles that truly do justice to a Club who have raced to their titles under Johan Cruyff, Frank Rijkaard and Josep Guardiola – three coaches who have given continuity to the Club’s success with their way of understanding the game.

But it’s been Guardiola who has made most of the formula invented by Cruyff. Proof of Guardiola’s commitment to the Club’s philosophy is the fact that seven of his starting players in the last two Champions League finals have been products of La Masia. He has also built a solid defence for his attacking players’ brilliance to sit on and brought out the very best form his stars with his empathy and understanding. He’s also spent hours and hours studying the game, the opposition and his own players’ abilities and that helps explains his phenomenal success – 10 titles as a manager in just three years. It’s this tenth title that has proved the qualitative leap for Guardiola - as he has become the only Barça manager to win two Champions League titles and at just 40, he has become the youngest ever manager to lift the trophy twice - beating José Mourinho’s previous record.

Guardiola’s success has also put him alongside Sir Alex Ferguson as the leading coach in Europe- just like the Scot, Guardiola embodies the values of a Club and his teams always have the stamp of their manager’s commitment to the attacking, attractive style of play that has become synonymous with Barça.

Players are the cornerstone

For all Guardiola’s success though, it’s the players who have also, as the boss would be the first to admit, been the cornerstone of the team’s success. Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Villa, Pedro, Piqué... all the names that every youngster aspires to emulate right now. Above all though, it’s Messi who has delivered week in and week out, with an astonishing 53 goals this season, with tonight’s his 12th in the Champions League, a total never before achieved in the competition.

