In what will be remembered as Pep Guardiola's final match with Barcelona (for now) Lionel Messi sandwiched his astounding 73 goal of the season inbetween two Pedro strikes, all within the first 25 minutes, to lead Barcelona to the Copa del Rey title over Athletic Bilbao.

Messi's right-footed roof job (full highlights above) rounded his out of league goal total up to 23 for the year, which would be considered a spectacular haul for anyone over the course of an entire league season, let alone just in tournaments outside of league play.

The world saw the genius of Leo Messi flower under Guardiola

And so the coach of the Blaugrana, the one who won in his four years every title that needed to be won, appears in his final match, the Copa Del Rey finals against Athletic Bilbao today. Josep "Pep" Guardiola comes full circle against a team whose 4-1 defeat gave Barcelona a triple crown and capped an extra-ordinary coaching debut for the 37 year old.

Barcelona's Tactical Outlook Post-Guardiola - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

When you look upon FC Barcelona as a squad, you might think you are looking at a squad that is almost perfect in every way.

They have a squad with experienced players that know each other well. Because they know each other, they play exceptionally well together.

Liverpool is a possible destination for Valencia coach Unai Emery, according to Valencia Plaza.
Emery is set to leave Los Che when his contract expires on 30th June, with the Mestalla faithful having grown disillusioned with the club's failure to challenge Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga.
Memories of the heady days of Rafael Benitez are still fresh in Valencia and Emery's inability to move his side beyond third spot is causing Los Che to look elsewhere, despite the Spaniard having to operate with a significantly smaller budget than the Blaugrana and Los Blancos.

Wasn't this the golden age of FC Barcelona?
Barely a week ago the blaugrana were going for a clean sweep of trophies as their legend as the greatest football team of all time continued to be told.
Now Barça are out of the Champions League and have handed their Spanish title to Real Madrid with a loss to their arch-rivals at the Camp Nou.

Thiago celebrates goal in 0-7 victory over Rayo Vallecano (Photo: Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Barcelona rebounded from perhaps the most devastating week in team history to trounce Rayo Vallecano 7-0 in Madrid on Sunday night. Amidst all the heartbreak of the last few days: losing to Real Madrid in the Camp Nou, being eliminated from the Champions League, seeing their league hegemony as three-time defending champions come to an end and bidding goodbye to Josep Guardiola, the greatest coach in team history, the Catalans responded with a dominant performance to return to winning ways.

If you were wondering how much it costs to finish second in La Liga and get knocked out the Champions League semifinal by nine men and Fernando Torres, the answer is $217,014,221.

That, according to the salary survey in ESPN's latest Money Issue, was Barcelona's total payroll at the start of the 2011/12 season, making them the highest-paying sports team in the world for the second year running.

Racing Santander became the first team in the Spanish Primera Division to be relegated after a 3-0 defeat to Real Sociedad on Saturday. Racing went into the game knowing that a win no matter how how vital, would not keep them from escaping the relegation axe.

After 34 matches, Racing were at the bottom of the league standings having only garnered 26 points.

Pep celebrating with team following 2011 Champions League Victory (Photo: REUTERS/Paul Hanna)

A Fond Farewell to Señor Blaugrana

When Guardiola, earlier this afternoon, confirmed the suspicions that he was stepping down as manager, my mind immediately took me back to May, 2008.

TweetPep Guardiola has announced his decision to leave Barcelona at the end of the season prompting a tearful Rolly Pelovangu to look back fondly at his time at the Camp Nou. Josep 'Pep' Guardiola joined La Blaugrana as coach in June 2008 having taken over from Frank Rijkaard after the Catalan giants limped to a [.

TweetPep Guardiola has announced his decision to leave Barcelona at the end of the season prompting a tearful Rolly Pelovangu to look back fondly to his time at the Camp Nou. Josep 'Pep' Guardiola joined La Blaugrana in June 2008 having taken over from Frank Rijkaard after the Catalan giants limped to a poor third [.

Pep Guardiola leaving Barcelona- Catalans confirm Tito Vilanova as new Barca manager is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Pep Guardiola leaving Barcelona- Catalans confirm Tito Vilanova as new Barca manager is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has confirmed that he will be leaving the Blaugrana at the end of the current 2011/2012 season.

Puyol can't hide frustration as Chelsea knock them out of Champions League (Photo: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images)

What a week. After suffering a league-deciding 2-1 defeat to Madrid on Saturday, Barcelona's 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou against 10-man Chelsea now sees the Catalans bow out of Europe's elite tournament.

