Barca sink Osasuna with help of two Messi assists
BARCELONA cranked up the pressure in yesterday’s Madrid derby by beating Osasuna 2-0 on Saturday night to edge two points behind leaders Atletico Madrid in La Liga.
Lionel Messi set up both goals in Pamplona as Jordi Alba hammered home in the first half before the 18-yearold Ilaix Moriba came off the bench to curl in an impressive shot late in the second. Ilaix’s strike was his first goal in La Liga and another breakthrough moment for a Barca youngster, 24 hours before the club hopes a brighter future can begin under a new president.
Before the winner of the elections was confirmed yesterday night, Atletico will face Real Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano, where Barcelona will surely be hoping for anything other than a home win.
A few weeks ago, Ronald Koeman’s side looked too far adrift in the title race but 10 victories out of 11 have shot them back into contention, even if Atletico remain in the driving seat with two games in hand.
After coming from two goals down to beat Sevilla after extra-time in the semifinal of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, Barcelona now have one trophy, and perhaps even a domestic double, in their sights.
Osasuna pressed high, which made for an entertaining opening 20 minutes as both sides played through the pressure and poured forward on the break.
Barca faced some nervy moments as Jonathan Calleri tried an ambitious lob from distance before Ruben Garcia’s curler from the edge of the area required an athletic save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Messi shot wide and then set up the opener, drifting in from the right and spotting the scuttling Alba racing in behind on the opposite side. Messi clipped a superb pass through three Osasuna defenders for Alba to collect and he lashed it high into the net from the angle.
Garcia deserved an equaliser soon after for his first touch alone, a sumptuous cushioning of a long ball forward, but Ter Stegen was again there to deny the finish.
Novak Djokovic will today set a new landmark of 311 weeks as world No.1, surpassing Roger Federer whose hold on a record-equalling 20 Grand Slam titles is now firmly in the Serb’s sights.
The 33-year-old Djokovic, already the winner of 18 majors, has time on his side with Federer turning 40 in August.
He is also a year younger than Rafael Nadal who also has 20 majors.
“Now that I’ve become the historic No.1, I’m relieved,” said Djokovic after sweeping to a ninth Australian Open last month which guaranteed his extended stay at the top.
“Now, I’m going to be able to focus mainly on the Grand Slams.”
Djokovic reclaimed the top ranking from Nadal in February 2020 and finished as year-end No.1 for the sixth time, tying the mark set by Pete Sampras.
He is currently in his fifth different spell atop the rankings.
Nadal, currently at No.2, has been at the top for ‘only’ 209 weeks in total although the 13-time Roland Garros champion can boast being a top 10 everpresent since April 2005.
He will, however, lose his world No.2 spot to Daniil Medvedev this week.
Federer, who returns to action in Doha next week after more than a year out of action to recover from two knee surgeries, will slip out of the top five on this week. Djokovic made his top 100 debut in July 2005, just weeks after Nadal had won his first Roland Garros.
He was top 50 in June 2006, top 20 for the first time in October 2006 and top 10 by March 2007.
He first became world No.1 at the age of 24 on 4 July 2011, the day after winning Wimbledon for the first time, beating Nadal in the final.
Only a six-month injury absence in 2017 saw his ranking plunge, all the way to 22 the following summer.
It was just a blip – Djokovic was back at No.1 again by November and with the exception of November 2019 until January last year, when Nadal reclaimed pole position, he has been rock solid.