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Barcelona had a huge win over Getafe on Thursday night in a thrilling game. Messi opened scoring in the 8th minute before Getafe equalized through Clement Lenglet's own goal. Messi made it 3-1 in the 33rd minute, then Getafe reduced Barcelona’s lead through a penalty converted by Enes Unai. Unfortunately for Getafe, goals by Ronald Araujo and Antoine Griezmann sealed Barcelona's victory. Araujo's goal was assisted by Lionel Messi.  Messi had the opportunity to secure yet another career hat-trick when Griezmann was fouled in the box and Barcelona was awarded a penalty. Messi, despite being Barcelona's designated penalty-kick taker gave Griezmann the ball, and he converted the goal, making it 5-2 in Barcelona's favor.  Messi's brace on Thursday means he and Cristiano Ronaldo are the only players from the 'top five' European leagues to have scored at least 25 goals in 12 different seasons this century.

Lionel Messi just created another record with his 768th appearance for Barcelona - the most of any player in Barcelona's history. He created the record in style, with two goals and assist as Barcelona thrashed fifth placed Real Sociedad 6 - 1.  The other goal scorers were: Antoine Griezmann who opened scoring, Sergino Dest who also scored a Brace like Messi, and Ousmane Dembele with a fine goal. Barcelona had already sent five past the Sociedad keeper when  Ander Barrenetxea scored a consolation goal for Real Sociedad. Messi's assist for Sergino Dest's first goal for Barcelona took Messi's assist tally to eight this season. Leo has now scored 29 goals and provided 13 assists in 37 games this season in all competitions for Barcelona - 23 of those scored in La Liga. Barcelona are still four points behind league leaders Atletico Madrid who earlier beat Alaves 1 - 0, thanks to Luis Suarez's 500th career goal and a late Jan Oblak penalty save.  

Lionel Messi was in brilliant form on Monday night as he inspired Barcelona to a 4-1 triumph over Huesca, scoring a brace and providing an assist. It was a special occasion as he equaled Xavi's record number of appearances in a Barcelona jersey.  Barceona's first goal of the night came from Messi in the 13th minute, the second came from Antoine Griezmann 10 minutes before half-time - a near copycat goal of Messi's, the third from Oscar Mingueza (assisted by Messi) early in the second half, and the fourth by Messi in the last minutes of play.  "It's a good result and we keep growing," Koeman said after the match. "We were good in the first half and maintained the intensity in the second half. We did lose a little bit of concentration after the break, maybe there was a bit of tiredness. But the objective was to win and we've done that." Barcelona  have now managed 11 wins and a draw from their last 12 matches, and are now only four points awa...

Barcelona's 2-0 win at Osasuna on Saturday brought them within two points of first-place Atletico Madrid. For three games in a row now, Barcelona have conceded zero goals. Barcelona's opener - scored by Jordi Alba was set by Lionel Messi in the first half. Brilliant saves by Marc Andre ter Stergen from Kike Barja and Ruben Garcia saw Barcelona maintain a clean sheet in the first half, and throughout the game. Barcelona's second goal was scored by eighteen-year-old Ilaix Moriba, with another assist from Messi. He  collected Lionel Messi’s pass on the edge of the area before cutting on his left foot and curling a wonderful effort into the top corner - a goal he says he will never forget and will take to his grave. “Leo gave me a good pass and I don’t know how I cut and shot with the left, and thank God it went in," he told  Barca TV.  "I will never forget this and I will take it to my grave. There’s competition for places but it doesn’t matter if you are young...

Lionel Messi and the entire Barcelona squad were in good form on Saturday as they faced a first-class Sevilla. At the heart of Barcelona's formidable display was Lionel Messi who scored a goal and provided the assist for Ousmane Dembele's goal to make it 0-2 for Barcelona. Messi has now scored 38 goals against Sevilla, six more than he has scored against any other side. He has also achieved his best scoring streak in two years, netting in eight La Liga games in a row - a total of 12 goals during these matches. Barcelona are now within one point of Diego Simeone's men, though the latter have two games in hand. Barcelona's victory brings an end to Sevilla's 10-game winning run in domestic competitions. Barcelona face Sevilla again on Wednesday, in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. "If we can overturn the tie on Wednesday, our entire season turns around," Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said. "After playing like this at Sevilla, not givi...

