Barcelona: Newly crowned Spanish champion Barcelona celebrated winning the league title in front of their home fans by easing to a 2-1 victory over Valladolid on Sunday. While rain and dropping temperatures threatened to dampen the party in the stands, Barcelona had little trouble keeping alive its bid to equal Real Madrid's 2012 record haul of 100 points even without the injured Lionel Messi.
The weather cleared up in time for Messi to join the rest of his team-mates to receive the trophy, which captain Carles Puyol handed over for coach Tito Vilanova and defender Eric Abidal to lift to the cheers of the Camp Nou crowd in recognition of the serious health problems both have come back from this season.
"We won the league, but the most important thing is that Eric and Tito are with us," said Puyol, before adding the traditional battle cry of "Long live Barca! And long live Catalonia!"
Vilanova underwent surgery in December to remove a second throat tumor in two years, and only returned after receiving further cancer treatment for 10 weeks in New York. He is set to return to New York this week for more tests. Abidal, meanwhile, returned to the pitch recently after having recovered from a liver transplant last year....
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08:26 AM, May 20, 2013
Madrid: Even Lionel Messi, so often Barcelona's saviour, was at a loss to explain how the La Liga leaders could come back from their Champions League semi-final mauling in Munich. Barca were thumped 4-0 away by an impressive Bayern Munich in their first leg on Tuesday, putting in one of their most toothless displays in recent memory. On Wednesday, they were greeted with newspaper headlines such as 'Historic beating' in...
03:47 PM, Apr 24, 2013
Madrid: FC Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez has made a passionate defence of his side's passing style of football as they prepare for the run-in to the end of the season. Barcelona are almost assured of winning Spain's BBVA Primera Liga thanks to an impressive 13-point lead over Real Madrid, but face a tough task in the Champions League, where they will meet last season's defeated finalists Bayern Munich in what...
01:41 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Xavi and Alba recovered from hamstring strains will be play against Paris St Germain in the Champions League quarters. ...
06:30 PM, Mar 31, 2013
Xavi is a major doubt for World Cup Group I qualifier after he missed Tuesday's training session due to a niggling hamstring injury. ...
08:45 AM, Mar 20, 2013
Barca were unrecognisable from the side who limped through the first leg, harrying and hassling Milan from the start and driving forward at any opportunity. ...
03:16 PM, Mar 13, 2013
Lionel Messi's double strike helped Barcelona beat AC Milan 4-0 in the second leg. ...
03:01 AM, Mar 13, 2013
Barcelona have been given a boost before Tuesday's Champions League showdown at home to AC Milan by the return of playmaker Xavi. ...
06:35 PM, Mar 08, 2013
Left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty on Monday said the Australian batsmen need to take a cue from the performances of Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay in order to save the side from the ignominy of another crushing defeat in the second Test match, here. ...
08:04 PM, Mar 04, 2013
Warne feels that conditions at domestic level are stunting the development of the next generation Australian spinners. ...
03:24 PM, Mar 04, 2013
India lost their last seven wickets after lunch but the platform given by their overnight centurions Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay left the hosts in command. ...
11:43 AM, Mar 04, 2013
2nd match between Xavier Malisse and Daniel Munoz-De La Nava was level at 2-2 in the first set when rain stopped play. ...
09:37 AM, Feb 28, 2013
MS Dhoni won't be receiving his graduation degree as he could not attend the classes of any of the six semesters and failed to appear for the exams. ...
11:25 AM, Feb 18, 2013
Doherty admitted that the line and length of Australian spinners were in disarray once Gambhir and Rohit started taking them apart. ...
07:17 PM, Feb 16, 2013
The 33-year-old has not featured for the La Liga leaders since a 1-1 draw at Valencia on February 3. ...
08:36 PM, Feb 15, 2013
Phillip Hughes believes that he has the right technique to face the Indian spin attack in trying sub-continent conditions. ...
02:06 PM, Feb 11, 2013
Barcelona hope to avoid a slip against Getafe on Sunday as their players fight fatigue from international friendlies midweek, and with Atletico lurking nine points adrift of the Spanish league leaders. ...
11:16 AM, Feb 08, 2013
Lyon and Doherty are analysing the performance of their English counterparts in India ahead of the four-match Test series in the sub-continent. ...
07:21 PM, Feb 01, 2013
