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Lionel Messi, Ousmane Dembele Lead Barcelona to victory

Barcelona return to first place in the La Liga table with their 2-0 victory over Celta Vigo today. That's a guaranteed merry Christmas for the Catalans. Barcelona now have 37 points, while Atletico Madrid follows closely with 34. Sevilla may join the Rojiblancos in second place after their game tomorrow. Former Borussia Dortmund man, Ousmane Dembele and Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi scored Barcelona's two goals.
Celta were close to scoring in the third minute when Nestor Araujo headed the ball over the crossbar, following a corner. But seven minutes later, the Catalan side took the lead with a goal from Dembele. Good link up play between Jordi Alba and Messi created an opportunity for Messi which resulted in a shot saved by Ruben. Dembele was in close range, and turned the ball in. Barcelona dominated possession from the tenth minute but were almost caught out midway through the first half on the counter attack. Mark-Andre Ter Stergen denied Maxi Gomez a goal with his customary top-class save in the 25th minute. This was Ter Stergen's fourth clean sheet in a row. Messi has scored 51 goals in the 2018 calendar, and is the highest scorer this year (so far). He has also scored the most La Liga goals in the 2018 calendar year - 34 La Liga goals.

Barcelona have scored 102 league goals in 2018, more than any other team in Europe's top five leagues.

Messi's "made in La Masia" goal in the last minute of the first half killed the resolve of a pressing Celta Vigo. Messi's goal resulted from a Jordi Alba pass as
Alba demonstrated his near telepathic understanding with Messi. He did that more than once. Nonetheless, Celta got an opportunity to get back into the game at the 78th minute with a corner, but Nelson Semedo and Ter Stergen's combined effort kept the score 2-0 in Barcelona's favor. Overall, Celta Vigo put on a good fight and Barcelona were not in their best form.  Barcelona's returns to La Liga  after the winter break, against Getafe on Sunday, January 6, 2018. Barcelona returns to training on December 30.
Man of the match: Jordi Alba
Player ratings:
Barcelona - Ter Stegen 6, Semedo 7, Pique 7, Lenglet 7, Alba 9, Rakitic 7, Busquets 6, Vidal 6, Messi 8, Suarez 5, Dembele 8. Subs - Coutinho 5, Alena 5, Arthur 5.
Celta Vigo - Ruben 6, Mallo 5, Costas 5, Araujo 6, Mazan 5, Mendez 5, Okay 5, Jozabed 5, Boufal 6, Aspas 5, Gomez 7. Subs - Sisto 7, Lobotka 7, Beltran 5.


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