Barca face Sevilla in league-cup doubleheader
MADRID: Lionel Messi soared past Luis Suarez to become La Liga’s top scorer on Wednesday by adding his 17th and 18th goals of the season in a much-needed 3-0 victory for Barcelona over Elche.
Barca had followed up last week’s crushing Champions League loss to Paris Saint-germain by drawing at home to Cadiz on Sunday but eased the strain with a comfortable win at the Camp Nou.
Messi’s double owed much to a pair of superb assists, with a supreme dribble by Frenkie de Jong coming ater a sublime flick from Martin Braithwaite, who also set up Jordi Alba to score a third.
Ater failing to take full advantage of league leaders Atletico Madrid’s defeat by Levante on Saturday, this victory puts Barcelona back in third, five points off the top, having played a game more than Atletico.
“We cannot lose any more,” said Ronald Koeman. “The problem was we were not good enough at the start and we have to win all the games now if we want to do something in the league.”
Even if Atletico prove too far ahead to catch, a positive performance was important, especially with a semi-final second leg to come next week against Sevilla in the Copa del Rey, which may be their only chance of winning a trophy this term.
Messi’s return to top form comes as a huge boost too. The 33-year-old came off unfavourably in comparisons made with Kylian Mbappe last week but these kinds of performances show he is far from finished yet.
This was Messi’s fith and sixth goal in his last four games while no player from the top five European leagues has scored more than his 13 this year in all competitions. Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski is closest on 12.
“When we talk about old players, that’s not Leo,” said Koeman. “His quality and his game is still impressive. There are old players and then there are players that have to make the difference.
“He has shown again today that he is a very, very important player for this team.”
Francisco Trincao and Frenkie de Jong had early chances for Barcelona while Elche should have scored but Lucas Boye blazed over.
Yet a frantic opening gave way to a disjointed first half and Koeman reacted by bringing off the ineffective Miralem Pjanic at half-time and replacing him with Ousmane Dembele.
Barcelona scored within two minutes of the restart, Messi driving from midfield towards the area and rebounding off Braithwaite, whose sweeping flick behind his standing leg gave the scutling Argentinian a simple finish.
Elche’s early threat had dissipated and Barca added two more in five minutes.
BARCELONA: First in the Spanish League and then in the Copa del Rey, Barcelona and Sevilla will meet twice in five days with each team’s hopes in both competitions on the line.
Barcelona will visit Sevilla on Saturday with the team in third place, five points adrit of leader Atletico Madrid. Sevilla is a further two points behind in fourth, but with an extra game to play.
A win by Barcelona would lit them ahead of second-place Real Madrid before the defending champions play Real Sociedad on Monday. A victory by Sevilla would give the team hope of more than just a top-four finish and a Champions League berth.
On Wednesday, the teams will reunite at the Camp Nou, where Barcelona will try to overturn a 2-0 loss at Sevilla in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
Barcelona is coming off a 3-0 win over Elche on Wednesday, geting two goals from Lionel Messi. That victory came ater the team had been beaten by PSG 4-1 the Champions League and held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by Cadiz in the league.
Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman credited Messi for geting the team back on track with his second-half double ater a lethargic performance from his team before haltime.
“When I talk about our veteran players, I don’t mean Messi because he keeps on scoring goals,” Koeman said. “We need other players to make the difference for us, not Messi.
“We need to end this bad patch by playing well and geting good results.”
Both teams have been in good form in the league despite setbacks in Europe. Barcelona is undefeated in 14 matches, while Sevilla has kept up a six-game winning streak despite a 3-2 loss to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last week.
With their solid defense and potent counterattack, Sevilla have had the upper hand in the two previous meetings with Barcelona this season.
The well disciplined team coached by Julen Lopetegui earned a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou in their first league encounter in October. Sevilla then beat Barcelona in the Copa del Rey two weeks ago, geting goals from defender Jules Kounde and former Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic.
Sevilla playmaker Suso is doubful for Saturday’s match ater some pain in his hamstring kept him out of practice on Wednesday.