Liga - Messi hat-trick conquers Malaga
Lionel Messi scored his fifth hat-trick of the season as Barcelona cruised past Malaga with a 4-1 victory at La Rosaleda.
The Argentine forward opened the scoring shortly after the half-hour mark in a pedestrian first half before Alexis Sanchez's goal three minutes after the interval sparked the match into life.
Goals two and three for Messi on 51 and 81 minutes respectively gave the reigning Liga champions a four goal advantage, before Rondon pounced to give the flustered home side a consolation five minutes from time.
Malaga almost restored a little pride with a late surge during which Rondon and fellow substitute Seba Fernandez came close to further reducing the defecit, but Messi too was twice denied at the death by Wilfredo Caballero in goal.
The win pulled Barca closer to leaders Real Madrid, but Los Merengues later beat Athletic Bilbao 4-1 at the Bernabeu to move back five points clear at the summit.
Employing their traditional belief that patience is a virtue, the visitors were in no panic in their hunt for the lead against a Malaga side strong at the back but lacking the ideas to cause Barcelona's makeshift back four many problems.
The hosts' chief source of a potential opener was Isco, and on the quarter hour mark the teenage midfielder tested Victor Valdes on two occasions in quick succession.
First, his speculative drive from outside the penalty area had to be tipped over the bar by the stalwart goalkeeper, before the resulting corner was kept out by Valdes' impressive double save from Isco and then Martin Demichelis.
Eric Abidal - who scored the winning goal in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-final at Real Madrid - almost surged through in the box with half an hour played, but when Caballero made himself big and forced the left-back into a unfeasible shooting position, his cut-back to Messi led to a cross-cum-shot from the Ballon d'Or winner which was blocked yards from the goal line.
Messi would finally find the back of the net three minutes later, but not before Ruud van Nistelrooy scuppered a golden opportunity for a close range volley when he mis-hit Eliseu's cross to the far post.
It was a miss Malaga would rue within moments when Adriano's cross from the left at the other end was met by the head of the Argentine maestro for the game's first goal.
Though they spent most of the time chasing shadows or digging deep inside their own penalty area, the home side almost created another big chance on the stroke of half-time when a raking ball upfield was one decent first touch away from leaving van Nistelrooy one-on-one with Valdes.
However, when the Dutchman's header down took him away from goal slightly, it was enough of an invitation for Javier Mascherano to nip in and outmuscle his larger adversary to end the half with the clean sheet intact.
It appeared that Pep Guardiola was not best pleased with his team sitting on the one goal advantage, as they came out for the second half ready altogether more purposefully.
With 48 minutes on the clock Thiago lit the touch paper by forcing Caballero into a decent double save before the goalkeeper was finally beaten on the second rebound by Sanchez.
And only a further three minutes were required for two to become three as the visitors capitalised on complacency on the ball from the Malaga midfield and Messi strode forward on the ball before slotting his second into the bottom corner.
The World Player of the Year was only denied a faster treble by the woodwork 16 minutes from time when his free-kick from inside the 'D' came back off the underside of the crossbar.
But the goal frame would only deny him for a further seven minutes, when a lightning counter led to the best of the bunch: a confident 30 yard run forward beyond two defenders capped by an exquisite finish across Caballero with pinpoint timing and placement.
The fourth goal conceded appeared to be the final straw for a poor Boquerones team, who sparked by their substitutes during the second half began to finally test the Barca back line and even pulled a goal back.
Recio's 20-yard drive was a cracking one, but Valdes' spill of the shot allowed fellow replacement Rondon to pounce and put away a consolation off the far post.
He was inches from a second two minutes later only for his header from the cross of third substitute Fernandez to go inches wide, as did the winger when the two switched roles in stoppage time.
But Manuel Pellegrini's defeated men had their goalkeeper to thank late on when Messi was denied goals four and five - and a possible 6-1 scoreline - by Caballero's point-blank reactions.
Comment 15 - 34 of 34
@ ivelinstanchev...maybe barcelona could lose another game...but that will definitely NOT be against Real Madrid..
Barca are 5 points behind again, so pathetic....feel that Barca will lose a game soon......can not cop up with the great Ream Madrid......:(:(...so sad....
