Lionel Messi hits 25-goal mark as five-star Barcelona thrash Alavés
Lionel Messi scored twice for Barcelona as they ended their La Liga campaign with a resounding 5-0 win at Alavés, easing the pain of their midweek home defeat to Osasuna.
Ansu Fati, the teenage forward, put Barça in front midway through the first half after the visitors had already hit the woodwork three times. Messi rounded the keeper to make it two and Luis Suárez added a third before half-time, against opponents who had secured top-flight survival on Thursday by beating Real Betis.
Nelson Semedo scored a fourth early in the second half before Messi struck again, sweeping home for his 25th league goal of the season. The Argentinian is four goals clear of Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema and wins the Pichichi top scorer award for a record seventh time.
Having labelled his team weak and inconsistent after the loss to Osasuna, the Barça captain struck a more positive tone in his post-match interview here, saying the team felt more confident for their Champions League last-16 second leg with Napoli.
“Today we saw something else, it was a difficult game due to the kick-off time and heat, but the team responded with a different attitude and showed great commitment,” Messi said. “We took a long hard look at ourselves from the inside, which is what we needed to do.
“We have not had a good season but today we took a step forward,” Messi added. “It’s an important step for what’s coming next.”
The newly crowned La Liga champions, Real Madrid, were unable to maintain their perfect run of results since the season restarted as they drew 2-2 at neighbours Leganés, who were relegated on Sunday.
Sergio Ramos headed in his 11th league goal this season to put Real in front after nine minutes, as Zinedine Zidane heavily rotated his team after the 2-1 win over Villarreal on Thursday that clinched their first Liga title since 2017. Leganés levelled on the stroke of half-time through Bryan Gil but Marco Asensio restored Real’s lead early in the second half. Roger Assale equalised in the 78th minute and Leganés had a late penalty appeal turned down for handball against Luka Jovic after a VAR review, while Óscar Rodríguez blasted over from inside the area in added time.
Real ended the campaign on 87 points after the draw interrupted a run of 10 consecutive victories, five clear of second-placed Barcelona.
Leganés finished 18th on 36 points, joining 19th-placed Real Mallorca and Espanyol in being relegated, while Celta Vigo, who finished on 37, stayed up after drawing 0-0 at Espanyol.
A late goal by substitute Adnan Januzaj handed Real Sociedad a 1-1 draw at Atlético Madrid as they finished sixth in the table to secure a spot in the Europa League. The draw left Atlético third on 70 points. They will be joined in next season’s Champions League by fourth-placed Sevilla, who beat Valencia 1-0 and ended level on points with Atlético but with an inferior goal difference.
Granada hammered Athletic Bilbao 4-0 to nab seventh place and a spot in the second qualifying round of the Europa League.
Villarreal secured fifth place with a 4-0 win over Eibar, all four goals coming in the last 20 minutes. Gerard Moreno ended the season with 18 league goals after his late double, with André-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Moi Gómez also on target. Valladolid leapfrogged Real Betis and will finish 13th after a 2-0 win at Estadio José Zorrilla.