Barcelona's failure in reaching the Champions League final along with their league defeat against Real Madrid previously, could very well lead into a certain important decision made by the club's management including their tactician, Pep Guardiola.

This indication was hinted by Guardiola himself, who during the press conference after the game between Barcelona against Chelsea, admitted that he will held talks with the Catalan's management to discuss about his and the club's future.

TweetJose Mourinho has secretly been advising his old Chelsea players how they can beat Champions League semi-final opponents Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Chelsea take a 1-0 first-leg lead to Catalunya after Didier Drogba's first half strike proved the difference at Stamford Bridge last week. Having seen his side overcome La Blaugrana at the Camp [.

Frustration as FC Barcelona fall 1-2 and La Liga slips away (Photo: JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images)

Well, it's over. Any notions of Barcelona mounting a league comeback were swept away after Real Madrid battled to a 2-1 victory under pouring rain at the Camp Nou on Saturday evening.

Puyol and Iniesta walk from the pitch in frustration following 1-0 loss at The Bridge (Photo: LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty Images)

In what can only be described as the most underwhelming victory of all-time, Chelsea pulled the ultimate smash-and-grab job, defending for their lives all match, while scoring with their only shot of the game to steal a 1-0 victory heading into the return leg at the Camp Nou next Tuesday.

It's been three years since Barca has last met Chelsea in the Champions League. On that rather controversial night, FC Barcelona secured their first Champions League final birth under Guardiola courtesy of a sensational strike from Andres Iniesta, the Ghost face in the very dying moments of the match.

Make or break week for Barcelona as Chelsea and Real Madrid prepare to test the European champions - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Barcelona's mantle as the best team in Europe is set to be tested over the next week, with three mouth-watering fixtures ready to challenge Pep Guardiola's men.

Okay so we know that Pele's comparison comments between Messi and Neymar were a little bit extreme however, Argentine legend Diego Maradona's retaliatory comments are nothing to write home about either.

"My God, that is just stupid," Maradona said.

"Maybe Neymar is the best player in the world, but only if you say that Messi is from a different planet.

Alexis brace helps FC Barcelona past Getafe (Photo: REUTERS/Albert Ge)

Barcelona moved to within one point of league leaders Real Madrid with a comprehensive 4-0 thrashing of Getafe at the Camp Nou on Tuesday night.

A brace from Alexis Sanchez, a header from Pedro and another moment of sheer brilliance from Messi rounded out the scoring, as Barcelona capitalized on Madrid's latest stumble to situate themselves within striking distance of first place in the Primera Division standings.

Messi celebrates goal with Cesc Fabregas (Photo: REUTERS/Albert Gea)

Barcelona rallied from a goal down to defeat Real Zaragoza 4-1 at La Romareda on Saturday night, closing the gap at the top of the provisional La Liga standings to just three points with seven matches remaining.

The hosts came into the match riding a three-game winning streak, hoping to pull off the upset of the season and hand the reigning champions a potentially lethal blow in their quest to retain the league crown.

Barça's 30 passes.

The day after we had a decent discussion focusing on possession not always leading to substance, Barcelona exhibited exactly how you can pass a team to death, and complete such exquisite sequences with an end product. The blaugrana were in great form when they traveled to Zaragoza, gliding to a 4-1 victory.

Andres Iniesta celebrates goal against AC Milan in 3-1 victory and berth in Champions League semi-finals (Photo: AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

A pair of spot kicks and a second-half strike from Andres Iniesta saw Barcelona claim a 3-1 victory over AC Milan at the Camp Nou on Tuesday night, securing the Catalans' passage to the semi-finals of the Champions League for the fifth consecutive season.

AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic was utterly disgusted by the refereeing at his side's 3-1 defeat to Barcelona at the Nou Camp last might and it is obvious to understand why. Milan were looking to make it to the semi final for the first time since 2007 when they were crowned European champions.

E' arrivata la grande notte, la notte di Barcellona-Milan, gara di ritorno dei quarti di finale di Champions League. Al Camp Nou, nel maestoso tempio blaugrana, il Milan cerca l'impresa contro i campioni d'Europa di mister Guardiola, colpo che manca dal 2000-2001 quando Coco e Bierhoff, con Zaccheroni in panchina, stesero la corazzata catalana.