Ferguson predicted “the game of the decade” and tonight’s final has confirmed Barça’s position at the top of contemporary football - a win against a team who have rivalled Barça over recent years and that give it an importance that the fans’ mosaic before the game: “We love football” perfectly sums up.

~~~VIEW THE GOALS HERE! HIGHLIGHTS ! ~~~

SOURCES : www.uefa.com

www.fcbarcelona.com

www.youtube.com

Barcelona-Arsenal 2011

Into the quarters with magic and drama (3-1)

Jordi Clos

On a magical evening, Barça outplayed Arsenal to make amends for the 2-1 defeat in the first leg. Leo Messi made it 1-0 before the break, and the Catalans clinched it in the second half through Xavi and Messi. Barça are back in the quarter finals.

Talent and pride have guided FC Barcelona into the quarter finals of the Champions League in a gripping encounter with Arsenal. There was no arguing who dominated the possession. It was Barça, while the Premiership side had clearly only come to defend the 2-1 lead from London. They succeeded until Messi broke the deadlock just before the break. What followed was an absolute thriller of a second half, where Arsenal managed to tie the game without having managed a single shot on target. In the end, Xavi and Messi responded by finding the target and securing Barça’s passage into the second round.

Barça on the attack

Things started well for Barça. They had Arsenal absolutely smothered and created constant pressure, with Busquets and Mascherano simply magnificent. All the football was in Arsenal’s half, and things looked even worse for them when in the 18th minute they were obliged to switch their injured keeper Szczesny for Almunia. But the English club managed to weather the storm with some very intense defending, although the home fans may have had a point when they screamed for a penalty on Messi.

Messi passes judgement

Despite Barça’s staggering dominance, they were missing that extra spark to convert it into goals. Adriano came closest when he hit the post after a zippy 36th minute run down the left, but five minutes into first half injury time, it looked like it would still be all-square at the break. But then Iniesta found Messi, and the Argentinian cheekily chipped the ball over Almunia and met the ball as it came down to make it 1-0.

Equaliser and Van Persie off

In the first half, Barcelona had looked the only side that wanted to win it, but Arsenal were now obliged to take more risks. It became a feast of end-to-end football, and then in the 53rd minute, the Gunners equalised when Busquets headed a corner into his own net. The Londoners hadn’t had a single shot on target, yet they were back level! But then came another unexpected twist, when Van Persie got himself sent off for shooting when offside, a second bookable offence, and from there on Barcelona had the game under their complete control.

Just rewards

It was disturbingly similar situation to the one we had against Inter a in the semi finals last year. But Arsenal are no Italians. Enjoying even more space than ever, it was only some last-ditch defending and excellent interventions by Almunia that kept the score level. The second goal finally came in the 69th minute when Iniesta, Villa and Xavi produced a brilliant combination play, and the latter completed the move with the kind of brilliance we have come to expect of him. This scoreline would have sent the game into extra time, but the Catalans didn’t want to wait, and Messi made it 3-1 by converting a clear penalty on Pedro. The Camp Nou could start celebrating.

Quality and sacrifice

Facing Barça’s passing machine and with one man less was proving too much for Arsenal, and they were visibly tired of being outnumbered and outclassed. But there were twenty minutes left to play and one goal was still all they needed to qualify. The Barça fans had their hearts in their mouths when Danish striker found himself through on goal in the 87th minute, but a match-saving tackle from Mascherano saved the day. Ultimately, the best side clearly won, and Barça also showed that they know how to battle for the right result. They are into the last eight and the Wembley dream is still very much alive.

Source : www.fcbarcelona.cat

www.uefa.com

Barcelona-Arsenal 2011

Into the quarters with magic and drama (3-1)

Jordi Clos

On a magical evening, Barça outplayed Arsenal to make amends for the 2-1 defeat in the first leg. Leo Messi made it 1-0 before the break, and the Catalans clinched it in the second half through Xavi and Messi. Barça are back in the quarter finals.

Talent and pride have guided FC Barcelona into the quarter finals of the Champions League in a gripping encounter with Arsenal. There was no arguing who dominated the possession. It was Barça, while the Premiership side had clearly only come to defend the 2-1 lead from London. They succeeded until Messi broke the deadlock just before the break. What followed was an absolute thriller of a second half, where Arsenal managed to tie the game without having managed a single shot on target. In the end, Xavi and Messi responded by finding the target and securing Barça’s passage into the second round.

Barça on the attack

Things started well for Barça. They had Arsenal absolutely smothered and created constant pressure, with Busquets and Mascherano simply magnificent. All the football was in Arsenal’s half, and things looked even worse for them when in the 18th minute they were obliged to switch their injured keeper Szczesny for Almunia. But the English club managed to weather the storm with some very intense defending, although the home fans may have had a point when they screamed for a penalty on Messi.

Messi passes judgement

Despite Barça’s staggering dominance, they were missing that extra spark to convert it into goals. Adriano came closest when he hit the post after a zippy 36th minute run down the left, but five minutes into first half injury time, it looked like it would still be all-square at the break. But then Iniesta found Messi, and the Argentinian cheekily chipped the ball over Almunia and met the ball as it came down to make it 1-0.

Equaliser and Van Persie off

In the first half, Barcelona had looked the only side that wanted to win it, but Arsenal were now obliged to take more risks. It became a feast of end-to-end football, and then in the 53rd minute, the Gunners equalised when Busquets headed a corner into his own net. The Londoners hadn’t had a single shot on target, yet they were back level! But then came another unexpected twist, when Van Persie got himself sent off for shooting when offside, a second bookable offence, and from there on Barcelona had the game under their complete control.

Just rewards

It was disturbingly similar situation to the one we had against Inter a in the semi finals last year. But Arsenal are no Italians. Enjoying even more space than ever, it was only some last-ditch defending and excellent interventions by Almunia that kept the score level. The second goal finally came in the 69th minute when Iniesta, Villa and Xavi produced a brilliant combination play, and the latter completed the move with the kind of brilliance we have come to expect of him. This scoreline would have sent the game into extra time, but the Catalans didn’t want to wait, and Messi made it 3-1 by converting a clear penalty on Pedro. The Camp Nou could start celebrating.

