Lionel Messi scores two Goal on his comeback

Lionel Messi scores twice for Barcelona on injury return

 

Lionel Messi scored twice on his return from injury as Barcelona beat Getafe 4-0 in the Copa del Rey.

Lionel Messi Barcelona comeback

Lionel Messi Barcelona comeback match against Getafe on Wednesday 

Lionel Messi could make his return from injury for Barcelona in the Copa del Rey match against Getafe on Wednesday.

Barcelona win the match against Getafe by 5-2

Barcelona win the match against Getafe by 5-2

 

MADRID: Barcelona ensured they will finish 2013 on top of La Liga as a Pedro Rodriguez hat-trick helped them come from 2-0 down to win 5-2 at Getafe on Sunday.

The hosts had got off to a flying start as goals from Sergio Escudero and Lisandro Lopez put them 2-0 up inside 14 minutes.

However, the Catalans responded like champions as Pedro scored three times in eight minutes before the break.

Cesc Fabregas gave Barca breathing space when he volleyed home Pedro's cross 22 minutes from time and the former Arsenal captain doubled his tally from the penalty spot moments later.

Barca's comeback means they edge ahead of Atletico Madrid on goal difference at the top of the table, whilst Real Madrid can cut the gap on the top two to five points with a win at Valencia later on Sunday.

Without the suspended Neymar and injured Lionel Messi, the spotlight was on the Catalans' fringe players in attack to make their claim for a regular starting spot.

However, it was the visitors' defence that was shredded early on as Escudero played a wonderful one-two with Angel Lafita before firing home from close range.

Four minutes later Lisandro rose highest to power home Pedro Leon's corner.

Getafe could have even been further ahead had Ciprian Marica chosen the right option and passed to a teammate when the Barca defence was outnumbered moments later.

Instead the Barca revival began 10 minutes before half-time when Fabregas released Pedro in behind the defence and his chipped finish had just enough elevation to take it past Miguel Angel Moya.

Pedro then curled home into the top corner from the edge of the area and pounced on a defensive error by Juan Valera to give his side the lead at half-time.

Diego Castro should have restored parity for Getafe when he curled inches wide of the far post after turning Gerard Pique inside the area on the hour mark.

And that miss was to prove crucial as Barca killed off the contest with a wonderful team move eight minutes later that culminated with Fabregas volleying home Pedro's cross at the back post.

Pedro could have had his fourth seconds later as his attempted lob of Moya drifted just over, but he was also involved in Barca's fifth as was clipped inside the area by Borja Fernandez and Fabregas sent Moya the wrong way from the resultant spot-kick.

Lionel Messi criticized a Barcelona vice president

BARCELONA: Lionel Messi criticized a Barcelona vice president on Friday for saying the Argentina forward didn't deserve a better contract.

Javier Faus, the vice president in charge of Barcelona's finances, said two weeks ago he didn't see a reason to further extend Messi's contract. Last year, the club extended the 26-year-old Messi's contract through 2018.

"Mr. Faus is a person that doesn't know anything about football and wants to run Barcelona like a business, which it isn't," Messi told Catalan radio RAC1. "Barcelona is the best team in the world and deserves to be represented by the best executives.

"I remind him that neither I nor any of my representatives have asked for a contract extension at any moment, and he knows that very well."

Messi is Barcelona's all-time leading scorer and a four-time FIFA world player of the year. He is in Argentina recovering from a hamstring injury and expected to return to Barcelona in January.

Messi rarely speaks about the business side of his career. This is the first time he has openly criticized an important board member of the club he joined when he was 13 years old.

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell said on Thursday that he had not spoken to Messi about his contract, while adding "but my door is always open. I have no doubt that the best player in the world deserves to be the highest paid."

Lionel Messi matches Ronaldo's hat-trick

Lionel Messi marked his 80th Champions League match with a hat trick on Wednesday as Barcelona began its campaign in Group H with a 4-0 rout of Ajax.

The Argentina forward opened the scoring at Camp Nou Stadium with a free kick in the 22nd minute, doubled the hosts' advantage in the 55th on the break and, after Gerard Pique's 69th-minute goal, added another 15 minutes from fulltime. The goals took his cumulative tally in the competition to 62 - nine short of Raul Gonzalez's all-time record of 71 goals in 144 appearances.

Messi now stands alone as the only player to have scored a hat trick four times in the tournament.

"From (Frank) Rijkaard until now, the coaches that have come through here, every two or three games they have talked about how surprised they are by him, and I am just one more," said Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino, who will travel to his native Argentina following the death of his father on Tuesday.

Despite some lethargic moments late in the first half, Barcelona eased to the win thanks to Messi's goals and the team's near complete control of possession.

When Ajax did manage to create a scoring opportunity, Valdes was there to keep a clean sheet.

"As the game went on we adapted better as we figured out what to do," said Messi. "We couldn't put pressure on them at the beginning because they read the match perfectly."

AC Milan beat Celtic 2-0 in the night's other Group H game.

True to both teams' well-established playing styles, Barcelona and Ajax kept the ball on the turf. While Ajax was limited to former Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic's sprints down the left side, Barcelona soon focused on Neymar cutting in from the left flank.

But it fell to Messi to get the hosts going after he was fouled while dribbling across the edge of the area following a neat passing combination with Dani Alves.

From that prime spot, Messi sent a left-foot shot off the left post, with the ball beating outstretched goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer before ricocheting into the far side of the net.

"We know that Messi can always score, and he did," said Ajax coach Frank de Boer, a former Barcelona defender. "His free kick was very good, very fast.

"I can't be happy. When you allow four goals you can't be. But I saw moments that we can build on for the games ahead."

Ricardo van Rhijn almost answered for Ajax in the 31st when Bojan picked him out with a cross, only for Valdes to smother his header.

The home crowd became nervous near the end of the first half, and Barcelona apparently took note by showing the defensive pressure Martino had said was his top priority to restore after the break.

The increased intensity paid off when Barcelona recovered the ball and Sergio Busquets spotted Messi running unmarked down the right side. Messi took his pass, cut back to bring Stefano Denswil to the ground and used his left foot to score.

Neymar, in his European debut, set up Gerard Pique to add Barcelona's third goal with a long cross.

Ajax lost possession near its area and Xavi Hernandez laid the ball off for Messi to take his time before driving it between a pair of defenders and into the corner of the net for his third goal.

Valdes had his moment of glory one minute later in the 76th when he blocked Kolbeinn Sigthorsson's penalty after Javier Mascherano fouled Thulani Serero in the box.

"We played a better second half," said Martino. "We were more comfortable than in the first and took control of the game. It was a good performance, not as brilliant as the 4-0 looks, but we won it fairly.

"Barcelona is full of individual talents. Today we can talk about Messi and Valdes, another day Xavi or Neymar. It is normal that one of them rises to the occasion."

Ajax's defeat was its ninth consecutive loss to a Spanish opponent. Ajax's last victory in Spain dates back even farther to the 1996-97 season when De Boer helped the Dutch team win at Atletico Madrid.

The two four-time champions had never met before in Europe's top-tier competition. Even so, fewer teams from different countries have stronger ties.

Dutch great Johan Cruyff led Ajax to three straight European titles from 1971-73 as a player before moving to Barcelona, where he would later return as a coach to guide it to its first European title in 1992

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