It was a comfortable La Liga win for Barcelona as they defeated Elche 3 - 0 with second half goals from Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba - a brace from Messi and one goal from Jordi Alba. Messi notched in Martin Braithwaite's backheel into the bottom corner of the Elche goalkeeper's net in the 48th minute, and scored his second 20 minutes later - he picked up a pass from Frenkie de Jong, and fended off a few defenders before scoring. Jordi Alba scored Barcelona's third in the 73rd minute, set up by Braithwaite and Messi. Barcelona lay Sevilla on Saturday - a La Liga fixture, then next Wednesday at Camp Nou in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals. It will be an uphill task for the Catalans as they already lost the first leg 2-0 away. Barcelona are third in La Liga behind Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid - 55, 52 and 50 points respectively, albeit Atletico still have a game in hand. Messi's brace has taken him to the top of the La Liga scoring chart, with two goal...

For the third time in LaLiga Santander this season, Lionel Messi has had a goal disallowed by VAR in Saturday's Barcelona vs Alaves La Liga fixture. His first-half goal - a shot he tucked home from Antoine Griezmann's deflected shot - was ruled out by VAR, as they deemed Griezmann was slightly offside during the move. As of now, no player has had more goals disallowed by VAR than Messi this season. That did not stop Messi from scoring a brace - both sublime goals, with one scored 25-yards away from goal - and providing an assist in Barcelona's 5-1 undoing of Alaves. He also matched two important records - he equaled Barcelona legend Xavi for most league games played for Barcelona, and has matched Cristiano Ronaldo's tally of 573 goals scored from open play - doing so in two fewer years and 145 games less.  

Messi and a couple of first-team regulars did not feature in the starting XI for the Barcelona vs Real Betis clash, with a Copa del Rey semi-final against Sevilla due Wednesday, and the first leg of their Champions League clash with PSG eight days away. In-form Griezmann however debuted, but Barcelona trailed Real Betis 0-1 by the end of the first half. Barcelona did not register a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes of play. In the 56th minute, Koeman brought Messi in, who scored two minutes later to level the game. A Victor Ruiz own goal later put Barcelona ahead. But it was Trincao's curled strike that sealed the win for Barcelona. This victory places Barcelona 7 points behind league leaders Atletico Madrid, who have two games in hand.

Barcelona returned home to Camp Nou for their La Liga fixture vs Athletic Bilbao on January 31, 2021. It was a triumphant home as they moved up to second in La Liga - goals from Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann helped them beat Athletic Bilbao 2-1. Barcelona were the better team from kick-off - played with intensity, had the majority of ball possession and pressed to recover the ball when they lost it.  A very active Messi opened scoring for Barcelona in the 20th minute with a brilliant free kick (his 650th goal for Barcelona), though Athletic leveled through a Jordi Alba own goal early in the second half. Griezmann struck the winner for Barcelona with 15 minutes of play time left. This win stretched Barcelona's unbeaten run in the league to 10 games. They still have a long way to go however as they are still 10 points behind league leaders Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi had a turbulent summer, with doubts cast over his Barcelona future, but he's back to his best self in 2021. On Wednesday night, Barcelona won Athletic Bilbao 3-2 with a goal from Pedri and a brace from Messi.  Inaki Williams gave Athletic Bilbao an early lead in the third minute. Messi swept home a cheeky backheel from Pedri to give Barcelona the lead after Pedri's equalizer a few minutes after Inaki's goal for Athletic. He then scored Barcelona's third with Antoine Griezmann's assist. With the win, Barcelona are now third in La Liga - five points behind second-placed Real Madrid and seven adrift of table leaders Atletico Madrid. Messi and three others, including Luis Suarez top the goalscoring charts in Spain with nine goals each. Koeman was pleased with the Pedri-Messi connection, and praised the 18-year-old who completed over 90% of his attempted passes. "Pedri is showing despite his youth that he is very mature," the Dutc...

