Llevant - FC Barcelona: Confidence boosting fightback (1-2) 

Two goals from Leo Messi in reply to an early opener from Barkero gave Barça the win against Levante to keep them just four points behind the leaders Madrid

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  PHOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ-FCB

The title race is still on as Barça chalked up yet another win to stay in touch with Real Madrid, who had earlier beaten Sporting 3-1, but it was hard work forGuardiola’s men, who had to come back from one down after Barkero had scored a first half penalty to give the hosts the lead. Barça were unable to pull level until the hour mark, when Messi took over, firing n a left footed drive from the edge of the box and then hammering home a brilliant penalty after Cuenca had been bundled over in the box.

Attention now switches to Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final againstChelsea, with the big one against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou next weekend on the horizon.

Early control

Barça began the game seven points adrift at the top, but they showed no nerves as they set about overcoming fifth placed Levante. With Alexis and Pedro both playing wide, there might not have been a natural target man up front, but Guardiola’s team were soon carving out chances, as both Pedro and Messi tested Munúa and Thiagohad a couple of good headed chances. The visitors were in charge, but Levante’s massed defence was always going to limit the clear chances on offer.

Barkero penalty

Levante were always going to be a danger on the break though and when once such speedy break resulted in a corner, the ref blew for a penalty after Busquets handled in the box and Barkero strode up to fire past Valdes and give his team the lead. In truth, Barça then found it hard to settle into their rhythm and looked a little slow as they tried to find their way through Levante’s defence for the equaliser and found it hard to create too many chances before the break.

Messi leads the fightback

At the start of the second half, Guardiola brought on Cuenca for Xavi and soon after replaced Pedro with Iniesta as he looked to dominate in the middle and open up the flanks, particularly through Cuenca, who started the move that ended in Messi’s equaliser on the hour mark. The Argentinean played a quick one-two on the edge of the box and curled in a great shot to set up an exciting last half hour.

Messi seals the win

Cuenca was also key to the winning goal when he was bundled over by Bothelo as he ran on to a clever return pass from Cesc. Despite the home players’ protestations, the ref pointed to the spot and Messi hammered the penalty home high to the keeper’s left for the winner. There was no way that Barça were going to let such a hard won lead slip and they controlled the game as the clock ran down to take the three point.

Focus switches to Chelsea 

The team arrived back from Valencia on Sunday morning and went straight to the Club’s training grounds for a warm-down sessionAfter the hard-fought win away to Levante, the players spent the night in Valencia before returning to Barcelona on Sunday morning. Immediately after touching down at Barcelona airport the players headed for the Club’s training grounds. A crowded schedule leaves no room to relax. On Wednesday, the reigning European champions face Chelsea in London and today’s training session marked the start of the final countdown to the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.

Keita back with the main group

The players who took part in the win against Levante focussed on recovering tired muscles while the rest of the squad, including Seydou Keita, who rejoined the main group, worked out as usual. Afellay, who was recently cleared for a return to action by Club doctors though he did not make the trip to Valencia, took a full part in training today. Nine players from the reserve squad - Tello, Montoya, Masip,Carmona, Armando, Rosell, Sergi Gómez, Gustavo and Espinosa – joined the seniors for today’s workout.

The next training session will be held on Monday afternoon before the squad travels to London. The game between Chelsea and Barça will kick off at 8.45 pm on Wednesday.

Mascherano: "Chelsea first"

Mascherano stressed that it would a mistake to focus on the Real Madrid game instead of Wednesday’s match at Stamford Bridge: “We’re in a Champions league semi-final”.

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  Mascherano / PHOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ - FCB

Messi and the squad

In answer to the question as to whether the team depends too much on Messi’s goals, Mascherano praised his fellow countryman’s goal scoring talents but also pointed to the contribution of other team-mates: “We know that we have a player who usually gives us at least a one goal or the final pass for other players. Messi makes the difference and having the best player in the world in your team means you tend to depend a bit on him because he’s goal-hungry and it’s very possible that in any match he can be the deciding element. But you have to say that sometimes it’s the goals of Cesc, Xavi, Alexis or Iniesta that have kept us alive”.

