Delicate finishes and scoring outrageous goals are nothing for Lionel Messi, rather, even at this age, he continues to produce those leaving the world moved. In the night where Barcelona were ousted from the coveted Champions League, the Messi goal was the talk of the town, and right now the strike against Huesca is making everyone talk. That is Messi for you.
Messi was playing for Barca for the 767th time and his curled double, along with goals from Antoine Griezmann and Oscar Mingueza, helped his side to a comfortable win over struggling Huesca.
Rafa Mir scored a controversial penalty for Huesca at the end of the first half, but Barca cruised to the victory.
Messi would give Barcelona the 1-0 lead in the first half as his shot would strike the crossbar and go in for his 20th goal of the league season.
Barcelona would add one more with another great strike by Griezmann, who went the Messi way and after the break, Messi would get his seventh assist via a cross to Mingueza who scored his first goal for Barca.
Messi would make it 21 goals in the league before the end of the match - A second long-range strike and his third in a row, as he would score to make it 4-1 for Barcelona.
He has now scored 20 or more goals in 13 straight La Liga seasons.
Koeman seems to have found a winning formula, with his fluid 3-4-3 able to quickly become a 4-3-3 as the consistently impressive Frenkie de Jong flits between defence and midfield.
They are far from perfect, and on another night Huesca could have scored three if not for a fine Marc-Andre ter Stegen save to deny Pablo Maffeo and a remarkable close-range miss from Rafa Mir either side of the latter scoring a pretty debatable penalty on the stroke of half-time.
But Barca look like they are enjoying their football for the first time in around a year.
“I cannot say more about Leo,” Koeman told a press conference. “The level he has for many years, many games. He has equaled Xavi and on Sunday in principle, he will surpass him. He is the most important man in the history of Barca. Luckily he is still with us.”
“I think he’s shown he’s the best player in the world. The first goal he scored was fantastic, and he deserves to be the focal point of this team. The team is confident. We cannot lose more points because we have already lost quite a few.”
Teenager Pedri, who was called up to the Spain national team for the first time earlier on Monday, also praised Messi.
“To play alongside Leo is an absolute joy. I enjoy going to training every day,” said the 18-year-old.
“Whenever I get it, I try and pass to him because every time he touches the ball, something happens. It’s absolutely crazy what he’s achieving. He’s the best player in the world.”
Barcelona move second in La Liga, four points behind leaders Atletico Madrid and ahead of their arch-rivals Real Madrid.
Note: This article has been posted on Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 16/03/2021 The night of Lionel Messi brilliance
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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