Raissa's Blog - Best of Sports, Culture, and Entertainment

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.

Barcelona easily cruised to their first trophy of 2020-21 - their first silverware since 2019 - as they thrashed Athletic Bilbao 4 goals to nothing. Barcelona were unable to find their breakthrough despite having a lion's share of ball possession until the 60th minute. Antoine Griezmann turned in Frenkie de Jong's cross to give Barcelona their first. Barcelona would go on to score three more goals in the space of 12 minutes. De Jong scored Barcelona's second, merely 3 minutes after Griezmann's. Thereon, it was a Messi show, with the Argentine driving from his own half, exchanging twice with De Jong to score Barcelona’s third. His second goal - Barcelona's fourth - came in four minutes after his first - a truly sublime goal. Messi's brace takes his goal tally for the season to 31 goals. As of now, he has scored more than 3 goals for Barcelona in all competitions in 13 straight seasons. Barcelona have now won the Copa del Rey 31 times. Messi passed Telmo Zar...

Buckingham Palace today April 9, announced the passing away of  Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who served as consort to his wife Queen Elizabeth II for more than 60 years. He died at the age of 99. "It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty the Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," the statement read. "His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle." "Further announcements will be made in due course." "The royal family join with people around the world in mourning his loss." The Duke of Edinburgh, whom Queen Elizabeth referred to as “my strength and stay,” was hospitalized in February after “feeling unwell , ” and was treated for an infection and a preexisting heart condition, Buckingham Palace said. He was released a month later after undergoing a heart procedure. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has offered condolences to the Que...

Former Portugal international Fernando Meira has criticized Cristiano Ronaldo for his explosive reaction after his winner for Portugal was disallowed.  Ronaldo's goal clearly crossed the line despite Aleksandar Mitrovic getting back to clear the ball, but referee  Danny Makkelie  waved play on after consulting with his linesman, sending the five-time Ballon d'Or winner into untold rage. Alas,  there was no VAR or goal-line technology to check the call. The 36-year-old threw his captain's armband down and stormed off the pitch after seeing the goal chalked off, with the match ultimately ending 2-2. "It's a clear goal, but Ronaldo cannot throw Portugal's captain's armband on the floor,"  said Meira,  who has 54 Portugal caps. "Cristiano's reaction is natural but unacceptable for the captain of the national team. You cannot throw the captain's armband on the floor and go towards the changing room while the game is still going on. ...

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...