FC Barcelona News: 20 January 2013; Barça Suffer First La Liga Defeat

Reial Societat-FC Barcelona: Unbeaten run ends at Anoeta (3-2) | FC Barcelona
Barça’s first league defeat of the season finally arrived with a 3-2 defeat in Donosti – an injury time winner for the Basques put an end to an astonishing run of 19 unbeaten games. It was a cruel way for the run to end – Barça had been two up within the first half hour, with only a late, late winner from the hosts giving them their win.

Tito: "I cannot reproach my players" | FC Barcelona
Tito Vilanova’s first words in the post-match press conference were for Real Sociedad, the first team to defeat FC Barcelona in La Liga this season. "We have to congratulate them. Their victory was achieved more because of their effort than because of our mistakes," he said. According to the manager, the team could have killed the game off if they had scored a third goal in the first half.

Leo Messi: "Losing a game had to come at some point" | FC Barcelona
After tonight's match Leo Messi, who scored Barça’s first goal this evening, said, "we have to pick ourselves up because we have a Cup match" and "losing a game had to come at some point." The Argentine, who nearly put the game beyond the reach of Real in the first half, added that "it’s always more difficult when you’re down a man and our accuracy in front of goal wasn’t good," when Barça had a 0-2 lead.

Messi: "I’m my own biggest critic" | FC Barcelona
Leo Messi doesn’t like to talk in public. In fact, when he won his fourth Ballon d’Or he didn’t have a speech prepared. "I didn’t know I was going to win," said the Argentine who admitted that "when my name was called it was a surprise. I didn’t expect it."

Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes to leave club - Sid Lowe - SI.com
Valdés told his agent a while ago that he did not want to continue. This was not about advice, it was about him. A personal decision. Once his mind was made, that was it. They communicated that decision to Barcelona and then communicated it publicly through the media, which was perhaps the biggest surprise and the thing that most causes Barcelona problems.

Pep will not sign anyone from Barcelona, says Guardiola's father - Goal.com
Rumours have linked Guardiola with a number of his former players after he admitted he would look to replicate the style of football he implemented at Camp Nou with his new club. "Barça is his home. He's not going to pull it apart, how would his home end up then?", Valentí Guardiola told Deportes Cuatro.

Guardado slams Real Madrid conduct - Goal.com
"It is fairly obvious that if he hadn't given those offsides against Soldado, the result could have been different," he told Goal.com. "Sometimes it can benefit you, sometimes it can damage you, that's all there is to it. They like to speak about referees a lot, and in this case it has benefited them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It's the same for everyone."

Malaga lucky not to lose to Celta - Yahoo! Eurosport UK
Argentine defender Martin Demichelis finished from close range on 37 minutes to put Malaga ahead, but his team’s performance – and his own – degenerated as Celta equalised through Augusto Fernandez, with the visitors denied a winner by a fantastic injury-time stop from Willy Caballero.

Palop error costs Sevilla | Sky Sports Football
Jose Antonio Reyes put Sevilla in front with a neat finish shortly before half-time, but the lead lasted only three minutes as Palop got caught under Adrian Colunga's inswinging cross and allowed the ball to float over his head and into the net.

Overdue home win for Granada | Sky Sports Football
The visitors came into the game on the back of four consecutive wins that had propelled them into the European places, but without the injured Leo Baptistao and suspended Alejandro Dominguez they lacked the same cutting edge and were made to pay for some defensive errors.