Showing posts with label messi. Show all posts
Madrid halt Barcelona progress in El Clasico
Real Madrid defeat Barcelona 3-1 in season's first El Classico
- Barcelona's front-3 combined within 3 minutes to fire the first goal.
- Neymar opened the scoring for Barca with a superd goal in the 3rd minute thanks to a brilliant cross by Louis Suarez who looked great in the first half but rusty in the 2nd& ultimately was substituted in the 69th minute.
- Ronaldo leveled with style in the 34th minute thanks to Gerrard Pique who appeared to slip and accidentally conceded a penalty.
- Madrid went 2-1 ahead in the 50th minute with a bullet-header from defender Pepe on Toni Kroos' well crafted corner kick.
- Barcelona left themselves dangerously open at the back in an attempt to equalize but it backfired into a team move for Real as Iniesta played in to Ronaldo who connected with James Rodriguez to find Benzema for a through-ball. Benzema thus, sealing the victory for Real Madrid in the 61st minute with the scoreline reading 3-1.
- Lionel Messi missed several chances mainly due to being bogged down by too many Madrid defenders.
- Luka Modric & Toni Kroos controlled the pace in the Midfield.
- Iker Casillas had a superb game and answered his critics who questioned his place in the Madrid side.
Related:
Messi, Ronaldo brace up for Champions League Record
Star Players gear up for Champions League all-time Goal scorer Record
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| Image Courtesy: goal.com |
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| Image Courtesy: goal.com |
Its Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo once again, for what appears to be about the 3843732839244th time in the last decade, this time both of the greats gunning up for all-time scoring record in the Champions League.
The duo are inseparable rivals of the decade like any other sport has had in the past, Muhammad Ali & Joe Frazier in Boxing, Bjorn Borg & John McEnroe in Tennis, these two thrive due to each other, its almost as if they are parasites feeding of each others brilliance, trying to one-up each other on every step of their careers.
Currently the Portuguese captain Ronaldo has 69 goals in his account while Messi sits on 68.
Its just a matter of 'when' rather than 'if' the all-time scoring record of 71 goals held by Spaniard Raul will be surpassed.
The degree of competitiveness can be measured from the last 5 years since Ronaldo came to Madrid, he has netted 54 goals in 53 Champions league appearances whereas Messi scored 51 times in 55 matches.
Prior to this move, Ronaldo had scored only 15 goals in 52 appearances for Man Utd & Messi scored 17 goals in his 35 games for Barca.
It is quite evident that these two legends need each other. Ronaldo & Messi are destined to chase each other in the hunt for more trophies, achievements, records & goals till they finally hang up their boots.
One thing is for sure, barring any injuries, the mark for most goals scored by a player in Champions League is set be exchanged multiple times between the two of them for seasons to come.
Related:
Barcelona rattled by PSG in Champions League
PSG defeat Barcelona 3-2 in an epic contest
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| David Luiz celebrates after scoring. |
"This is the best win of my life", said Nasser Al-Khelaifi, PSG President.
Luiz put his name on the score-sheet in the 10th minute, but the early advantage was equalized by Lionel Messi in the 12th minute. Verratti snuck in through the poor Barcelona defence in the 26th minute to put PSG ahead again.
But it was midfielder Blaise Matuidi, who showed some finishing skills to give PSG a 3-1 lead in the 54th minute but Brazilian star Forward Neymar Jr scored for Barcelona just 2 minutes later, making it 3-2.
After that, Barcelona tried and tried to equalize & same themselves from embarrassment but luck was not on their side.
Meanwhile, Messi scored his 68th Champions League goal & 402nd career goal, just 3 behind all-time leader Raul Gonzalez.
Related:
Liverpool Hammered by West Ham
Man Utd Humiliated again, this time by Leicester
Real Sociedad beat Real Madrid 4-2
Swansea shock Man Utd in Premier League Opener
