Having lost 4-3 to Celta Vigo before the worldwide break, Barca made an emphatic statement early on against Depor, with a Rafinha double and a Luis Suarez strike putting manager Luis Enrique’s side 3-0 ahead before the break.
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The Argentina forward, back after three weeks out with a groin problem, scored his side’s fourth seconds after coming off the bench. Neymar puts the ball right on Messi’s foot, and it’s a challenging angle for Messi but La Pulga Atomica smashes an emphatic one-time strike into the net. “This is the most common question in all interviews – I don’t know if it is just for me, or for everyone, but when we ask this question we forget that they are three great players”. Before that they played in December 2015 and the game ended in a 2 – 2 draw. I want and I hope that we enjoy ourselves.
“Only hard work will get us out of this run because the talent is there”.
To do so, though, Sevilla need to end a 22-game streak stretching back 17 months without a La Liga win away from home.
Cristiano Ronaldo is fourth on the list with 150 goals, behind Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano’s tally of 151. Emphatically, would be the answer.
However, Barca still trail Atletico by two points after Carrasco s treble and Nicolas Gaitan s first two goals for the club inspired a storming fightback by Diego Simeone s men after falling behind early on. “(With Messi) we create spaces and score goals”.
The Turkish worldwide was criticised for his work rate and body language at times last season. You didn’t play well.’ I was thinking, ‘What?!
Although Barca struggled for rhythm against a rival who looked to pressure them high up the park, chances came with relative ease, with Neymar hitting a volley against the crossbar before Rafinha opened the scoring in the 22nd minute. Raphael Varane, Karim Benzema, Marcelo and Isco scored those first-half goals.
Messi wasn’t needed to be the match victor as Barca had the three points sewn up before the break. “It’s not easy to play like that away from home”, Zidane said in his post-match press conference. And the players came out and did what they needed to do. “We are starting and we are growing as a team”.
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“We worked towards trying to do that and now we have to be consistent and continue in the same way”.
