Barcelona defeated 10-man Valencia 4-2 on Sunday to cut Real Madrid’s lead at the top of La Liga to two points although Zidane’s men maintain a game in hand. A Lionel Messi brace propelled Barca at the Camp Nou, taking him over 40 goals in all competitions for the eighth consecutive season.
Lionel Messi: Has scored 40+ goals in all competitions for Barcelona for the eighth season in a row #FCBValencia
"Bicho" is Spanish for "bug".
Bicho, a player in the Spanish third division, put his own twist on the scorpion kick with this excellent goal:
Stunning scorpion kick goal by Racing Ferrol's Bicho of the Spanish 3rd tier! (Via Galicia) pic.twitter.com/kcTBxHl0EN
— PlayerPro (@PlayerProSoccer) March 17, 2017
We’ve been treated to some spectacular Champions League football over the past week with the drama reaching a crescendo in Barcelona’s comeback against Paris Saint-Germain and Leicester City’s fairytale at the expense of Sevilla.
While those two matches provided everything you could hope for in football (high-stakes, improbable comebacks and a myriad of storylines), they also came with their share of controversy and pantomime villains.
Ten years ago today, a roguish little imp touched down in the Camp Nou and began to do things with the football that this planet had never seen before. It’s said that he was 19 years of age at the time, and his well shampooed mop of hair, preciously pushed back with a hairband, and wiry frame do allude to an awkward period in life, but to highlight your greatness at such a tender age by scoring a hat trick against Real Madrid in El Clasico, that defies all notions we have of the effect of time on a person.
After a difficult November and December that saw him go nine La Liga matches without a goal at one point, Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann is quietly regaining the form that saw him tear up the European Championship and the opening fixtures of La Liga.
Griezmann salvaged a point for Atletico against Deportivo on Thursday after deciding that his two exchanged passes constituted a sufficient buildup and so hammered one from almost 30 yards out. The shot flew over the goalkeeper and into the right-hand corner.
Real Madrid salvaged a point after having Gareth Bale sent off in the 47th minute and Las Palmas leading 3-1 as late as the 85th minute, and it was all thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo.
Barcelona started the day by crushing Sporting Gijon 6-1, so Real Madrid knew that anything less than a victory would cut into their lead at the top. Real’s draw means that Barcelona are now atop the La Liga table by a point, although Los Blancos still maintain a game in hand.
Luis Enrique has confirmed that he will step down as Barcelona manager at the conclusion of this season, bringing an end to three highly successful years as Barca’s coach. Enrique signed an extension to manage Barcelona until the end of the 2017 season after he’d sealed a treble in his first season at the helm, but questions regarding whether or not that contract would be further extended have been extinguished by Enrique’s announcement.