Tonight's Champions League fixture between Barcelona and AC Milan will be the litmus test for both Pep Guardiola and Massimiliano Allegri as they prepare the team's for what is probably the biggest game of the season.

Milan captain Ambrosini has revealed that they won't man mark Barca's Argentine forward Lionel Messi.

Cristiano Ronaldo the second-best player in the world? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th La Liga goal for Real Madrid in the side's 5-1 win over Real Sociedad at the weekend, setting a new club record for the least amount of games to reach his century; 92.

Gerard Pique celebrates his goal in a 2-0 win over Mallorca (Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)

Barcelona maintained the pressure on Real Madrid with an impressive 2-0 victory over a well-drilled Mallorca side at the Iberostar Stadium on Saturday evening to record their seventh consecutive win.

The team shows their support for Eric Abidal prior to their two goal won over Sevilla. (Photo: AFP PHOTO / CRISTINA QUICLER)

Barcelona kept the pressure on league leaders Real Madrid with an impressive 2-0 victory over Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Saturday night, closing the gap at the top of the Primera Division standings to eight points.

Messi scores on a penalty in a two goal performance against Racing Santander (Photo: Reuters)

Another two-goal performance from Lionel Messi saw Barcelona topple Racing Santander 2-0 at El Sardinero on Sunday afternoon, closing the gap at the Primera Division summit to ten points with eleven matches to go.

Bayern Leverkusen's chance's of gaining a Champions League quarter final spot are all but impossible given the match facts, despite Barcelona's injury list including defender Eric Abidal and double goalscorer in the first leg Alexis Sanchez.

MATCH STATS

These sides have met on seven occasions in European competition, with Barcelona winning the last four encounters.

Is Barcelona's dominance of La Liga about to end? is a post from: Just Football

What's wrong with Barcelona these days? Jake Meador has a few ideas:

In his tribute to Dutch soccer, Brilliant Orange, journalist David Winter writes of how the Dutch brand of attractive, free-flowing beautiful soccer always seemed to be overcome by a more utilitarian, pragmatic (German) approach.

Alexis brace leads Barcelona to victory against Bayer (Photo: JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Image)

Barcelona all but assured their passage to the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 3-1 road victory over Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night.

Guardiola's road warriors have returned, as the Catalans picked up their first away win in four matches, cruising past their German hosts in dominant fashion thanks to a brace from Alexis Sanchez and a clincher from Leo Messi.

Alexis dejected as Barca fall to Osasuna (Photo: Getty Images)

Barcelona suffered their second defeat in 47 matches, as Guardiola's experimental side fell 3-2 in Pamplona, widening the gap to a near insurmountable 10 points between the Catalans and league leaders Real Madrid.

The blaugrana gave it their all, but ultimately failed to complete the comeback after suffering a catastrophic first half, which saw them trailing 2-0 in the opening 20 minutes.

Goals by Xavi and Cesc lead Barcelona into Copa Final (Photo: AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Goals from Cesc Fabregas and Xavi Hernandez sealed a comfortable 2-0 victory for the blaugrana, propelling the Catalans to their third Copa del Rey final in four years.

The Basques of Bilbao await in a repeat of 2009's final, a game in which Barcelona came from behind to defeat los leones 4-1 and claim the King's Cup.

FC Barcelona vs. Brazil in 1999 - The Full Match

The beginning of the week is never enjoyable, but let's lessen the dosage of suffering with a glorious find on Youtube. 1999 was FC Barcelona's centenary year and the whole season was quite the celebration of everything FC Barcelona.

Valencia served a reminder of its proud heritage as a football team holding Barca and then denied Leo Messi a PK goal in the Copa Del Rey semi-finals first leg.

Jonas gave the home side the lead at the Mestalla but Carles Puyol who seems to have made a career scoring very important headers equalized for the Blaugrana.

You're looking at Munich's Olympiastadion, which will be the host to the Women's European Champions League Finale on May 17! The Olympiastadion was built for 1972 Olympics and it also hosted the 1974 FIFA World Cup Final. You may not recognize it because none of the games from the 2006 World Cup tournament were played there.

Messi shows frustration in draw against Villarreal (Photo: REUTERS/Heino Kalis)

Barcelona saw their La Liga title aspirations take a serious hit after suffering a goalless draw against Villarreal at El Madrigal on Saturday night.

Another road game, another setback.

It has been the same story all year long; with Barca now having dropped 13 points in league play away from the Camp Nou this season.