Messi and team celebrate after his goal After two successive defeats - a 1-2 loss to Cadiz (in La Liga) last weekend, and a humiliating 0-3 defeat to Juventus in the Champions League, Barcelona defeated Levante at Camp Nou - a much needed 1-0 victory. Messi fired home a pass from Frenkie de Jong in the 76th minute - his fifth goal in 11 La Liga appearances this season. Barcelona are now 8th in La Liga.  La Liga leaders Real Sociedad only lead Atletico Madrid now on goal difference. Sociedad are to play Barcelona on Wednesday. Barcelona are nine points behind leaders Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid. Though many suggest that Barcelona will miss out on La Liga trophy for a second consecutive season, Barcelona Coach Ronald Koeman believes Barcelona can still win it. "Of course we can win [the title]," the 57-year-old told reporters. "If we improve and we have more confidence and we improve our effectiveness [in front of goal], there's a chance! "There are st...

Lionel Messi has scored his third goal since the return of La Liga, the converted panenka spot-kick happens to be his 700th professional career goal - a rather late birthday gift for the Argentine who turned 33 on June 24. Messi has now scored 630 goals for Barcelona, and 70 for Argentina. Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo is the only current player other than Messi to have reached this landmark. Ronaldo boasts of 728 goals in 1005 professional appearances for Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and Portugal. Messi has however hit the 700 goals landmark in just 862 games for Barcelona and Argentina - in 111 games less than Ronaldo who reached the mark at the end of 2019. These are the top five highest active goal scorers: 1. Cristiano Ronaldo ( Portugal ,  Juventus ):  728 goals (1,005 games) 2. Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona):  700 (862 games) 3.  Zlatan Ibrahimovic  ( Sweden ,  AC Milan ):  540 (907 games) 4.  Luis...

AC Milan and Netherlands legend Marco van Basten has given his no-nonsense opinion on the Ronaldo-Messi 'GOAT' comparison. Both players clearly stand out but fans tend to consider one better than the other. Messi is a six-time Ballon d'Or winner, an award Ronaldo has won a remarkable five times. Both veterans are having a fine season. Ronaldo has scored 25 goals for Juventus across all competitions, and Messi, 23. Of the 23, Messi has scored 18 in 20 La Liga appearances. Ronaldo has scored 21 goals in 21 Serie A appearances. Van Baten told Corriere della Sera, " Cristiano Ronaldo is a great player, but  those who claim that he is better than Messi don't understand anything about football or say it in bad faith. "Messi is unique, inimitable and unrepeatable. "Players like him appear every 50 or 100 years. "As a child he fell into the pot of football genius."

Barcelona maestro Lionel Messi is back to scoring after a mini 4 La Liga games drought. On Saturday, Messi scored four goals in Barcelona's 5-0 rout of Eibar in their most recent La Liga outing. Messi scored his first 14 minutes into the game - a brilliant individual goal in which Messi danced past three players to find the back of the net. Messi clinically converted a Sergio Busquets pass in the 37th minute in his second goal. He completed his goal treble two minutes later - a tap-in of a good pass by Ivan Rakitic.  In summary, Messi registered a spectacular hat-trick in the space of 26 minutes. Barcelona's latest signing Martin Braithwaite provided the assist for Messi's fourth goal. Arthur Melo scored Barcelona's fifth in the 89th minute, netting a rebound shot by Martin Braithwaite. Messi has now scored 48 hat-tricks in his club career (excluding Champions League and others), surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick total of 47. Messi is also La Lig...

The first half of one of the toughest La Liga clashes - Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona saw the goalkeepers of both sides lifting their respective teams, with Atletico Madrid being the sharper side. Marc Andre Ter Stergen performed two outstanding saves for Barcelona in the first half, and Atletico's Jan Oblak did same as he tipped Gerard Pique's header onto the bar. Barcelona's other savior Lionel Messi was mostly silent in the first hour of play and got fully engaged in the game with a curling shot into the hour mark. Barcelona struggled to break down a tough Atletico Madrid defence at the Wanda Metropolitano, and it almost looked as though the game would end in a draw... till Messi genius got the winner for the Catalans in the 86th minute. Messi played a beautiful give-and-go with Luis Suarez, with "El Pistolero" setting up Messi's left-footed curler that went low and into Oblak's net. This was Messi's 30th career goal vs Atletico Madrid. Barcel...

