It's pretty clear that Lionel Messi is naturally talented. Even when he was 17, you could see that he was just inherently special. That being said, Lionel Messi didn't make it to where he is by pure talent alone. It takes a lot of hard work and discipline to play at the top level and produce the kind of numbers that Messi does. Needless to say, the Lionel Messi diet is probably a pretty good one.
Real Madrid fans will not want to hear this, but it looks like there is a chance that both Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema will miss Real Madrid’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Manchester City on Wednesday.
In 2015, Spanish club Athletic Bilbao started the "One Club Man Award," which aims to celebrate players outside of Athletic who spent their entire career at one club. The first award was given to Southampton's Matt Le Tissier last year, in recognition of "Le God's" 16 seasons at the the English club.
Here are some numbers concerning Barcelona's La Liga form during the last two weeks, none of which we are making up.
Barca have scored 14 goals in their last two games, eight against Deportivo la Coruna and six against Sporting Gijon. They have not been scored against. Eight of those goals were scored by Luis Suarez, four in each game. Four of those goals were assisted by Luis Suarez, three against Deportivo and one against Sporting.
Barcelona have been in a bad way (for them) recently. They sandwiched two league losses around a stunning loss to Atletico Madrid that bounced them from the Champions League (after having won the first leg). This was the first time Barcelona had lost three games in a row since 2003. The momentum changed Wednesday, when Luis Suarez apparently decided he had had enough, and took his frustration out on the hapless Deportivo la Coruna, to the tune of four goals and three assists.
Espanyol played the role of a spoiler tonight against Celta de Vigo. Celta are plying for a spot in Europa League and their chances took a hit today when Marco Asensio scored an amazing half volley from 25 yards out. The 38th minute equalizer was beautiful as the forward controlled a clearance and fired home. Espanyol currently sit at 15th in the La Liga table and Celta will need to starting earning three points instead of one if they want to make it to Europa League.
Dani Alves is not coping with Barcelona's unceremonious dumping from the Champions League at the hands of Atletico Madrid well.
The Brazilian right back took to Instagram and he, um, well he did this:
Here are some real things that have been said about Lionel Messi:
"It is clear that Messi is on a level above all others. Those who do not see that are blind." - Xavi
"They tell me that all men are equal in God’s eyes, this player makes you seriously think about those words." - Football commentator Ray Hudson
Things became clear in the 45th minute of Barcelona vs Valencia. The league leaders, Barcelona, were already down 1-0 and Valencia were in the middle of a string of passes in Barcelona’s defensive third.
It was exactly the kind of thing you’d expect Barcelona to do to Valencia, and it drove home the point that things weren’t right at the Camp Nou. At the end of the move Santi Mina scored Valencia’s second goal of the game. Barcelona would never recover; they had been beaten at their own game.
News of Karim Benzema’s continued suspension from the French national team must’ve reached Antoine Griezmann at some point before Atletico Madrid's pivotal quarterfinal second leg against Barcelona on Wednesday.
Preparing for the most important game of his young club career, the immensity of the implications would not have been lost on Griezmann. With Benzema suspended, he’s now seemingly been charged with spearheading the French attack at Euro 2016 in his native France.