Messi Scores Special Goal As Barca Edge Closest Rivals Atletico

Against Girona on February 24, the 30-year-old struck a low effort underneath the wall, catching Barcelona’s derby rivals by surprise during a 6-1 win.

It was Lionel Messi that scored Barcelona’s victor against a hard Atletico Madrid from a free-kick. The Catalans are still unbeaten heading into the last 11 games of the season, but making history won’t be easy for Ernesto Valverde’s side with some tricky fixtures still to come, including a El Clasico on the third last matchday of the season.

After the match, Simeone praised the Argentine’s quality, and said he was the difference between the two sides on the day.

To paraphrase Gary Lineker: Football is a simple game. “When he is on your side, you are always hopeful”.

Espanyol goalkeeper Diego Lopez was hospitalized after he lost consciousness after knocking heads with another player during the match.

The Portuguese moved on to 16 league goals for the season by heading in a cross from Marcelo in the 78th minute to restore Real’s two-goal cushion after Francisco Portillo had pulled back a goal from the penalty spot for Getafe.

Lionel Messi in full flow is one of the most exhilarating sights in football and a threat that puts defences on red alert, but the Barcelona talisman has become just as risky from dead ball situations too.

“It seems pretty unlikely that Barcelona will lose three games but we’ll go on competing”, the Atlético boss said.

“If we remove the shirt of Messi and we put the one of the Atletico Madrid on him, Atletico wins 1-0”, Simeone said afterwards. “We have no doubt that we can get closer to our objectives”. He has been absolutely lethal this term playing a crucial role as Barcelona are aiming for another treble this season.

The Spaniard said,”There is no player like Messi in the world”.

“It’s obviously not definitive but we have taken a step towards it”.

Premier League: Brighton 2 (Dunk 7, Murray 26) bt Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 43); Manchester City 1 (Bernardo 46) bt Chelsea 0. It was a typically Messi goal, too, as he slammed home first time into the far corner from Andres Iniesta’s layoff to surpass Gerd Muller’s record of 85 goals in 12 months.