FC Barcelona News: 8 March 2012; Barcelona Trash Bayer Leverkusen, Lionel Messi Hailed as Best Ever

FC Barcelona - Bayer 04 Leverkusen: The champions are a goalscoring machine (7-1) | FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona are already in the quarter-finals of the Champions. The holders walked all over Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the second leg of the last 16 and gave them a 7-1 thrashing which, together with the 3-1 win in the away leg, gave them an overall score of 10-2. The resistance of the Germans, finalists in the competition ten years ago, lasted about 25 minutes, until Leo Messi opened his scoring account.

Fifth consecutive quarter-final berth for FC Barcelona in the Champions League | FC Barcelona
Barça is starting to regularly feature in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. After eliminating Bayer 04 Leverkusen, the Catalan team earned its fifth consecutive quarter-final berth in the continental competition; they are the only team in Europe to have reached this stage of the Champions League in five consecutive seasons.

228 goals; 93 assists; 18 trophies - A look at Lionel Messi's best numbers after his fantastic five-goal show for Barcelona against Leverkusen - Goal.com
Messi has now taken his tally to 12 goals in Europe this term, equalling his own total from 2010-11 and drawing level with Ruud van Nistelrooy's 2002-03 record for the most number of goals in a single edition of the Champions League. And he now has up to five more games to set a new record.

Five-Star Messi | FC Barcelona
Leo Messi wears the number 10 on the back of his jersey, but against Bayer 04 Leverkusen this evening he put in a Five Star performance. The Argentine scored five goals; two in the first half, three in the second. His brilliant display broke long-standing European records. But Messi, despite his unworldly performance, remains humble. "The most important thing is that we won, that’s what we wanted," he said.

Josep Guardiola: "I'm very fortunate to train Messi" | FC Barcelona
Without a doubt, Lionel Messi, with five of Barça’s seven goals, was the man of the match in Barça’s rout of the German side at the Camp Nou. Josep Guardiola, who believes that the Argentinian "is the best" bar none, said that that he feels fortunate to have "coached and managed this player." For the manager, the Barça superstar is "unique because of his talent and for his competitive capacity."

Lionel Messi hailed as 'greatest ever' - ESPN Soccernet
A host of top players and pundits have hailed Barcelona star Lionel Messi as the greatest player of all-time after he became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League game in the 7-1 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen.

One-match ban for Gerard Piqué | FC Barcelona
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Competition Committee has suspended Gerard Piqué for one match for the straight red card he received in the game against Sporting Gijón. The Committee dismissed FC Barcelona’s appeal. Consequently, the player will not be able to play in Barça’s La Liga match against Racing Santander at El Sardinero.

Tello discussing Barcelona stay | Sky Sports
The 20-year-old forward will be out of contract at the end of the season, but has started to feature in Pep Guardiola's plans and has made five appearances in the Primera Liga this campaign. Liverpool, Arsenal and Valencia are thought to be paying attention to Tello, who has also scored twice, but his representative says talks are taking place with Barcelona.

Barcelona track Benfica's Nelson Oliveira - report - Goal.com
Barcelona are keeping tabs on Benfica striker Nelson Oliveira, news agency EFE claims. The Catalan club dispatched a scout to check on the 20-year-old during his side's 2-0 Champions League victory against Zenit St Petersburg on Tuesday, which earned the Portuguese club passage into the last-eight stage.

Report highlights possible Financial Fair Play circumvention - ESPN Soccernet
The estimated £400 million partnership deal between City and Etihad airline has been described as an "improper transaction" in a report by the Council's culture, science, education and media committee. It also highlights Real Madrid's sale of its training ground to the city for more than €400 million as possibly giving the club an unfair advantage.

Liga fat cats take duel to crisis-hit regions - Yahoo! Eurosport
Jose Mourinho is closing in on Real's first league title in four years as they travel to face Real Betis on Saturday with a 10-point lead over Barca and 13 games left to play. The European and Spanish champions journey to play Racing Santander on Sunday with Pep Guardiola's hopes of a fourth consecutive league title looking ever more remote.

Atletico chief: Sergio Aguero won't join Real - ESPN Soccernet
Recent speculation, has suggested the Argentina international could seal a return to Spain in the summer, with Real mooted as potential suitors for his signature. That conjecture was fuelled when Argentina legend Diego Maradona urged Aguero to ignore his Madrid connections and join Real, but Gil Marin has moved to quell the rumours.

Athletic Bilbao's Bielsa – obsessive and dangerous for United's chances | Sid Lowe | The Guardian
They call the Argentinian El Loco and maybe they look too hard for madness. The way Athletic are playing, watching him not his team is absurd, yet it is hard not to be drawn to him. Bielsa is unusual, there is something addictive about his actions. Besides, person and professional are inseparable.