Messi nets goals 50, 51, Barca keeps pressure on Real Madrid

Lionel Messi scored his 50th and 51st goals in all competitions to help Barcelona keep the pressure on Real Madrid in the Spanish league’s tight title race yesterday.

Neymar and Luis Suarez also struck in a 4-1 victory over Villarreal that increased the combined goal tally of Barcelona’s trio of star strikers to 102 goals in the campaign.

Barcelona’s fifth straight win gave it three more points than Madrid before the latter visited the relegated Granada later yesterday.

Barcelona holds the tiebreaker over Madrid, but Madrid will still have three matches to play after this round to Barcelona’s two. That means Madrid controls its own fate as it tries to dethrone Barcelona and lift its first Liga title since 2012.

Messi's goal on the last kick of the first half tilted a match that was wide open for the first 45 minutes, in Barcelona’s favour.

Neymar, who excelled in his incursions from the left flank throughout, opened the scoring when he poked in a shot by Messi that hit a defender and fell to him in front of goalkeeper Andres Fernandez.

Villarreal responded with a goal by striker Cedric Bakambu in the 32nd.

Pique wasted a cross by Messi that he only had to nod in and Soldado barely missed with a header on the other end before Neymar helped Messi take back the lead. It’s the fifth season in Messi’s career that he’s reached 50 goals.

Neymar deftly dribbled past a pair of defenders and laid off for Messi to put the ball on his left boot. Head down, Messi opened an angle around two defenders

La Liga

Friday Yesterday and unleashed a long strike that took a deflection off Villarreal’s Mario Gaspar before finding the net.

Suarez fired his goal under Fernandez in the 69th after Sergi Roberto set him up in the area.

Messi added a penalty that he converted in the “panenka” style, gently chipping the ball down the middle after the goalie moved, after Jaume Costa handled the ball in the box.

Messi increased his league-leading haul to 35 goals, followed by Suarez’s 27.Atletico Madrid rebounded from its stinging loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League by sealing its return to the continent's top-tier competition yesterday.

Atletico's 1-0 victory at home over Eibar ensured Diego Simeone's side will finish in the top four places in the Spanish league with two matches remaining.

Atletico remained in third place, five points ahead of Sevilla in fourth and 11 ahead of Villarreal in fifth before it plays at Barcelona later.

Atletico lost 3-0 at Real Madrid in the opening leg of their Champions League semifinal on Tuesday. The return leg is next Wednesday.

Far from being downcast following that defeat, Atletico's fans cheered loudly throughout the match and applauded the players after the final whistle.

The top three spots in Spain earn automatic berths to next season's Champions League group phase while the fourth-placed finisher must go through a playoff.

Atletico laboured to the win thanks to Niguez' 69th-minute goal. The midfielder drilled in a low cross by Diego Godin that substitute Fernando Torres smartly decided not to touch when it crossed his path.