Messi scores 400th goal in Barcelona’s win
That’s 400 and counting.
Lionel Messi took his all-time Spanish league scoring record to 400 goals on Sunday after contributing to a 3-0 win over Eibar to keep defending champion Barcelona comfortably at the top.
Messi scored Barcelona’s second goal shortly after halftime to reach a milestone in the competition after 435 league matches. Former Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo is second alltime in La Liga with 311 goals.
In all competitions, Barcelona says the 31year-old Messi has scored an astonishing 575 goals in 658 appearances.
“He is from another galaxy,” Barcelona coach
said. “They are incredible numbers. But he does much more than score goals, he also does so much to generate scoring chances for others.”
Barcelona’s all-time top scorer got the landmark goal in the 53rd minute after Luis Suarez passed to him inside Eibar’s area. The Argentine did the rest by opening an angle around a defender and driving in a low left-footed shot.
It was also Messi’s league-leading 17th league goal and his 23rd goal overall this season.
Ernesto Valverde
“He should be proud,” said Suarez, who scored Barcelona’s other two goals. “Game after game he shows what a great player he is. I am happy for him and for the history that he is writing for this club.”
Barcelona stayed five points ahead of secondplaced Atletico Madrid, which edged Levante 1-0 thanks to a penalty from Antoine Griezmann, as the league reached its midway point.
Elsewhere: Inter Milan eased into the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup, although none of its fans were present at San Siro to see the Nerazzurri crush second-division Benevento 6-2. Inter was forced to play the match behind closed doors as part of its punishment for racist chanting in the Dec. 26 league match against Napoli. … Montpellier missed the chance to move up to third place in the French league after being held to a 1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Dijon. Defender Damien Le Tallec earned a point for Montpellier with a 61st-minute equalizer, shortly after striker Wesley Said put 18th-placed Dijon ahead in new coach Antoine Kombouare’s first game in charge. … David de Gea produced 11 saves in a virtuoso goalkeeping performance on Sunday, helping Manchester United to a 1-0 victory over Tottenham secured by Marcus Rashford’s goal.
ETC.
College football: All-America safety Deionte Thompson has joined a growing crowd of Alabama players leaving early for the NFL Draft. Thompson announced his decision on Twitter. He’s the sixth Crimson Tide underclassman to announce his decision to leave early.
Baseball: Representatives of the Oakland Athletics and Major League Baseball met with Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray, a day before the Oklahoma quarterback’s deadline to enter the NFL draft, a person with direct knowledge of the session said.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because the meeting was not made public.
Skiing: Marcel Hirscher won a World Cup slalom Sunday to set a men’s record on the 52-year circuit for most wins by one skier at a single venue. Hirscher’s ninth career victory at Adelboden (Switzerland) was earned with a secondrun charge to victory for the second straight day. Third-fastest in the morning, Hirscher was fastest in the afternoon to finish 0.50 seconds ahead of Clement Noel of France. Henrik Kristoffersen trailed Hirscher by 0.71 in third.