@diana, i luv messi too!@Barcelona Dream
Team Nr 2, well said mate. I'm glad that messi is not selfish, he even dedicated his win to xavi........ :)
Més que un club! Barça!!!
u are welcome Barcelona Dream Team Nr2 :) Visca Barca!love u Messi :P
There is only one player in barca......messi
leooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Visca el Barca!!! El mejor equipo del Mundo! Més que un Club!
poor pele!!!!he yet think s ,he is the best!!!he is a ...
Great stuff from the master Napoleonic footballer, but with that rather unsightly '5' in the away draws column for Barca, I feel it's not going to be enough. Pep might have to relinquish the title this season and satisfy himself with the CL double. Madrid, Ronaldo notwithstanding, have only a fraction of the creative talent of their rivals, but FCB have been sloppy and sleepy and Madrid have been hungrier. Much more so.
@16 &17, I am with you guys on that. Not a more true word said.
@ diana, thanks you, exactly, @ aurib, I was just stating facts to shut up madrid fans and Messi haters. I am not trying to take away credit from Xavi. He is a great player and the best midfielder ever. For your information, I would give Xavi not one but 5 ballon d'ors because he is such an amazing player, but not giving Messi a ballon d'or would be a crime after what he does for Barcelona and the way he plays. If there was a time where Xavi deserved to win a the ballon d'or I would have give it to him or Iniesta in 2010 because they won the world cup then, but still Messi played the best that season too. Opefuly in the future Xavi and Iniesta can win a ballon d'or to be recognized for their great work that they have done, but if they don't win it, it's because there was the best player in the world Messi in front of them, and there is no shame being second to the best player ever Messi. Good night. Visca Barca.
Barca are 5 points behind again, so pathetic....feel that Barca will lose a game soon......can not cop up with the great Ream Madrid......:(:(...so sad....
LEO YOU MESSIAH !!!!! MESSI MAKES THE DIFFERENCE IN EVERY BARCA'S GAME !! HE'S A REAL GOD!!!!
if indeed jm is the best coach in the world , then he is gotta show it in spain...i double dog dare him.
Like Ali, Messi is the greatest of all time..
Adam & Chris, u fools should knw that Pep graduated from Barca B (which are filled with young home grown talents) to current Barca. Your stupid, arrogant, special one with his loquacious mouth goes from one big club with great players to the next after buying additional players without the prospect of ever harnessing potentials of young talents in his midst. He rather goes for already-made goods & u fools call that special one. Now let me tell u, there is a Big difference b/w a special one and a choosen one. The latter is to see the downfall of the former in all fields of endeavour bcos he was called and chose for the job.
Now finally, your special one name sounds like..... Pls guess?
What do expect from a coach whose name sounds like MOWING & HOEING. Killer football squad with thugs & animals to maim/break opponents' legs, jaws & heads.
@ aurib, i think barcelona nr2 did no mistake.he was just stated the truth and wht he talked about were just answers to Messi's haters especially Real Madrid fans:)
a hat-trick without the help of a penalty take notes Ronaldo
@Adam. You seem to lap up Mou's media appearances, the pure subjective (fantastical) poetry of it all, "me against the world" ... yet you seem not to have a clue about Pep's approach to the media. We all see now how Mou likes to use the media. He enjoys being the villain of the piece. Why? Because it makes him lots of money and keeps him in the limelight. It also keeps the conversation away from how badly Madrid sometimes plays and how unsportsmanlike some of the players can get under pressure. For fans who love football more than blather from trainers, Pep is the epitome of measured confidence and respect. He loves football, not the cameras. He knows he's not playing, the players are. When he says Madrid is "physical", we all know what he really means. Why don't you? Didn't you see the last Clasico?
@13 @Barcelona Dream Team Nr 2,
i understand you are a big messi fan, but a lot of us barça fans and even messi wanted xavi to win Ballon do'r this year. barça is a team of unity and definitely more than a club, that plays beautiful football. All the players in the club are important, bit by bit. Puyol, Abidal, Pique, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi everyone are loved by the fans, and are absolute heroes. I'm sick of people telling us that barça is all messi. At 2006, people said Ronaldinho, but you see in the final, the game was changed by Rijkaard's substitutes, and they became heroes for that. In each game, you will see the barça players running to retain possession and continue 'tiki taka' pass and move. So everyone is important, not just messi. Xavi has been with Barça forever, and he is a hero to us all. Messi, Xavi, Iniesta never seek personal accolades, they all play for the team and to win.
Barça forever !!!
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account