Quality and sacrifice

Facing Barça’s passing machine and with one man less was proving too much for Arsenal, and they were visibly tired of being outnumbered and outclassed. But there were twenty minutes left to play and one goal was still all they needed to qualify. The Barça fans had their hearts in their mouths when Danish striker found himself through on goal in the 87th minute, but a match-saving tackle from Mascherano saved the day. Ultimately, the best side clearly won, and Barça also showed that they know how to battle for the right result. They are into the last eight and the Wembley dream is still very much alive.

Source : www.fcbarcelona.cat

www.uefa.com

Barça bounce back in style (5-1)

Barça bounce back in style (5-1)

FC Barcelona have started their Champions League campaign with a more than convincing 5-1 win over Panathinaikos. Messi (2), who also missed a penalty, Villa, Pedro and Alves were on target.

On Tuesday night, Barcelona showed that they have regained everything that was missing at the weekend. Guardiola’s side played its characteristic passing game, using the wings effectively, displaying grit and determination, and also coping admirably with the adversity of going a goal behind. Ignoring that initial setback, Barça went on to steamroll their way past Panathinaikos on the basis of simply exquisite football. Messi was also back to his subliminal best, and could have completed a hat trick had he converted a second half penalty. Villa scored his first European goal for his new club, and Pedro and Alves rounded off a wonderful evening at the Camp Nou.

FC Barcelona go top of the group on goal difference ahead of Copenhagen, who also have three points after scoring a late winner against Barça’s next opponent, Rubin Kazan.

Govou puts Greeks ahead

Barça soon put the nightmare of Hercules behind, and took the game straight to a Panathinaikos side that seemed happy to speculate. Neither was the Greek outfit the tough-tackling kind of opponent Barça often have to deal with, for they didn’t even commit a foul in the first quarter hour. But just when it looked like the Catalans were in for an easy night, a long clearance from goalkeeper Tzorvas found Cissé, whose classy backheel put Govou in a wonderful position, and the French international made no mistake.

Immediate reaction

There was no way Barça deserved to be behind, and they knew it. Determined not to allow any repeat of Saturday’s debacle, the home side responded straight from the restart. Within a minute, Xavi had found Messi, and the Argentinian stroked home the equaliser. Twelve minutes later, Xavi was involved in another goal, this time sending in a corner that Busquets nodded on to Villa, who slotted home from the far post.

Messi shows his class

It was just before the break that we witnessed the goal of the night, and it was that man Messi again. Moments after inexplicably hitting the crossbar, an intricate series of one-twos with Xavi and Pedro left the Greek defence in total disarray. From going a goal down, it had taken Barça just 24 minutes to as good as assure themselves of victory.

Two more gifts

It was more of the same after the break – one way traffic heading towards Greek stopper Tzorvas, who despite conceding five goals was probably the best player in the visiting side. It was he who saved an uncharacteristically sloppy spotkick from Messi, but there was nothing he could to stop Barça’s fourth. Messi looked to have cheekily scored from an insanely narrow angle, but the ball bounced off one post and then the other before landing in the path of Pedro, who simply had to tap it home.

It looked like it was going to end 4-1, but Barça still had another ace up their sleeve. Three minutes into injury time, Messi placed the ball on Alves’ head, and the Brazilian sent the ball looping overt the flailing keeper and into the Panathinaikos net. An altogether extraordinary performance from Barcelona, which leaves them riding high at the top of Group D

Barça bounce back in style (5-1)

Barça bounce back in style (5-1)

FC Barcelona have started their Champions League campaign with a more than convincing 5-1 win over Panathinaikos. Messi (2), who also missed a penalty, Villa, Pedro and Alves were on target.

On Tuesday night, Barcelona showed that they have regained everything that was missing at the weekend. Guardiola’s side played its characteristic passing game, using the wings effectively, displaying grit and determination, and also coping admirably with the adversity of going a goal behind. Ignoring that initial setback, Barça went on to steamroll their way past Panathinaikos on the basis of simply exquisite football. Messi was also back to his subliminal best, and could have completed a hat trick had he converted a second half penalty. Villa scored his first European goal for his new club, and Pedro and Alves rounded off a wonderful evening at the Camp Nou.

FC Barcelona go top of the group on goal difference ahead of Copenhagen, who also have three points after scoring a late winner against Barça’s next opponent, Rubin Kazan.

Govou puts Greeks ahead

Barça soon put the nightmare of Hercules behind, and took the game straight to a Panathinaikos side that seemed happy to speculate. Neither was the Greek outfit the tough-tackling kind of opponent Barça often have to deal with, for they didn’t even commit a foul in the first quarter hour. But just when it looked like the Catalans were in for an easy night, a long clearance from goalkeeper Tzorvas found Cissé, whose classy backheel put Govou in a wonderful position, and the French international made no mistake.

Immediate reaction

There was no way Barça deserved to be behind, and they knew it. Determined not to allow any repeat of Saturday’s debacle, the home side responded straight from the restart. Within a minute, Xavi had found Messi, and the Argentinian stroked home the equaliser. Twelve minutes later, Xavi was involved in another goal, this time sending in a corner that Busquets nodded on to Villa, who slotted home from the far post.

Messi shows his class

It was just before the break that we witnessed the goal of the night, and it was that man Messi again. Moments after inexplicably hitting the crossbar, an intricate series of one-twos with Xavi and Pedro left the Greek defence in total disarray. From going a goal down, it had taken Barça just 24 minutes to as good as assure themselves of victory.

Two more gifts

It was more of the same after the break – one way traffic heading towards Greek stopper Tzorvas, who despite conceding five goals was probably the best player in the visiting side. It was he who saved an uncharacteristically sloppy spotkick from Messi, but there was nothing he could to stop Barça’s fourth. Messi looked to have cheekily scored from an insanely narrow angle, but the ball bounced off one post and then the other before landing in the path of Pedro, who simply had to tap it home.

It looked like it was going to end 4-1, but Barça still had another ace up their sleeve. Three minutes into injury time, Messi placed the ball on Alves’ head, and the Brazilian sent the ball looping overt the flailing keeper and into the Panathinaikos net. An altogether extraordinary performance from Barcelona, which leaves them riding high at the top of Group D