"We want to put the league out of our minds a bit and focus on Chelsea, because we have the chance of reaching the final of Europe’s top competition”. Speaking at Sunday’s press conference, Javier Mascheranoleft no-on in any doubt as to the players’ attitude in a week that will be key to the Club’s aspirations both in Europe and in La Liga.

Not surprisingly, he emphasised that the result of Wednesday’s match atStamford Bridge will be vital in the outcome of the tie: “It’ll be a really difficult tie that will depend a lot on getting a good result in the first leg against a team that has always been characterised by their tremendous physical strength, and which has some really experienced players”.

Wednesday’s match first

"The main thing right now is Wednesday’s match. Afterwards, we’ll think about the league and Real Madrid. We’re in a Champions League semi-final and we have a great opportunity to reach the final. It would be a really big mistake to focus on Real Madrid first, because Wednesday’s match is very difficult and will go a long way to deciding the tie”.

The Argentine international believes there’s “no room for error” in any of the competitions at this stage of the season and is proud of the spirit shown by the players game after game, as demonstrated by the comeback against Levante: “Faith is the last thing you lose and we have faith in what we can do. Then it depends, because you never know in football, but it’s important we have the right dynamic. Obviously the victory [against Levante] in the Ciutat de Valencia strengthens us, above all because we maintained the team spirit. It’s alive and well and won’t be beaten and keeps fighting against the odds”.

However, by his own admission, Mascherano is not too keen to talk about the ‘what ifs’ and so doesn’t want to go into whether a win against Real Madrid on Saturday would bring the league title a little closer: “We are all aware that even if we win all our matches in the league we still depend on other results. Real Madrid have a four-point lead and we’ll have to see if we’re capable of beating them next weekend. It’s not in our hands. But what’s real right now is Wednesday, Stamford Bridge, Chelsea".

The will to improve

Finally, Mascherano confirmed that he’s happy about his current form: “When you have a run in the side and you see that things are going well for the team then you improve individually as well. I’m in a team that demands individual improvement. The fact is that each and every one of us has to give that little bit extra, the best we can, especially at this stage of the season”.

Chelsea - FC Barcelona: Same teams, different trajectories 

Nine players in Barça’s starting XI that featured against Chelsea three years ago continue to play for Josep Guardiola’s team 

While Chelsea have won 4 titles since the 2008/09 season, Barça have claimed 13 

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  Xavi in the away leg of the Champions League semifinal of the 2008/09 season / PHOTO: ARXIU FCB

A lot can happen in three years and the paths taken by FC Barcelona and Chelsea, rivals in this season’s Champions League semifinal, prove it. The English team have won four titles (Community Shield in 2009, the 2009/10 Premier League and the FA Cup in 2009 and 2010) since Andrés Iniesta’s goal at Stamford Bridge in the return lef of the 2009 Champions League semifinal. Barça, on the other hand, have claimed 13 titles. 

Same group of players 

The basic makeup of the teams, however, have changed very little over these three years. Most of the players that featured in Chelsea’s starting XI against Barça in the 2008/09 semifinal are still with the team. The only players that no longer continue with the Club are Álex, Ballack and Anelka, while Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Lampard, Cole,Malouda, Essien and Drogba are still part of the London-based team. 

Of the 11 Barça players that played against Chelsea three years ago, 9 remain with the team. Only Touré andEto’o have left. In the 2009 semifinal, the average age of the squads, however, was fairly different: 28 years and 10 months for Chelsea and 25 years and 11 months for Barça. 

Three managers since Hiddink 

While Josep Guardiola continues to lead FC Barcelona, three different managers have graced the Chelsea bench since Guus Hiddink: Carlo Ancelotti (2009/11), André Villas-Boas (2011/12) and Roberto de Matteo, who started on the 4th of March.