Quiz: FC Barcelona vs Malaga CF: Jornada 2

Technical issues conspired against us in week one, but we're ready to get up and running with our newest feature, starting with tomorrow's match against Malaga

FC Barcelona kicked off their La Liga title defense with a narrow 1-0 victory over Athletic Club last weekend at San Mames, as Luis Suarez' second-half volley was enough to secure all three points in hostile territory. Now, as the Blaugrana prepare for their La Liga home debut at the Camp Nou, it's time to turn our attentions to Malaga CF.

Without wanting to give anything away for the quiz, Malaga are tough opposition and are sure to test our boys to the limit tomorrow. After all, we're still someway off 100% based on our start to the campaign -- whereas Malaga, as underdogs, essentially have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Their 0-0 draw with Andalusian rivals, Sevilla FC got the La Liga season off to a goalless, tense start and on reflection, they could count themselves unlucky not claim all three points.

A goal disallowed, a man advantage; Malaga came so close but had to settle for a single point. Tomorrow, one gets the feeling that they would do the same although they do have the potential to aim higher. How will Barcelona fare? Well, we'll have to wait and see on that front but for now, we can test our knowledge of tomorrow's opposition with this quiz, powered by our good friends over at Insticator.

The format is simple: 20 questions on Malaga CF, four multiple choice answers and a time limit for each question. Show us your stuff and let us know your score by posting in the comments section below.

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FC Barcelona News: 28 August 2015; Gerard Pique Ban Upheld, Lionel Messi Named Best Player in Europe

Gerard Pique fails in appeal over ban for insulting linesman - ESPN FC
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique's appeal against his ban for insulting a linesman during the recent Spanish Supercopa defeat to Athletic Bilbao has been turned down, meaning the centre-back will still miss his team's upcoming La Liga games against Malaga, Atletico Madrid and Levante.

Leo Messi UEFA Best Player in Europe | FC Barcelona
It had to be him. Leo Messi has been chosen as the UEFA Best Player in Europe and as such takes the award that he won back in 2011 in its first year of existence. The Argentine received 49 votes, beating Luis Suárez (3)and Cristiano Ronaldo (2) to the prize with Neymar finishing in fifth place.

Flying high, FC Barcelona with hands full following UEFA awards gala | FC Barcelona
The FC Barcelona delegation that flew to Monaco to attend Thursday's UEFA gala returned to Barcelona the same evening steeped in satisfaction after having lived yet another historic day for the Club. During the ceremony, Barça were duly acknowledged for their five European Cups won throughout its history, while Lionel Messi received UEFA's awards for Best Player in Europe.

Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma and BATE Borisov group stage opponents | FC Barcelona
Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma and BATE Borisov will be FC Barcelona's opponents in group E in this season's Champions League. Luis Enrique's team will begin the defence of their title and the road to Milan - the venue for this season's final - and their first challenge will be against the sides from Germany, Italy and Belarus in the group stages.

Tickets on sale for Champions League group stage matches at Camp Nou | FC Barcelona
On Thursday 27 August from 9pm CET, tickets for FC Barcelona’s Champions League group stage matches at the Camp Nou against Bayer Leverkusen, Roma and BATE Borisov will go on sale. The first 24 hours will be exclusively for members only, who also get a 20% discount on the original ticket price. Tickets can then be purchased by the general public from Friday 21 August, at 9pm CET.

President Bartomeu highlights Barça's key role at draw in Monaco | FC Barcelona
The FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu revealed that in Monaco there was a "great Barça atmosphere". The tribute to the Club for its five Champions League wins with the presence of Andoni Zubizarreta, Juliano Belletti, Carles Puyol, Éric Abidal and Andrés Iniesta, the awards of UEFA Best Player in Europe and Best Goal of the Champions League for Leo Messi and the award for Save of the Season for Ter Stegen meant there was a blaugrana tinge to proceedings at the draw.

FC Barcelona's trip to Monaco | FC Barcelona
The FC Barcelona delegation arrived in Monaco on Thursday afternoon to attend the UEFA gala. The club representatives who have made the journey are president Josep Maria Bartomeu, Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Luis Suárez, who landed in Nice then made the short journey to the Principality at 2.00pm CET.

FC Barcelona make final tune-up ahead of Málaga match | FC Barcelona
In getting in their final preparations before Saturday's home opener in La Liga, FC Barcelona trained on Friday morning on Field 2 at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, the team's last session prior Málaga's visit to Camp Nou on Saturday.

Lionel Messi: I never said I’d quit Argentina - Goal.com
Lionel Messi has hit out at reports he was set to take a break from international football after failing to lift the Copa America with Argentina earlier this year. "I never said that I wasn't going to play any longer with the national team," Messi told ESPN Radio.

