Posts Tagged ‘fc barcelona’




Chelsea shocks FC Barcelona in Champions League Semi-Final

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

Fernando Torres (George Lynch, Wikimedia Commons)

There was a monumental upset in Barcelona, Spain on Tuesday. Chelsea defeated FC Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate to advance to the Champions League Final in Munich, Germany on May 19.

Chelsea, which led 1-0 heading into Tuesday’s action, seemed to have their chances of qualifying in the championship game diminished when they fell 2-0 and saw captain John Terry red carded for a first half foul.

But Chelsea showed an enormous amount of resiliency with one man down. Ramires put Chelsea in the driver’s seat with a goal right before half time. With this goal, Chelsea tied the two game total point series at two, but gave Chelsea the edge because they scored more road goals.

After FC Barcelona dominated the second half, Fernando Torres scored on a breakaway in injury time to give Chelsea the 3-2 win.

It is interesting because even though FC Barcelona dominated the play over the 180+ minutes, Chelsea’s roster is strong. In addition to Torres and Terry, they have Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Peter Cech.

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Posted in Soccer |

FC Barcelona wins UEFA Champions League Final

Saturday, May 28th, 2011

Lionel Messi (Darz Mol, Wikimedia Commons)

FC Barcelona is Europe’s best soccer team for the second time in three years.

On Saturday, FC Barcelona defeated Manchester United 3-1 at London’s Wembley Stadium in front of 62, 467 soccer fans.

It is FC Barcelona’s second title in the last three years and third in the last six years. Overall, Barcelona has won the title four times as they won their first UEFA Champions League in 1992.

On Saturday, FC Barcelona got goals from Pedro Rodriguez, Lionel Messi and David Villa. Wayne Rooney responded for Manchester United.

Messi, was named the top player, for delivering the game winning goal on a beautiful strike that broke a 1-1 deadlock nine minutes into the second half.

FC Barcelona played a brilliant defensive style of soccer as Manchester United only had one shot on net the entire game. FC Barcelona meanwhile had 12.

Even though Manchester United seemed to control the time of possession early in the first half, FC Barcelona dominated the majority of the final 45 minutes and controlled the play for 16 more minutes in all than Man U.

The 2012 UEFA Champions League Final will take place in Munich, Germany.

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Weekend Sports Preview–May 28 & 29–French Open, UEFA Champions League Final, MLB, Memorial Cup, Indianapolis 500

Friday, May 27th, 2011

Alex Tagliani (Wikimedia Commons)

The greatest auto race of the year takes place Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis.

It is the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500. (The race was not held for two years during World War One and for four years during World War Two). In 1911, Ray Harroun of the United States was the first winner. Over that time, drivers from ten separate nations have won the coveted race including Canada’s own Jacques Villeneuve in 1995.

Well in 2011, Montreal’s Alex Tagliani has a great chance in joining Villeneuve in making Canadian history. He will be on the pole representing Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ontario, an IndyCar rookie will start 13th, and Paul Tracy of West Hill, Ontario will start 24th.

There are also four women in the race. Joining American Danica Patrick, are Switzerland’s Simona de Silvestro, Brazil’s Ana Beatriz, and Great Britain’s Pippa Mann.

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Posted in Amateur Sports, ATP World Tour, Indy Racing League, MLB, More, Soccer, Western Hockey League |

Manchester United off to the UEFA Champions League Final

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

Anderson (Gordon Flood, Wikimedia Commons)

The final is now set for the 2011 UEFA Champions League.

This afternoon at Old Trafford, Manchester United trounced German based FC Schalke 04 4-0, and won 6-1 on aggregate.

Brazilian midfielder Anderson was the star for Manchester United Wednesday as he notched a pair of goals in the second half to give them a convincing lead.

Anderson also led Manchester United with four shots on goal.

Another interesting storyline from this one was how much more accurate the Manchester United players were compared to Schalke’s. Even though FC Schalke had 15 shots compared to Manchester United’s ten, FC Schalke only had three shots on goal compared to Manchester United’s eight.

Ecuadorian right winger Antonio Valencia and Irish midfielder Darron Gibson also found the back of the Schalke net.

Manchester United will not have to travel very far for the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final. England’s soccer superpower will play FC Barcelona at 12:45pm MT on May 28 at London’s Wembley Stadium.

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FC Barcelona advances to UEFA Champions League Final

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

Pedro Rodriguez Ledesma (Daniel Cort, Wikimedia Commons)

In an all-Spanish UEFA Champions League semi-final, FC Barcelona tied Real Madrid 1-1 this afternoon to win 3-1 on aggregate.

FC Barcelona had defeated Real Madrid 2-0 last week in Madrid to win the two game total point series.

Forward Pedro Rodriguez Ledesma of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain scored in the 54th minute to put Barcelona up 1-0 in the second game before Marcelo notched a goal for Real Madrid.

FC Barcelona had complete control of the game. Knowing they needed to completely self destruct in order to not advance to the final, FC Barcelona played a very strategic ball possession game (64%) in the pouring Barcelona rain.

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Posted in Soccer |