Messi scored twice, Barca won big

The Catalan team just had their 36th consecutive unbeaten match when they defeated Eibar 4-0 in round 28 of La Liga.

Messi scored a double, bringing his La Liga tally to 21 goals. Photo: Reuters

Goals: El Haddadi 8', Messi 41', 76' penalty, Suarez 84'

A day after Cristiano Ronaldo shone for Real, Lionel Messi gave a "response" worthy of his decisive role at Eibar. The world's best player not only contributed to the creation of the opening goal, but also directly brought joy to the fans with a double against goalkeeper Riesgo. The remaining goal for Barca belonged to Luis Suarez, the striker who ended a streak of three consecutive "goalless" matches.

With a big win at Eibar, Barca continues to march towards the 2015-2016 La Liga championship. The Catalan team is currently leading with 72 points, and has re-established a gap of more than 12 points over rival Real Madrid.

Coming to Eibar as a guest, Barca had a slightly different game compared to many previous matches when they could not field the full MSN trio. Neymar, the familiar fast striker on the left wing, had to sit out due to having received five yellow cards since the beginning of the season. His absence had a significant impact on the quality of the attack, but was not enough for Eibar to take advantage and win points. With the excellent form of Messi and Suarez, Barca still proved to be too strong for the team ranked eighth in the overall table.

Like many matches since the beginning of 2016, Messi continued to shine in the role of leader of the attack. The star wearing the number 10 shirt may not have impressed with its strength, but each kick was almost reasonable and highly effective. A typical example was the pass to Suarez to break the offside trap in the eighth minute. After this situation, Suarez comfortably crossed for Munir El Haddadi to tap the ball to open the score.

El Haddadi has a knack for scoring goals as soon as he starts.

Against Barca's creative attacking play, Eibar may have been lucky to avoid a crushing defeat. Shortly after the opening goal, the visitors missed three chances to increase the lead. Suarez alone took two of the three chances, while the referee ignored a handball incident with home defender Pantic in the penalty area.

After many good chances, Barca had to wait until the 41st minute to increase the score to 2-0. This time Messi continued to play the leading role when he dribbled the ball solo to score from midfield. The difference compared to many other solo goals was that M10 did not need to break through to beat any player, but only dribbled the ball past the opposing defenders and then shot diagonally, just enough to beat goalkeeper Riesgo.

Messi's shot was so dangerous that the opposing defender standing right in front of him and the goalkeeper couldn't block it in time.

Not yet satisfied with the two-goal difference, coach Luis Enrique continued to ask his players to maintain great pressure on Eibar's field. This caution is necessary for many reasons. Eibar always plays a crowded defense on the one hand, and on the other hand, is often ready to organize counter-attacks towards goalkeeper Bravo's goal.

After the break, Barca did not have as many chances as in the first half. One of them was not taken advantage of successfully when an Eibar defender intervened right before Messi finished in the 52nd minute.

Patiently pressing the field, Barca waited until the 76th minute to score the third goal. This time Messi earned a penalty after his cross hit an opponent's hand, then finished cleverly from the 11m mark. This was also M10's 21st goal since the start of the 2015-2016 La Liga season, helping this player consolidate his third place in the race for the top scorer with Ronaldo (27 goals) and Suarez (26).

In addition to Messi's double, Barca also had another success in the match against Eibar: Suarez regained his scoring touch. After three consecutive quiet matches in all competitions, the striker wearing the number 9 shirt finally scored a goal against the opponent. Not only that, Suarez also made the audience admire the quality of the goal: dribbling the ball like a needle through a defender and then shooting from a tight angle.

Suarez has restored his "killer" instinct in front of the opponent's goal.

Suarez's goal was also the 100th goal scored by the MSN trio in all competitions in the 2015-2016 season. They only need to score 23 more goals in the remaining 17 matches to break the record they set last season.

According to VNE