Sergi Roberto to fill the Barca void vs Malaga - ESPN FC
From the roll call of club legends trotted out on stage to the tribute videos and prizes for Lionel Messi and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, there was a distinct Barcelona tinge to Thursday's Champions League draw.

David Babunski withdrawn from U21 team | Macedonian Football .com
Earlier today, the Macedonian federation wrote on its website that David Babunski has been withdrawn from the U21 squad for the two upcoming fixtures against Ukraine (qualifier) and Australia (friendly). The reason given was that Barcelona B plays a game during the same day when Macedonia U21 was supposed to face Ukraine.

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La Liga News: 28 August 2015; Spanish Teams Get Champions League Opponents, Adrián López to Join Real Betis

Peter Schmeichel on David de Gea's Manchester United future | Sporting Life
Real Madrid have been chasing De Gea all summer, but with five days of the transfer window left, the goalkeeper remains at Old Trafford. United insist they will not sell De Gea to Madrid unless they receive a fee of over #32.6million for the 24-year-old, who has just one year left on his contract.

Rafael Santos Borre on verge of Atletico Madrid move - ESPN FC
Colombian striker Rafael Santos Borre is set to complete a €5 million move to Atletico Madrid. Santos Borre, 19, has arrived in the Spanish capital to complete his transfer from Colombian club Deportivo Cali, which is likely to see him spend the 2015-16 season on loan at his old club.

Adrián López to join Real Betis on loan - Inside Spanish Football
According to Portuguese sports daily, A Bola, Adrian will finally make his way back to Spain after an unsuccessful one-year spell at Porto and will sign a season-long loan contract with Real Betis in the coming days. The deal is almost finalised apart from several details, the biggest of which is Betis agreeing to pay half of the player’s wages for the upcoming season, which would equal roughly €1.5 million.

New Valencia defender Aderlan Santos vows to impress - ESPN FC
New Valencia centre-back Aderlan Santos says he is a "warrior" who will give everything for his new club. Santos' arrival has not been met with approval from Valencia fans, who see the former Braga defender as an underwhelming replacement for Nicolas Otamendi.

Arsenal draws Bayern Munich, Manchester United faces PSV: Champions League group stage draw in full - Goal.com
Arsenal will face Bayern Munich in the group stages of the Champions League after being drawn together in Group F. The Gunners will also face Olympiakos and Dinamo Zagreb as they look to plot a way through to the knockout stages for the 14th consecutive season.

UEFA Europa League: Dortmund handed kind draw - Goal.com
Lech Poznan and Belenenses join them in that pool, while Group A looks set to be a fiercely contested with Ajax, Celtic, Fenerbahce and Molde all taking part. Elsewhere, Tottenham has been grouped with Anderlecht, Monaco and Qarabag, while Liverpool will face Rubin Kazan, Bordeaux and Sion.

Casado close to Bolton deal | Football365
The 29-year-old will pen a 12-month deal at the Macron Stadium, with the option of another year, after training with the club following his release from Almeria, who were relegated out of La Liga last term. Lennon had tracked the former Barcelona defender during his time at Celtic and expects him to contend with Dean Moxey for the left-back berth following Tim Ream's departure.

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La Liga, Round 2: Barcelona vs Málaga: Full Match Coverage

All the info about Barça's second league game

Barcelona returns to La Liga action this Saturday, when the Blaugrana open up the Camp Nou doors for a Jornada 2 matchup against Málaga. This was the only team that Barça failed to beat last season, and they are eager to finally get a win against Los Boquerones.

This is how both teams might line up on Saturday afternoon:

Barcelona

Bravo

Roberto - Mascherano - Vermaelen - Alba

Rakitic - Busquets - Iniesta

Messi - Suárez - Neymar

It's now or never for Sergi Roberto. With the injury to Dani Alves, the eternal prospect will have to step up and build upon his Man of the Match performance last week. He looks more like a right-back now, and he needs to provide threat on the right side to help Lionel Messi. Sergio Busquets is still doubtful, but he has recovered from the ankle knock suffered against Athletic Bilbao, and he should start a pivote. The biggest news, however, is the return of Neymar Jr. The Brazilian superstar is fully recovered from his mumps, trained well all week and should be fit to start and finally play an official match with his 'MSN' partners.

Málaga

Kameni

Rosales - Albentosa - Angeleri - Torres

Horta - Tissone - Darder - Amrabat

Charles - Cop

Coach Javi García is expected to maintain the side that fought to an important 0-0 draw with Sevilla on Matchday 1, despite the imminent return of center-back Welligton from injury. But the strong performance by the pairing of Albentosa and Angeleri should be enough to keep both on the starting eleven. Fernando Tissone, who had a very good league debut last week, should play from the first whistle again, and he is a threat down the middle with his passing and marking. The goalscorer of the surprising 1-0 win at Camp Nou last season, Juanmi, moved away from the side, which means the attack isn't as threatening.