Messi's masterclass display and hat-trick vs Celta Vigo have seen Barcelona return to the top of the La Liga table. Both Barcelona and Real Madrid are on 25 points but Barcelona are back to the top of La Liga thanks to a +2 superior goal difference over Real Madrid. With just nine points so far, Celta remain in the relegation zone. Messi scored from the penalty spot then scored two impeccable freekicks. Messi's first goal was scored in the 23rd minute. Lucas Olaza equalized for Celta Vigo via free kick 42 minutes into play. Messi's second goal came in just before the break, in the 46th minute of the encounter. He went on to score his third three minutes after half-time Sergio Busquets scored Barcelona's fourth goal in the 85th minute of play to close up Barcelona's comprehensive win.  Messi has scored two freekicks in one match in his career three times altogether. The first time was against Sevilla in the 2015/2016 UEFA Super Cup, and the second time was...

Barcelona's opening La Liga match of the season against Athletic Bilbao will be played today without Lionel Messi who is yet to recover from a calf injury he sustained in his first pre-season training session. Due to the injury, Messi was forced to miss out on Barcelona's pre-season tour of the USA. Messi started solo training on Thursday but is yet to return to first-team training. In a press conference yesterday, Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde revealed Messi will not be risked during the club's La Liga opener. He explained, "We never like to risk any players and much less someone like Leo. “He still hasn’t returned to training with the team and while we are happy with his progress, individual training is very different to playing a match. We are going to wait and see.” The Barcelona tactician avoided going deep into the Neymar transfer saga when questioned by reporters.  “It’s inconvenient and it’s not logical. The normal thing would be that the te...

Lionel Messi is en route to a third consecutive Golden Shoe award, with 36 league goals ascribed to his name. However, his closest Golden Shoe contender, Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe isn't giving up on his hope of beating Messi and winning the award this season. Mbappe is on 32 league goals for the 2018/2019 campaign and has one Ligue 1 game to play. Messi's brace against Eibar in Barcelona's last league game for the season yesterday took his league goals tally to 36, four more than Mbappe who plays his final league game on Friday against Reims. Mbappe is PSG's top striker this season. For him to win the Golden Shoe alongside Messi, he would have to score four goals on Friday. To have the Golden Shoe all to himself, he would have to score five. According to the  Daily Mirror , Mbappe said at the Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels awards, "I'm aiming for the Golden Shoe this year." "This afternoon I took a break in my na...

Lionel Messi came off the bench in the second half to score the loan goal in Barcelona's 1-0 win over Levante at Camp Nou. In the 62nd minute, Messi received a header from Arturo Vidal, shuffled his feet as two defenders sailed by, and scored with his signature clinical finish.  Messi scored his 34 league goal of the season in 32 appearances after 17 minutes of play. This La Liga title is Barcelona's fourth in the past five years.  "Messi was always ready to come on and I always knew he was going to play but we also have a game on Wednesday. He has to stay active and he scores goals everywhere he goes and he has won us this title," Valverde told reporters.  "It is very difficult to win this title, without the amount of teams we are competing with, especially with this margin. "We have done it two years in a row and it's fantastic to see the fans celebrate the title like this at home. Now we want to go and celebrate it." Beating Leva...

Barcelona are 10 points atop the La Liga charts thanks to Lionel Messi's dazzling performance against Sevilla, which resulted in a 4-2 victory for Barcelona. The hat-trick hero, Lionel Messi, however insists the race to the league title isn't over yet. Barcelona succumbed to Sevilla twice in the course of the game before equalizing and winning. Messi scored his 50th career hat-trick against Sevilla. Hats off to #Messi 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 🎩 pic.twitter.com/UtFsfEl5Gw — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 23, 2019 The Argentina star told beIN SPORTS he doesn't believe Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid could be considered out of contention. "No, because there is a long way to go," he said. "But it was really important to win because of what it means to win here and to keep our distance ahead of our rivals. "Now more ...