Lionel Messi has injury scare after scoring 2 goals in Barcelona draw

BARCELONA, Spain — Nothing can silence the Camp Nou crowd like the thought of an injury to Lionel Messi — especially four days before a clash against Real Madrid.

So a chill ran through Barcelona’s supporters during the Spanish league match against Valencia on Saturday when Messi sat down on the sideline, his right leg stretched before him, and received a massage from a team trainer.

Little did it matter that the team’s all-time leading scorer had just struck two goals to lead Barcelona back from a two-goal deficit to secure a 2-2 draw. Any hint of Messi being sidelined with the season entering its critical phase with titles on the line immediately overshadowed yet another outstanding performance by the Argentine.

Messi may have been hurt when Valencia defender Antonio Lato ran into him.

The scare comes before Barcelona hosts Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal.

“Please don’t let it be anything serious,” Barcelona midfielder Carles Alena said. “We hope he will be back in full form on Wednesday.”

Coach Ernesto Valverde said Messi was undergoing medical exams.

“He is bothered by something, but we will have to wait to see what the doctors say,” Valverde said. “I imagine that it is not that bad.”

Messi missed Barcelona’s first clasico against Madrid in October due to a broken right arm. His teammates did fine without him, routing their fierce rival 5-1 and sealing the fate of coach Julen Lopetegui.

Madrid, however, is playing much better now. It has won four straight before hosting Alaves on Sunday.

Before his fitness put a damper on a thrilling match, Messi extended his scoring run to nine straight games across all competitions. His double took his league-leading tally to 21 goals in 22 rounds.

Barcelona’s winning streak in la Liga ended at eight matches in a row. It leads second-placed Atletico Madrid by six points before its closest title rival visits Real Betis on Sunday.

TRADING BLOWS

Valencia took advantage of Sergi Roberto playing out of position as a fill-in left back for Jordi Alba. Daniel Wass led several attacks from Roberto’s side, starting with a pass for Dani Parejo to test Marc-Andre ter Stegen before Denis Chershev put the rebound off the post.

Parejo started a move that produced Kevin Gameiro’s opener in the 24th minute when he tackled Messi. That sprung a counterattack led by Rodrigo Moreno, who slipped a pass forward to set up Gameiro.

Parejo doubled the advantage from the penalty spot after Roberto knocked down Wass trying to dispute a cross.

Valencia lost Gameiro to injury shortly after when the striker asked to be substituted after being shaken up when he knocked heads with Gerard Pique.

Messi got his first goal from the penalty spot in the 39th after Nelson Semedo was fouled by Lato.

Messi struck again in the 64th when Arturo Vidal laid the ball off for him on the edge of the area. Messi quickly unleashed a curling, left-foot strike around two defenders, who impeded goalie Neto from seeing the ball until it was too late to react.

“We played at a good pace, counterattacked well, scored twice and could have scored more,” Parejo said. “The team’s performance was magnificent.”

SEVILLE SLIDE 



Celta Vigo broke a five-match losing streak and escaped the relegation zone by beating Sevilla 1-0 at home thanks to Okay Yokuslu’s second-half goal.

Fourth-place Sevilla has won only one of its last six league games.

BASQUE DERBY

Real Sociedad defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-1 to deal its northern Basque Country rival its first defeat since the arrival of coach Gaizka Garitano.

Garitano had kept Bilbao unbeaten through seven league games since replacing Eduardo Berizzo in December.

FAN VIOLENCE

Getafe’s 0-0 draw at Levante was marred by 11 Getafe fans being arrested for provoking a clash with rival supporters outside the stadium in Valencia.

Getafe, which condemned the violence, rose to fifth as the small Madrid-based club continued its impressive season on the field.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Barcelona celebrates La Liga triumph in city parade

BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona players and coaches showed off the Spanish league and Copa del Rey trophies to the city and themselves in selfies in a victory parade on Monday.

Riding atop an open bus, the team chanted and saluted fans as they wended through city streets before thousands of people.

The two-hour-long parade also served as a farewell for veteran playmaker Andres Iniesta, who last week announced he will not return for a 17th season with the club. The words “Infinit Iniesta” were painted on the bus that carried the team.

Barcelona won the Spanish league for the seventh time in 10 seasons on Sunday, a week after clinching its fourth straight Copa del Rey title.

Barcelona still has four matches left in the league but can’t be caught by second-place Atletico Madrid or third-place Real Madrid.

