Xavi match-winner, Blaugrana win over Granada: 2-0

Xavi Hernandez scored three minutes from time to seal Barcelona’s hard-fought 2-0 home win over Granada on Saturday, keeping the Spanish leaders perfect through five rounds. A miraculous goal from the midfielder with just minutes to go, followed by an own goal, gave Barça the win in a gripping climax to a game against a surprisingly daring Granada. Goalkeeper Antonio “Tono” Rodriguez was keeping his net clean with an inspired performance until Xavi pounced on a loose ball at the top of the area and fired it off the underside of the crossbar to finally break through for the hosts. Barca moved on to 15 points from five games.

The first chance of the game fell to Lionel Messi, but surprisingly it didn’t bring the breakthrough goal. Dani Alves was the creator with a jaw-dropping diagonal pass into the area to pick out Messi’s run, but the Argentine was unusually slow on the trigger, allowing Granada to recover and make the block. However, Granada were not prepared to simply lie down and accept defeat. They fought hard and even took the game to Barcelona when they could, making life difficult for the Blaugrana.

The visitors started well, pressuring the Barcelona players into early mistakes, creating their first half-chance of sorts as early as the first minute. Dani Alves gave the ball away in midfield allowing Guilherme Siquiera to roam free down the left-hand side, but his cross was dealt with – at the second time of asking – by the Barca defense. Despite the early pressure, Barcelona quickly settled into the game, working the ball around the pitch – it was almost like a child’s game: everyone got a touch in the early stages.

It took 86 minutes for Barça to break down a surprisingly resistant Granada. An absolute cracker of a goal from Xavi finally rewarded the Catalans for their insistence, and won a match that looked to be slipping away from them. The Andalusians did a terrific job of containing the Barça onslaught, and if it hadn’t been for a terrific save from Valdés, the visitors could even have taken the lead with a mere five minutes left on the clock. But Xavi, who replaced David Villa in the 53rd after the Spain striker made his first start since breaking his leg last December, placed his right-footed strike in about the only place he could be sure Tono would not be able to reach to claim the win. As Barça made it five wins out of five, Valdés made a crucial save just seconds before Barça opened the scoring at the other end.

Barcelona started the second half well; David Villa displayed fabulous improvisational skills to deflect a low cross towards goal, but in doing so, he sent the shot straight at Tono. Alex Song also had a chance to open the scoring with a header though his effort lacked any real power, so Tono made another comfortable save. Clearly, Tito Vilanova had had enough and sent on the reinforcements: Xavi and Pedro were on, Thiago Alcantara and David Villa went off.

Messi's persistence then saw him squirm into the area and strike a low cross that was turned into his own net by Borja Gómez in time added on to destroy Granada's resistance. “We didn’t play an excellent match, and Tono was incredible and stopped everything,” said Xavi. “We were rescued by a shot from outside the area, practically just before the final whistle. When you don’t score early they just close up even more, but we tried until the end and got the win.”

Granada largely kept Barcelona out of its area, and even showed moments of attacking intent, in an evenly matched first half. And Tono’s numerous acrobatic saves to deny Barcelona after halftime gave the modest side hope that it would finally take at least a point away from Camp Nou Stadium after having lost in its 18 previous visits.

credits to: http://sports.inquirer.net/63612/xavi-gives-barcelona-2-0-win-over-granada

Quit smoking with Barça: Catalans to ‘kick’ smoking habit

Màs que un club: FC Barcelona will give their players and their channels of communication for a European campaign, jointly organised with the European Commission, to convince millions of Europeans fans into the boat and sport so quit. The President of FC Barcelona, Sandro Rosell, and the European Commissioner for health, John Dalli, launched this Mars in Brussels the campaign “Quit Smoking with Barca” (stop smoking with Barça). Participate in such initiatives, Rosell stated after the presentation ceremony, “is part of our DNA, because when in the farmhouse we are players and people an important part is the subject of health and we teach them to not smoke”. Some of the football played by Barcelona could definitely be described as smoking but the EC want Barca's help to help get everyone to kick the habit. ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ is the latest of the “Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable” campaign, and it is the first time that the European Commission has collaborated with a sporting partner. The programme aims not to judge smokers, but instead underlines the many benefits of quitting smoking, combining these positive messages with the evidence-based tools of the “Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable” campaign. The campaign will be powered by iCoach (www.exsmokers.eu), a free, proven digital health tool already helping almost a quarter of a million people across Europe (equivalent to 1 in every 500 smokers) in their quest to give up smoking for good. iCoach is available from today as an app for both for iPhone and Android.

Dr. Jordi Monés, the director responsible for Barça’s medical area, and pioneer of the club’s previous smoking cessation initiative, 'Barça Sense Fum' (Smoke-Free Barça), which saw a smoking ban across all Barça facilities said "Barça feels very proud to collaborate with an institution like the European Commission. We wanted to join forces with the biggest public body in Europe to convince people to take the first step towards smoke-free living.  Just as our fans support and cheer us to victory, through ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ (video) we will now support them through their toughest challenge -to quit smoking for good.” As the first action of the campaign, the Catalans, Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta and Víctor Valdés protagonists of a video that is distributed on the network, where they offer their support to those who want to quit smoking. FC Barcelona was to adopt a policy of free space without smoke at the Camp Nou to prevent tobacco to children who come to see to the Catalan Assembly in early 2012. Satisfied that the EC has had the boat for this initiative, Rosell has explained that the club made available the community campaign players of first team football to make action against smoking, permitted by the sports agenda.

The hurdle President emphasised Barca, following its philosophy of being “more than a club” must go beyond his sport role and contribute to European smokers have better health. For his part, Commissioner Dalli has stressed that FC Barcelona was “the logical choice” to engage in collaboration, since the Catalan club row “in the same direction” to the EC in the fight against tobacco: “Is a natural alliance that will give a boost to the campaign and will result in better results”. "Through this collaboration we will seek to help football supporters across Europe to take back control of their health and their lives, encouraging them to be as passionate about their health as they are about the “beautiful game,” said FC Barcelona President, Sandro Rosell speaking at the launch announcement at the European Commission Headquarters in Brussels. Quit Smoking with Barça’ offers supporters of Barça, football and sport in general a personalised health training programme with daily quit smoking tips and encouragement direct from the hearts and mouths of the club itself. If you've ever tried to kick the old woodbines yourself you'll know that all help is more than appreciated.