Messi scores 300th goal in La Liga, Barca leaves Real seven points behind

The Catalan team just won all three points in the make-up match when defeating Sporting Gijon with a score of 3-1.

Messi continues to break his own La Liga scoring record by becoming the first person to reach the 300 mark. Photo: Reuters

Goals: Carlos Castro 27' - Messi 25', 31', Suarez 67'

Messi scored his 300th and 301st goals in La Liga with two goals in the 25th and 31st minutes. This is also a new record, far surpassing the 251 goals of the late striker Telmo Zarra (Bilbao Club) and 246 goals of Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid). Sporting Gijon soon equalized 1-1 in the match on the evening of February 17, but that was the only moment to celebrate. In the second half, Luis Suarez scored his 24th goal since the start of the 2015-2016 La Liga season to consolidate his leading position in the race for the top scorer, and also sealed a 3-1 victory for Barca.

With three points from the make-up match, coach Luis Enrique's team has pulled ahead of the two opponents below them on the overall table. Barca currently has 60 points after 24 matches, six points more than Atletico and seven points more than Real Madrid.

The Catalan team had to make up for the match with Gijon because they had to postpone a round of matches at the end of last year. At that time, Enrique and his team were busy in Japan to conquer the FIFA Club World Cup.

Because Barca had to play every three days, Enrique proactively distributed his players' strength by leaving Dani Alves, Iniesta and Mascherano on the field. This was the right choice because with good replacements like Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal, the Liga leader still proved to be too strong for Gijon.

Like many recent matches, Barca's attacking trio continued to be a nightmare for the opposing defense. Gijon goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar could only show his brilliance when he blocked Suarez's shot in the 21st minute, but could not keep up with Messi's dangerous curler four minutes later. In this scoring situation, M10 broke out outside the penalty area and shot decisively from 20 meters, sending the ball flying into the far corner despite all attempts to block.

Messi's 300th La Liga goal was a long-range masterpiece.

What surprised the audience and made the match more exciting was that Gijon equalized just two minutes after conceding. This was a worthy result for the home team when they organized a sharp counter-attack to defeat Barca's defense. In the decisive situation, Alex Menendez had a perfect cross for Castro to tap the ball into the net of goalkeeper Bravo.

However, Barca's class still showed itself to be superior and played a role at the most important moment. Four minutes after the equalizer, Messi continued to have a tricky finish when he shot into the top corner of the goal despite the efforts of goalkeeper Cuellar and two Gijon defenders standing right in front of him. Suarez played a big part in this goal when he controlled the ball and passed it back to M10.

While Messi and Suarez both played at a high level, Neymar was unlucky in scoring against Gijon. The striker missed three chances to make it 3-1 in the first half, including one that hit the crossbar.

Neymar's biggest contribution to the match was probably the breakthrough that forced goalkeeper Cuellar to commit a foul in the penalty area in the 60th minute. This situation brought a penalty for Barca and also created a big surprise. Unlike the previous match, Messi passed the ball from the 11m mark for Suarez to score, this time M10 completely gave up the right to take the free kick so that his teammate could increase his goal tally in La Liga. And what surprised Barca fans was that Suarez's shot was not dangerous, allowing Cuellar to dive and push the ball away.

Not long after missing the penalty, Suarez had a beautiful redemption goal. The striker dribbled past a defender and curled the ball into the far corner with his left foot, leaving Cuellar helpless.

Suarez is in very good form in all competitions.

With the winning goal, Suarez scored his 24th goal in 23 appearances since the start of the 2015-2016 La Liga season. Barca's number 9 continues to lead the race for the top scorer with three more goals than Ronaldo, and five goals ahead of third-placed Benzema.

According to VNE