Barcelona failed in its attempt to win the treble when it was eliminated by Roma in the Champions League quarterfinals.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Messi nets 2 as Barca beats Celta 5-0 to reach Copa quarters

BARCELONA, Spain — Lionel Messi scored twice in the space of three minutes to help Barcelona to a 5-0 win over Celta Vigo on Thursday as the holders advanced to the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey.

Messi, who also created Barcelona’s third goal for Jordi Alba, set his team on its way to a 6-1 aggregate victory with his 21st and 22nd goals in all competitions this season.

Alba had provided the assists for Messi’s strikes in the 13th and 15th minutes, and the Barcelona star returned the favor by setting up the left back to score in the 28th.

Luis Suarez made it 4-0 before halftime, while Messi was replaced by Ousmane Dembele before the hour mark. Ivan Rakitic headed in a corner kick by Dembele in the final minutes to complete the rout.

New signing Philippe Coutinho watched from the Camp Nou stands following his club-record transfer from Liverpool earlier this week. The Brazil midfielder will make his debut after he recovers from a right leg muscle injury.

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde took no chances after the 1-1 draw in the first leg, starting Messi in his first appearance in the competition this season after resting the Argentina forward for the first three cup games.

Messi quickly quashed any chance of Celta springing an upset.

Barcelona’s all-time scoring leader swept Alba’s cross past Sergio Alvarez despite the goalkeeper getting a hand to the ball, and he followed up by firing home after another exchange of passes with Alba.

Messi then turned provider, lobbing a perfect pass behind Celta’s back line to meet the run by Alba, who chipped Alvarez to score.

“The connection between Messi and Alba is nothing new, it has been working for years,” Valverde said. “They look for each other and are happy to do so, because it is not just Alba assisting Messi. Messi also creates goals for Alba.”

Suarez netted in the 31st after pouncing on a poor pass by Pione Sisto, before Rakitic nodded home at the end.

Barcelona extended its unbeaten run this season to 28 straight matches, dating back to its losses to Real Madrid in both legs of the Spanish Super Cup in August.

Celta had drawn 2-2 at Barcelona in La Liga last month and had gone into Thursday’s match after holding Madrid to a 2-2 draw in the league last weekend.

SEVILLA ADVANCES 

Sevilla beat Cadiz 2-1 with goals from Wissam Ben Yedder and Joaquin Correa to advance 4-1 on aggregate.

Making the last eight will take some of the pressure off new coach Vincenzo Montella following Sevilla’s painful 5-3 home loss to crosstown rival Real Betis in his Spanish league debut on Saturday.

Ben Yedder scored from a rebound after a shot by Correa to give Sevilla the lead in the 32nd. Correa then headed in from a corner taken by Pablo Sarabia in the 54th.

Alvaro Garcia got second-division Cadiz’s consolation goal in the 86th, leading to jeers from Sevilla’s home fans for the team’s shaky finish to the match.

“It was a complicated match. We are all suffering from the derby loss,” Correa said. “We are sad, but we will get through this together.”


ESPANYOL COMEBACK 

Goals by forwards Leo Baptistao and Gerard Moreno helped Espanyol to a 2-0 victory at Levante, sending the Barcelona-based team through 3-2 on aggregate.

Moreno set up Baptistao in the 14th minute, before scoring his goal in the 34th.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Surprising Alaves to take on Barcelona in Copa del Rey final

MADRID — There could hardly be more contrasting teams in the Copa del Rey final.

Alaves, the recently promoted club from Basque Country, will be playing in the final of a major tournament only for the second time in its 96-year history.

Barcelona, on the other hand, will be making its 39th appearance in the Copa final.

Barcelona has won virtually every possible title in the competitions it has played.

Alaves’ only winner’s trophy is for Spain’s second division.

In the final on May 27, Barcelona will field the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, and Neymar.

Alaves’ top forward is Deyverson, a Brazilian barely known even in his native country.

“This was unthinkable in the beginning of the season,” Alaves coach Mauricio Pellegrino said after their clinching 1-0 home win over Celta Vigo on Wednesday in the semifinals. “We’ll be mobilized for this final.”

The only other time Alaves enjoyed this kind of success was 16 years ago when it reached the final of the UEFA Cup. It lost to Liverpool 5-4 in extra time in a thriller in Dortmund.

It has mostly struggled since then, spending several years out of Spain’s top division. The club, founded in 1921, was promoted to La Liga this season after 10 years in the lower divisions, including four in the third tier.

“After 96 years, to reach the Copa final for the first time, there will be a ’before’ and an ’after’ this achievement,” Alaves president Alfonso Fernandez de Troconiz said. “It’s been an amazing season.”

