2012's FC Barcelona account on Facebook

This year, FC Barcelona has consolidated its position as the leading sports club on global social networks. Recently named the top sports site by Starcount.com in its 'Social Media Chart Toppers’ for its management of social networks, the Club’s Facebook page has grown by 14 million users this year and now has 38 million followers.

Here are the most popular posts, ordered by month, which featured on the Club’s official Facebook page during 2012.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/fcbarcelona-on-social-networks-in-2012

Excitement returns with Atletico

It’s been 16 years since the teams last met as the top two in the league 

This is a fixture that is traditionally full of goals - particularly the games between the two in the mid-90s
That last meeting was in week 37 of the 1995/6 season when the Madrid team came to the Camp Nou with a three point lead at the top over Johan Cruyff’s team and Radomir Antic’s team virtually sealed the title with a 1-3 win.

Long tradition

Games between the two have a long history of producing plenty of excitement and goals and in fact the fixture hasn’t ended goalless at all over the last 40 years. Barça have been on top over the last few seasons with big results like the 5-0 win in 2011/12, 3-0 in 2010/11, 5-2 in 2009/10 and 6-1 in 2008/09.

Those last few results echoed the great games in the mid-nineties with the four games between the two at the Camp Nou between 1993 and 1997 ending 4-3, 5-3, 1-3 and 3-3. Those were some close and decisive games to decide the destiny of the league title and Sunday’s promises to be just as crucial.
That last meeting was in week 37 of the 1995/6 season when the Madrid team came to the Camp Nou with a three point lead at the top over Johan Cruyff’s team and Radomir Antic’s team virtually sealed the title with a 1-3 win.

Mascherano: Messi has been touched by a magic wand

Javier Mascherano feels that Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi is the best player the world has ever seen following his goalscoring exploits in 2012.

Messi broke Gerd Muller's long-standing record of 85 goals in one calendar year in the Liga match against Betis at the weekend, and added two more strikes to his tally in the 2-0 Copa del Rey win over Cordoba on Wednesday.

"Messi is unique, he’s the best player in the history of the sport. The numbers say so," Mascherano was quoted as saying on the club's official website.
"We’re talking about 88 goals as if it were normal - what he’s done is incredible. Messi has been touched by a magic wand."

Mascherano also briefly discussed the Blaugrana's win over Cordoba, and stressed that the Copa del Rey tie is not over just yet.

"We have a good result but we still have to play at home. Cordoba pushed us to the limit. They were brave and they pressured us a lot."
The second leg takes place at Camp Nou on January 10.

Cordoba v Barça: Did you know......

FC Barcelona have their last cup game of 2012 tonight away to Cordoba in the round of 16, and here we look at some of the trivia surrounding the match:
• FC Barcelona face Cordoba, conquerors of Real Sociedad, for only the second time in the history of this competition.
• They last met way back in 1963/64, when Barça beat Cordoba by an aggregate score of 6-3, and also in the round of 16. They won the first keg in Andalusia 2-1.
• They have also met 16 times in the league (11 Barça wins, 4 for the Andalusians and one draw). When Cordoba have had home advantage, the record is tighter: three FCB wins, four for Cordoba and one draw.
• Four Barça players have played all 180 minutes of the cup campaign so far, namely Pinto, Montoya, Mascherano and Sergi Roberto.
• The players in tonight’s squad include five that have yet to feature in the competition this season: Piqué, Xavi, Messi, Pedro and Jordi Alba.

• David Villa, with three goals against Alavés, is FCB’s top scorer in the current edition of the Copa del Rey. The other goalscorers have been Iniesta, Cesc, Adriano and Tello
• If Montoya plays, it will be his 25th appearance for Barcelona. He has so far featured in 19 wins, 3 draws and two defeats.

• Cordoba have not won in the Second Division for four games. They have suffered three defeats and drawn once since their last victory on November 11, 5-3 away to Ponferradina• They are currently eleventh with 23 points, four points short of the promotion play-off zone and 7 clear of the relegation spots.

• Cordoba reached this round last season as well, eventually going out to an 88th minute goal from Espanyol in a gripping second leg.

Barcelona FC to train school kids in Chandigarh

CHANDIGARH: Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Xavi Hernandes - these footballers have become household names in the world after their superb performance over the years for FC Barcelona. But have you ever thought how did these names evolve over the years. Well, the answer is Barcelona's football academy 'FCBescola' which catches talented footballers at a young age and grooms them over a period of 10 years, imparting them training besides honing their soccer school.

Now, FCBescola, the Barcelona-based football training school, has decided to come to India and train youngsters so that they can tap precocious talent at a young age and place them under the same model that players like Messi, Iniesta and Xavi.

After conducting clinics all over India including national capital Delhi, the 'FCBescola' has decided to initiate a football camp in Chandigarh. The camp, which will be held between December 24-28, will be supervised by Antoni Claviera, Technical Director of FCBescola India. After the camp, players will be earmarked and then called for the larger trials, which will be held in Delhi for a period of 1 month in January 2013.

Speaking on the occasion, Antoni Claviera said, "The Barca methodology is a unique way of understanding the game of football. We focus on overall development of each kid and put emphasis on FB values - tolerance, respect, solidarity, friendship, community spirit and integration. These values are very important for us."

The camps are being organized in India by a body named Conscient Football who have roped in Barcelona as their partners. Announcing the camp in the city beautiful, Anu Jain, Director of Conscient Football said, "Over the past few years, we have closely followed the growth of football in Chandigarh. The city with so much of sporting energy and talent was our natural choice to hold the fabled FC Barcelona camps. We shall bring a host of opportunities for kids across India to learn football the Barca way. We are also scouting kids through our camps for the FCBescola academy, which is due to open in Delhi NCR by early next year."

The camps are being organized in India by a body named Conscient Football who have roped in Barcelona as their partners. Announcing the camp in the city beautiful, Anu Jain, Director of Conscient Football said, "Over the past few years, we have closely followed the growth of football in Chandigarh. The city with so much of sporting energy and talent was our natural choice to hold the fabled FC Barcelona camps. We shall bring a host of opportunities for kids across India to learn football the Barca way. We are also scouting kids through our camps for the FCBescola academy, which is due to open in Delhi NCR by early next year."