Messi, Suarez and Neymar have all missed at least two penalties already this season – as has Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo – with Barca’s total of seven failures in La Liga already a record.
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Atletico beat visiting Real Sociedad 3-0 on Tuesday, while third-placed Real Madrid are again 12 points off the pace after a 3-1 win at Levante on Wednesday. The win for Luis Enrique’s men set a new Spanish record as it was the Catalan’s 35th game unbeaten in all competitions. However, they still have some way to go before they can equal Glasgow Celtic’s all-time European mark of an incredible 62 matches unbeaten, which was set in 1917, or Juventus’ 43-match unbowed streak, which was set in 2012. “Playing with two men down against a team of Barcelona’s level is very hard, but I don’t think the result would have been so harsh (if neither Llorente nor Iturra had been sent off)”.
Rayo has lost 10 straight games to Barcelona, being outscored 28-4 in the last six.
Barcelona reportedly have plans in place to keep Lionel Messi at the club “well into his thirties”, and the club will look to tie down his loyalties once fellow Camp Nou star Neymar has agreed new terms.
Barcelona could make history in its Spanish league match Thursday against Rayo Vallecano. The loss left the team from Madrid 17th in the 20-team standings, just outside relation zone.
Russian striker Denis Cheryshev, who made headlines after Real Madrid was disqualified from the Copa del Rey because he was ineligible, has been key for Valencia and is likely to start against Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
Martinez Corral Juan Carlos produced a great one-handed save from Messi in the 21st minute but was completely at fault for the opening goal just a minute later.
Turan closed the scoring with a late header.
Messi was very much alive to the situation as Suarez’s effort came back off the post and despite the efforts of Carlos to keep the shot off the line it managed to sneak in from close range. His fellow team-mate Luis Suarez leads the table with 25 goals.
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Dani Alves missed the game against Rayo after picking up his fifth booking against Sevilla and is expected to return for this game.
