FC Barcelona News: 19 August 2018

FC Barcelona 3-0 Deportivo Alavés: Flying start | FC Barcelona
The first game of FC Barcelona’s Liga title defence was very much a reminder of what a difficult competition this is to win. Ernesto Valverde had warned that the Alavés nut is a tough one to crack, and the Catalans were indeed pushed to the very limit.

HIGHLIGHTS: Barça v Alavés | FC Barcelona
The visitors were stubborn opposition but Messi’s opening strike prised apart the Alavés defence and also marked goal number 6,000 in the league for FC Barcelona. The Barça captain added another for good measure before the Brazilian midfilelder rounded off the win in style. See all the action right here in our highlights video.

No leader?! Messi has long been Barcelona’s Captain Fantastic | Goal
Lionel Messi’s leadership skills have been questioned by some, not by anyone at Barcelona, though. So, when it came to picking Andres Iniesta’s successor as captain this summer, there was only ever one candidate, a man who is as humble as he is inspirational.

Ernesto Valverde: Patience paid off | FC Barcelona
“We were patient” said a pleased Ernesto Valverde after his team had got their Liga campaign off to a winning start against Alavés. “Although we were close to scoring, we could sense how difficult it was getting. They defended very well out there, they were very compact. We were lacking a bit of rhythm early on but then we started getting more chances and finally opened the scoring.”

Sergio Busquets: It was hard until Messi’s work of art | Sport
Sergio Busquets was satisfied after Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Alaves. He reserved nothing when praising Leo Messi, who scored twice. ”It was quite hard, until Messi’s work of art appeared,” said the midfielder of the No 10’s free kick which went under the wall and beat Fernando Pacheco.

Sergi Roberto: Starting with a win is very important | Sport
Sergi Roberto, who started off as a midfielder and then moved to right-back, told Movistar that “we knew the start of the season is complicated and to start with a win is very important,” after Barcelona beat Alaves 3-0 at Camp Nou.

FC Barcelona reach 6,000 LaLiga goal mark | FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona began the season with another record added to their list of achievements. In the 3-0 win against Alavés a strike by none other than Leo Messi took the club to a total of 6,000 goals in LaLiga.

Messi offers up the Super Cup to the Camp Nou | FC Barcelona
It was the 13th victory in the competition for the Blaugrana, meaning they are the team that has won it on most occasions and, in addition, the title was No.33 for Messi, making him the most successful player in the history of Barça, overtaking another legend, Andrés Iniesta.

SK Lubricants become new regional partner of FC Barcelona | FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona and SK Lubricants announced a partnership agreement this past Saturday in Beijing, through which the Korean company will become the Club’s Official Lubricant Partner, in the lubricants and engine oil category, for the next three seasons. This is the first partnership agreement for FC Barcelona with Korean company, which also covers China, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Source: barcablaugranes.com