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Messi hat-trick breaks La Liga record as Barca put five past Mallorca
MADRID, Dec 8, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Lionel Messi broke yet another record by
hitting his 35th La Liga hat-trick on Saturday as Barcelona thrashed Real
Mallorca 5-2 to keep pace with Real Madrid at the top of the table.
A trio of vintage Messi finishes contributed to five stunning Barca goals,
the best of them arguably belonging to Luis Suarez, whose brilliant backheel
capped a free-flowing move, involving seven different players.
“I knew I had a little gap, my last resort was to try a backheel,” said
Suarez.
“I was surprised,” added Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde. “It was an
extraordinary goal.”
But at the end of a week in which Messi claimed a record sixth Ballon d’Or,
it was the Argentinian etching his name into the history books again after
pulling clear of Cristiano Ronaldo’s 34 La Liga trebles to stand alone.
“Unbelievable,” said Valverde. “It was a celebration of the Ballon d’Or.”
The efforts of Messi and Suarez overshadowed Antoine Griezmann’s opener but
that was impressive too, the Frenchman applying a sumptuous chip after being
assisted by his own goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
An exhibition of creativity at Camp Nou allowed for the occasional lapse in
defence and Mallorca’s Ante Budimir twice reduced the deficit to 2-1 and 4-2,
even if a comeback never looked likely.
Instead, Messi underlined his status as the world’s finest footballer with
another sublime performance, instant evidence for why he was presented with
his latest Ballon d’Or trophy on the pitch before kick-off.
Messi now has 12 goals this season, the highest in the division and one
ahead of Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, who had scored one and set up another
in an equally comfortable 2-0 victory over Espanyol a few hours earlier.
It means Madrid and Barcelona are back level on points at the top of the
table, with Barca ahead on goal difference. Sevilla, in third, are four
points further back.
Benzema’s own irresistible form in parallel with Messi adds an intriguing
sub-plot to the upcoming Clasico on December 18, which looks increasingly
likely to decide who will sit first over the Christmas break.
“We’re talking about Karim a lot recently, in a good way,” said Madrid
coach Zinedine Zidane. “He’s getting older and that’s made a difference, his
maturity.
“None of us are perfect. But he’s asked to chase and he does it. He’s asked
to score and he does it. I can’t ask for more, only that he keeps doing it.”
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After rocky starts, La Liga’s most successful two clubs also appear to be
hitting their stride ahead of what is shaping up to be a crunch meeting in 11
days’ time.
Messi in this mood will be hard to stop. For his first goal, he cut in from
the right and bent the ball into the top left-hand corner and his second was
almost a carbon copy, Suarez setting it back for his partner to hit the same
spot.
In between, Budimir latched onto an excellent reverse pass by Salva Sevilla
to briefly give Mallorca hope after Griezmann had opened the scoring, racing
onto Ter Stegen’s through ball and scooping it over Manolo Reina.
Suarez hit the post and then stumbled after skipping around Reina but he
made up for both two minutes before half-time with arguably the goal of the
night.
Ten passes, involving seven different players, ended with Suarez with his
back to goal and somehow the Uruguayan dug out a superb shot with the back of
his foot that span into the far corner. Frenkie de Jong had been instrumental
in the build-up.
Budimir capitalised on a rare Ter Stegen error to head in before Messi
completed his hat-trick with seven minutes left. Sergi Roberto pulled back
for Suarez, who set it up for Messi. His shot clipped the crossbar on its way
in.
– French connection –
Earlier, Benzema gave the assist to his compatriot Raphael Varane before
scoring his 15th goal of the season.
Varane’s goal came in the 37th minute after Benzema had bundled through on
the edge of the box. With his left foot, Varane stabbed into the far corner.
Vinicius Junior, lively on his first start since October 19, might have
made it two after tearing away on the break but he failed to beat Diego Lopez
at his near post.
Benzema also missed from a Vinicius cross but finally got his goal with 11
minutes left. He threaded in Fede Valverde with a smart reverse pass and then
continued his run, before meeting the pull-back and finding the corner.
Defeat means Espanyol stay 19th in the table, five points adrift of
Mallorca in 17th.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0830 hrs