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Barcelona vs Málaga, La Liga: Projected Lineups

Barcelona returns to La Liga action this Saturday, when the Blaugrana open up the Camp Nou doors for a Jornada 2 matchup against Málaga. This was the only team that Barça failed to beat last season, and they are eager to finally get a win against Los Boquerones.

This is how both teams might line up on Saturday afternoon:

Barcelona

Bravo

Roberto - Mascherano - Vermaelen - Alba

Rakitic - Busquets - Iniesta

Messi - Suárez - Neymar

It's now or never for Sergi Roberto. With the injury to Dani Alves, the eternal prospect will have to step up and build upon his Man of the Match performance last week. He looks more like a right-back now, and he needs to provide threat on the right side to help Lionel Messi. Sergio Busquets is still doubtful, but he has recovered from the ankle knock suffered against Athletic Bilbao, and he should start a pivote. The biggest news, however, is the return of Neymar Jr. The Brazilian superstar is fully recovered from his mumps, trained well all week and should be fit to start and finally play an official match with his 'MSN' partners.

Málaga

Kameni

Rosales - Albentosa - Angeleri - Torres

Horta - Tissone - Darder - Amrabat

Charles - Cop

Coach Javi García is expected to maintain the side that fought to an important 0-0 draw with Sevilla on Matchday 1, despite the imminent return of center-back Welligton from injury. But the strong performance by the pairing of Albentosa and Angeleri should be enough to keep both on the starting eleven. Fernando Tissone, who had a very good league debut last week, should play from the first whistle again, and he is a threat down the middle with his passing and marking. The goalscorer of the surprising 1-0 win at Camp Nou last season, Juanmi, moved away from the side, which means the attack isn't as threatening.

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Barcelona's 2015-16 Champions League group stage schedule released

Barcelona have gotten a pretty comfortable group after the Champions League draw on Thursday. Facing strong, yet not too powerful teams in Bayer Leverkusen and AS Roma, and an easy opponent in BATE Borisov, the Blaugrana are heavy favorites to win the group.

The bad news came later, when the UEFA computers gave us the schedule for the group stag, and man it's a tough one. Here are the dates:

Matchday 1 - Wednesday 16th September - at AS Roma
Matchday 2 - Tuesday 29th September - vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Matchday 3 - Tuesday 20th October - at BATE Borisov
Matchday 4 - Wednesday 4th November - vs BATE Borisov
Matchday 5 - Tuesday 24th November - vs AS Roma
Matchday 6 - Wednesday 9th December - at Bayer 04 Leverkusen

The four toughest games against the German and Italian sides coincidentally come close to very difficult domestic fixtures: for instance, the debut against Roma is three days after a game at Vicente Calderón against Atlético Madrid. The first match against Leverkusen is before a La Liga clash with Sevilla.

Interestingly enough, the two encounters with BATE come in the easiest part of the schedule, when Barça faces teams like Rayo, Eibar and Getafe in October. Since the Catalan giants have two straight games against the Belarus side, it could mean we guarantee a Round of 16 spot after those matches against the weakest team in the group.

If they do, then the month of November looks less scary. The second Roma match is right after the first El Clásico against Real Madrid at Bernabéu, and the final game in Germany comes after a date with Valencia at Mestalla. Hopefully the squad gets healthy and the rotations work again just like last season, and the team gets through the end of 2015 without too much trouble. In January we'll get Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal (and maybe a replacement for Pedro), and the squad will get stronger for the toughest part of the campaign.

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Marc-André Ter Stegen wins Champions League Save of the Season

Barcelona was on the spotlight at the UEFA Gala in Monaco on Thursday, and many awards were handed out to Blaugrana players.

Lionel Messi took home the Best Player and Goal of the Season awards, and another piece of hardware was given to Marc-André ter Stegen, who won the "Champions League Save of the Season" award for his spectacular display against Bayern Munich in the second leg of last season's semifinal.

The game at Allianz Arena finished with a 3-2 defeat for Barça, but the first half was won by the Catalan giants, mostly because of the German goalkeeper unforgettable performance. He had great save after great save, but none better than what we saw at the 40th minute. A strong Lewandowski shot found Stegen's left hand, but that was just the beginning; as the ball slowly seemed to go over the line and to the back of the net, Stegen came back and took the ball out in the last second, helping the Blaugranes finish the half ahead and guarantee a place in the final.

Want to see it again? Here's the award-winning save by our young monster:

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