Lionel Messi lit up the Camp Nou on Sunday, scoring with a superb free kick and then helping to set up a hat trick for Luis Suarez as leader Barcelona thrashed Celta Vigo 6-1 in the Spanish league.
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Messi scored twice in a 3-1 win at Sporting Gijon on Wednesday to take his tally to 301 league goals in 335 games as Barca extended their lead at the top of the table to six points.
Messi grabbed his landmark 300th La Liga goal in the 25th minute when he cut in from the right, past two defenders on the edge of the box, and hit a left-foot shot into the bottom corner.
Barcelona have 57 points but will reach 60 in 24 matches, six clear of Atletico and seven ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, if they beat Sporting Gijon in the match they have in hand on Wednesday.
“It doesn’t matter who scores the goal just that we win the games” said Neymar after the match. He noted that Barcelona players always think about the “spectacle”, not only about winning games and titles.
When Messi stepped up to take the penalty there were rumblings on social media that he was being selfish for denying his teammate a chance at a hat trick and taking it himself.
The visitors should have made it safe in the 62nd minute, but Ivan Cuellar saved a Suarez spot kick after he had given away the penalty by bringing down Neymar. The play became famous after Johan Cruyff – a Barcelona idol – executed it while playing for Ajax in 1982.
The Uruguayan side-footed home after Lionel Messi nudged the ball into his path from the penalty spot, converting a move Thierry Henry and Robert Pires failed to execute for Arsenal over a decade ago.
‘I’m optimistic in any situation, ‘ he said.
“I don’t know if they rehearsed the penalty”.
Enrique, who led Barca to victory in last season’s final with a 3-1 win over Juventus in Berlin, has already seen his men secure a place in the King’s Cup final as well as chasing a second successive La Liga crown. And it’s been like that since, so I don’t understand the controversy we saw.
“We have confidence in Leo, Luis and Ney”.
Enrique added there was nothing arrogant about Messi’s penalty and said there was a tendency in Spain to look down on moments of skill.
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“You are looking at some of the finest players in world football and to me it’s just a joy to watch Barcelona every time they play”.