Barcelona, meanwhile, has been in the Copa del Rey final in seven of the last nine seasons, including the last four. It has won it a record 28 times, including the last two.

But despite the lopsided matchup, there’s reason to believe in an historic result in the final.

Alaves stunned Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou in the Spanish league this season, handing the Catalan club its only home loss with goals by Deyverson and Ibai Gomez.

The teams meet again in the league on Saturday in Basque Country. Barcelona is second in the league with 18 more points than 12th-place Alaves.

Before the league loss, Barcelona had won five straight games between the two sides, including four in the Copa del Rey. It won both games in the last 16 in 2007, and cruised to a 6-1 aggregate win in the early rounds in 2012.

Barcelona has yet to lose a Copa del Rey home-and-away series since coach Luis Enrique took over in 2014, a run of 12 straight triumphs.

It made it to this year’s final by eliminating Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, and Atletico Madrid, the latter in the semifinals.

Alaves got past Deportivo La Coruna, second-division club Alcorcon, and Celta, which eliminated Real Madrid in the quarterfinals.

Barcelona is already certain to be without defender Sergi Roberto and striker Luis Suarez, who were sent off on Tuesday in the 1-1 draw against Atletico at Camp Nou. Suarez was handed a two-game suspension on Thursday for refusing to immediately leave the field after being shown the red card.

The venue for the final has yet to be determined, although it will likely be in Madrid.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez hinted on Thursday that the club’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium likely won’t be available because renovation work will be underway during the final.

Last season, officials wanted Barcelona and Sevilla to play the decider at the Bernabeu, but a Bruce Springsteen concert was scheduled for the venue and Madrid avoided having its biggest rival celebrating a title on its grounds. The final was eventually played at Atletico’s Vicente Calderon Stadium. –Tales Azzo

source: sports.inquirer.net

Barcelona, Madrid play last games with title in the balance

BARCELONA, Spain — It all comes down to the last match.

With the title still up for grabs, Barcelona and Real Madrid have one game to play on Saturday with only one point separating them.

Barcelona can retain its title, making it eight in 12 years and 24 in club history, with a victory at Granada. At the same time, Madrid visits Deportivo La Coruna hoping to culminate a spectacular comeback and get a huge boost of confidence for its Champions League final against Atletico Madrid on May 28.

“This match is custom made for Barcelona’s players. This type of game is what inspires teams,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said Friday. “There are games when you have to motivate players, but there is more than enough motivation for this game. It is more about controlling the emotions.”

Barcelona holds a one-point advantage and the tiebreaker over Madrid, so the team coached by Zinedine Zidane needs to beat Deportivo and hope Barcelona drops points to add to its record 32 titles.

Zidane has asked his players to concentrate on their match, and said he would not follow the score from Barcelona’s game from the dugout while his team plays.

“I’m not going to find out what has happened (with Barcelona’s match) until the end,” Zidane said. “We don’t depend on ourselves, but we have to think only about our match and how we can win and get the three points. Then we will see.

“We have faith. We have won 11 games (in a row) and we are within one point with one match to go. We have to believe until the very last second.”

Here are some more things to know about Saturday’s decisive matches:

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LUIS’S LEGACY

Last season, Luis Enrique matched Pep Guardiola’s treble of Champions League, Spanish league and Copa del Rey titles.

And his team was on course to repeat that feat until it fell to Atletico in the Champions League quarterfinals. That coincided with a three-game losing run in the Spanish league which let Madrid surge back into contention.

Now, Barcelona’s season, regardless of the outcome of the Copa del Rey final against Sevilla on May 22, rests on whether it can handle the pressure at Granada.

“I think we recovered the level of play that we are accustomed to several weeks ago,” Luis Enrique said. “Now, it is just like every week. We have to play better than Granada, create more chances and limit theirs to get as close as we can to taking the three points.”

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THE ZIDANE EFFECT

Zidane made his debut as a top coach against Deportivo in January, when his new team thrilled the Santiago Bernabeu with a decisive 5-0 win that its fans hoped was a sign of bigger things to come.

Since replacing the fired Rafa Benitez, Zidane has guided the team to the Champions League final and a strong record of 16 wins, two draws and one loss in the Spanish league.

“I am happy, not only my work, but that of all my players,” Zidane said. “But I haven’t won anything yet. We will see after the season is over. We have two very important finals to play.”

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TOP GUNS

Barcelona and Madrid claim six of the top seven goal scorers in the competition, and the title could depend on which trio has its day.

Barcelona’s Luis Suarez leads the league with 37 goals. The Uruguay striker is supported by Lionel Messi, who has scored 26 times, and Neymar with 24.

