Now that the pomp and circumstance of Barcelona’s Copa del Rey win over Sevilla has subsided, Lionel Messi has posted a message to Facebook that speaks to his appreciation of how he and his teammates suffered and persevered in order to accomplish their goals.
After Barcelona battled with 10 men for all but 36 minutes, two moments of brilliance from Lionel Messi led to two goals. The second coming from a through ball from Messi that Neymar calmly slotted into the opposite side netting to seal the deal at Vincente Calderon Stadium.
Neymar celebrating his goal which afterwards he said: "Se acabo!" (It's over!) #fcblive [efe] pic.twitter.com/IAsMqJ2mDH
Down a man after only 36 minutes and without Luis Suarez, their leading scorer, Barcelona were still able to overcome Sevilla after extra time in Sunday's Copa del Rey final thanks to a brilliant assist from Lionel Messi to Jordi Alba. Neymar added a second goal in the 122nd minute off of another great pass from Messi.
Barcelona, recently crowned La Liga champions, faced off against Sevilla, recent winners of the UEFA Europa League, at the Vicente Calderon Stadium in the Spanish capital of Madrid.
When Pep Guardiola moved Lionel Messi from the right wing to the middle of the park, he unleashed a monster. The fist instance of the move resulted in a 6-2 destruction of arch rivals Real Madrid. It took a bit of time for the position to become Messi’s primary one but, once it did, world-beating results followed. Have you ever heard of Lionel Messi’s 91 goal year in 2012? Yeah, that happened when he was playing striker.
Isco's dog is named Messi. The Spanish international confessed that before he joined Real Madrid in 2013 he named his dog after Barcelona star Lionel Messi, stating that "Messi is the best in the world and so is my dog." Isco's dog is pretty cute, we'll give him that.
As Barcelona prepare for their Copa del Rey Final against Sevilla, the folks at FC Barcelona’s official YouTube channel have released a timely reminder for Sevillistas of their tormentor in chief, Lionel Messi.
Messi has scored 25 goals against Sevilla — 20 in La Liga, three in the Spanish Super Cup and two in the European Super Cup. However, Messi’s most domineering performance against the side from Andalusia came at the youth level.
It’s an open secret that managing Real Madrid isn’t exactly the best job in the world. Aside from the ludicrously high expectations, the massive egos of the players, and the fickleness of the fans, managers sometimes can’t even field what they see as the best team because of political pressure.
Let’s make one thing clear: Rayo Vallecano didn’t win a lot this year. They just weren’t good enough to do so. But, g** d*** it they tried.
In an era when most outmatched clubs sit back and park the bus, Paco Jemez’s men attacked. When they were up against Real Madrid, they attacked. When they were up against Barcelona, they attacked. When they were up against Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Granada, and Levante, they attacked.
With the La Liga season officially over, it’s time to consider the contributions of aruably the best collection of players on the planet and see who deserves to be known as the best player in La Liga this year, in The18’s esteemed eyes.
This article only takes into account La Liga action. So, for instance, Antoine Griezmann’s ice cold goal against Bayern Munich counts for nothing here. Without any further ado, let’s get started.