Barcelona ace Neymar has claimed that the “crazy” penalty pass by Lionel Messi during Barcelona’s match against Celta Vigo was actually for him to score and not Luis Suarez.
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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.
Suarez then scored his third when Messi, having been brought down in the box, cheekily kicked a penalty square allowing the Uruguayan to charge into the box and tap the ball in.
The Uruguay striker completed his hat-trick in outrageous fashion from Messi’s penalty, and further goals from substitute Ivan Rakitic and Neymar completed the rout as time ran down.
Barca coach Luis Enrique acknowledged not everyone would have appreciated the routine.
But the move didn’t impress Dunphy, who told 2FM’s Game On that the Argentinean star should apologise.
“You can take a penalty like that, it’s legal and there’s a Cruyff penalty we all know”.
It’s also worth noting that Messi, instead of tucking away his 300th league goal with the penalty, chose to set up a team-mate instead of going after a personal record.
“That play had been rehearsed and it was supposed to be for me”, Neymar said.
Neymar after the game admitted the pass was meant for him, yet Suarez got to the ball first.
“It totally lacked class… you have to respect your opponents and you have to respect the game and the history of the game”, he said on Game On on RTE 2FM.
Previously, the five-time FIFA Ballon D’Or victor Lionel Messi scored a spectacular free-kick in the 28th minute.
Infamously, former Arsenal winger Robert Pires tried to play the ball forward to Thierry Henry from a penalty in a 2006 Premier League tie, only for the winger to scuff the kick prompting the referee to blow for a Manchester City free kick.
“I don’t think it was disrespectful”, Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta said. “It doesn’t matter, he scored so it worked well”.
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The incident came in the 81st minute of the match, which Barca eventually won 6-1.
