Yesterday, Barcelona opened a ten-point gap at the top of LaLiga with only ten matches remaining, all but guaranteeing the club’s fourth league title in five years. The performance that earned the cushion was a 4-1 away victory over Real Betis at the Benito Villamarín, and all four Barca goals were of the highest order.
Barcelona looked to take advantage of Atletico Madrid’s defeat to Athletic Bilbao yesterday by defeating Real Betis and opening up a 10-point gap at the top of LaLiga, and the first half of the match at the Benito Villamarín couldn’t have gone better from a Blaugrana perspective.
In the 18th minute, Lionel Messi opened the scoring with an exquisite free kick that flew beyond Pau Lopez in goal. This was Messi’s 27th league goal in 26 games.
After a scoreless first leg that was defined by Luis Suarez not playing very well, the Uruguayan enjoyed a vital role in Barcelona’s 5-1 second-leg victory over Lyon at the Camp Nou on Wednesday. However, the man of the match was Lionel Messi, who scored two goals and added two assists to ease his side into the Champions League quarterfinals.
Barcelona made heavy work of 3-1 victory over 19th-place Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou on Saturday to maintain a seven-point lead at the top of LaLiga. Raúl de Tomás opened the scoring for the visitors in the 24th minute, but Barca found the equalizer 14 minutes later through Gerard Pique. In the second half, a Lionel Messi penalty and a Luis Suarez goal would secure three points ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League second leg against Lyon (0-0 on aggregate).
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Lionel Messi isn’t giving up on his home country just yet.
After a trying World Cup and suggestions of his international retirement, Messi was named to the Argentina team for its March friendlies. It will be the first time the Barcelona maestro will appear for his country since the 2018 World Cup.
Lionel Messi turned one billion seconds old on Saturday. The Argentine maestro sometimes feels like he’s one billion years old with his sage, sanguine, muted reactions on the pitch.
Despite being the target of every opponent’s defensive tactics, regularly subjected to physical play, Messi rarely loses his cool. His only red card in his career came in his first ever appearance with Argentina.