Barcelona maintain their 10 points gap with Real Madrid after another Lionel Messi goals day stunned Racing Santander, leaving the Catalan a comfortable journey home awaiting for another weekend to chase Madrid.
After recently bagging five goals in the Champions League, Messi continues his goal scoring form this weekend, although the Argentinian international only bagged a brace but it were decisive for Barca’s victory.
Playing in their dominant fashion, Barcelona needed 29 minutes before taking the lead through Messi’s close range shot after receiving a fine cross by Cesc Fabregas. The goal didn’t eventually cracked Racing’s defense as they hold still tightly until the Argentinian international grabbed his second not long after the half time break from the penalty spot which was earned by Fabregas.
Those two goals marked Messi’s 50th goal in all competition this season, with many games left to play for Barca, the Argentinian could very well ending up the season breaking more goal scoring records especially since the player still battling toe to toe with Christian Ronaldo. The three points also gave some continuous hope for the Catalan army that they are still have a chance in chasing Madrid this season, albeit the current 10 points gap.
Meanwhile, other important results in La Liga showed Valencia’s failure in picking up three points at home despite already having a two goals lead in the first half as they were pinned back by Mallorca in the second half. Tino Costa and Aritz Aduriz’s goals proved to be worthless when Emilio Nsue along with Victor replied for the visitor after the break, resulting in a disappointing result for the home team, who also forced to end the game with 10 men after Costa received a matching order.
The fourth place chase remains tight after Atletico Madrid picked up all three points with a 2-0 victory over Granada, as Miranda and Radamel Falcao successfully netted the goals for Diego Simeone’s team. However, disappointing result arrived for another Champions League contender when Athletic Bilbao were defeated by Osasuna as Fernando Llorente’s reply wasn’t enough to cancel out the home team’s goals scored by Ander Iturraspe’s own goal and Raul Garcia’s header.
La Liga’s Weekend Result:
Malaga v Levante 1-0; Sociedad v Zaragoza 3-0; Sporting Gijon v Sevilla 1-0; Real Betis v Real Madrid 2-3; Atletico Madrid v Granada 2-0; Espanyol v Rayo Vallecano 5-1; Valencia v Mallorca 2-2; Racing Santander v Barcelona 0-2; Osasuna v Athletic Bilbao 2-1
Villarreal v Getafe (to be played on Monday)