LaLiga

Barcelona was nursing a slender one-goal lead for most of its match with Sevilla, the club directly behind it in the LaLiga standings. Lionel Messi had received the support Barça needed to be in position to win, but the Argentine hadn’t yet put his own stamp on the game. But as he does more often than not, Messi created a bit of magic late and helped Barcelona beat Sevilla 2-0 on Saturday at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.

Ronald Koeman's Barcelona, third place in LaLiga on 50 points, travels south on Saturday to take on Sevilla, just two points behind them in fourth.

Barcelona stayed within two points of Real Madrid and five of Atlético following a comforting 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Elche at the Camp Nou on Wednesday. Lionel Messi was the star of the show with two goals before playing a large role in Jordi Alba’s third, and the Argentine is now LaLiga’s outright top scorer with 18 goals in 22 games. 

The first half saw nice bits of skill from Frenkie de Jong, Messi and Pedri, but Barcelona couldn’t find the opener with Francisco Trincão wasting the best opportunity of the opening 45.

Filipe Luís stepped out of the European spotlight in 2019 when he decided to return to his native Brazil to join Flamengo. There, at the age of 35, he continues to set the standard at left-back and is an undisputed starter for Rogério Ceni.

BARCELONA - Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said he was even more disappointed by his side being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Cádiz in LaLiga on Sunday than after last week's 4-1 home drubbing by Paris St Germain.

Barça led thanks to Lionel Messi's 32nd-minute penalty but they failed to kill their opponents off and Álex Fernández leveled in the 89th minute, ending a run of seven straight league wins for the Catalans.

MADRID — La Liga leaders Atlético Madrid's recent wobble in form continued as they fell to their first defeat in 12 league games when they were beaten 2-0 at home to Levante on Saturday.

Jose Luis Morales gave the visitors the lead on the half-hour mark with a deflected strike from just inside the area to deceive keeper Jan Oblak, while Jorge de Frutos knocked into an empty net to score the second in added time after Oblak had committed himself forward to contest a corner.

Luis Suárez is LaLiga's top scorer with 16 goals (one more than his friend Lionel Messi), his form seems at an all-time high and his appetite for goals, which has never been in question, is more voracious than ever.

And it's all at the service of an Atlético Madrid that bet on him when FC Barcelona gave him an unpleasant exit. It is a deserved reward.

Luis Suarez has scored 16 goals in his first 17 matches with Atletico Madrid in La Liga.

Lionel Messi equaled former teammate Xavi’s Barcelona record of 505 LaLiga appearances on Saturday against Alavés. He marked the record by scoring two worldies, two more examples that he has the greatest left foot in the history of the game.

Barcelona beat Alavés 5-1, both Messi and Francisco Trincão netting twice to bring the Blaugrana into second place, ahead of Real Madrid on goal differences. Messi was the star man in the landmark match.