Suarez has scored 11 of those goals in the last four matches, helping Barcelona end a four-game winless slide that almost cost it the league lead with a run of four straight wins by the combined score of 21-0.

Cristiano Ronaldo tops Madrid’s scorers with 33 goals in the league. Karim Benzema has added 24, with Gareth Bale contributing 19, including a few critical winners in recent weeks.

Bale returned to practice after missing last weekend’s match with a leg injury. Zidane said that Ronaldo and Benzema were completely recovered from their nagging leg injuries as well.

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THE OPPONENTS

Both Granada and Deportivo are safe from the relegation fight and without options of earning a berth in European competition next season.

Madrid has won on its last four visits to Deportivo, but Riazor Stadium is traditionally a tough ground for Madrid, where it has won 13 times in 49 visits.

Barcelona has dropped points on nine of 21 trips to Granada’s Los Carmenes Stadium.

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THE PRECEDENTS

If history matters, it’s on Barcelona’s side.

This will be the eighth time the two powerhouses have both arrived to the final round with options to win the title. Barcelona came out on top in six of the previous seven occasions.

The Catalan club edged Madrid in the inaugural 1929 league and did so again in 1960.

It got much worse for Madrid during back-to-back debacles in 1992 and 1993, when it lost an advantage to Barcelona in the final round with losses at Tenerife.

Madrid finally outdid Barcelona in 2007, while a Barcelona side coached Guardiola protected its lead to win in 2010.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Barcelona sets club record of 29 straight games without loss

MADRID— Barcelona broke the club record with its 29th consecutive unbeaten game when its second-stringers salvaged a 1-1 draw against Valencia in the Copa del Rey semifinals on Wednesday.

Barcelona reached its third straight Copa final 8-1 on aggregate after it won the first leg 7-0 at the Camp Nou last week.

Striker Alvaro Negredo gave Valencia the lead in a breakaway before halftime, but Cameroon-born youngster Wilfrid Kaptoum, a member of Barcelona’s B team, equalized in the 84th, two minutes into his senior debut.

Barcelona eclipsed the record it shared with Pep Guardiola’s 2011 squad, despite playing without nearly all of its regular starters at Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, including Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar. Coach Luis Enrique used youngsters, with Ivan Rakitic the only experienced starter.

“Honestly, the record wasn’t our main goal,” Rakitic said. “We are happy, but the most important thing is to win titles at the end of the season. We would all exchange the record for titles.”

The draw should increase pressure on Valencia coach Gary Neville, the former England defender who has been struggling in his first head-coaching job. He also used second-stringers in his squad, resting some of the starters for the Spanish league game against Espanyol on Saturday.

Barcelona will likely play the final against Sevilla, which holds a four-goal lead over Celta going into Thursday’s second leg in Vigo. It will be Barcelona’s sixth Copa del Rey final in the last eight seasons.

“We are thrilled to make it to another final,” Enrique said. “Our fans are getting spoiled, just look at the number of Copa finals that we’ve played in the last few years. It tells a lot about this club’s capacity to reinvent itself, it tells a lot about the type of players that we have.”

Enrique’s team hasn’t lost since a 2-1 defeat at Sevilla in the seventh round of the Spanish league in October. It was trying to win its 11th in a row on Wednesday.

Guardiola’s steak ended with a 3-1 loss at Real Betis in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals. His team won 23 games and drew five, scoring 85 goals and conceding 14.

Enrique’s squad has won 23 games and drawn six, scoring 87 and conceding 15.

The Barcelona team coached by Rinus Michels and including Johan Cruyff in the 1973-74 season, won 27 straight games.

Negredo opened the scoring after entering the area free from markers. He found the net after his initial shot was partially blocked by Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen. The late equalizer by the 19-year-old Kaptoum came with a close-range shot after a low cross by Juan Camara.

Valencia had lost three straight games. It hasn’t won in the Spanish league in 12 rounds, nine of those under the command of Neville.

“It’s a small step to try to regain some confidence and keep us in the right direction to turn things around,” Valencia forward Pablo Piatti said. “We are disappointed, the team hasn’t met expectations so far.”

Only about 16,000 fans showed up at the 55,000-seat Mestalla. A supporter held a banner that read: “Bye bye, Neville.”

“I’m thankful for the fans who came to the stadium. Some didn’t want to come and that was their right,” Neville said. “We weren’t playing under the best circumstances after what happened (in the first leg) last week, but the players played with dignity. We deserved to win.”

source: sports.inquirer.net