Three days after Real Madrid heroically set the Spanish unbeaten streak record by scoring at the death against Sevilla in the Copa del Rey, Sevilla returned the favor in La Liga action on Sunday.
Luis Enrique opted to leave Neymar, Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic and Gerard Pique out of the starting XI for Barcelona’s match against Las Palmas at the Camp Nou on Saturday, even though the side from the Canary Islands is eighth in La Liga.
But this is Barcelona, and they thrashed their opposition behind the primary strength of Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi. Suarez scored a brace and Messi added one of his own, bringing them both to 14 La Liga goals on the season as joint top-scorers.
With Barcelona desperate to sign Lionel Messi to a longterm deal (his current contract expires in the summer of 2018), the club have reacted quickly to negative statements concerning Messi by their head of sporting relations, Pere Gratacos, by removing him from his post.
On Friday, Gratacos said, “Messi would not be as good without Iniesta, Neymar and co. He’s the best, this is true.”
Sevilla and Real Madrid drew 3-3 in their Copa del Rey round of 16 second leg match, extending Real’s unbeaten run to 40 games, and Los Blancos advanced to the quarterfinals, 6-3 on aggregate. Karim Benzema scored with the final touch of the match to continue Madrid's remarkable streak.
Goals from Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi helped Barcelona overturn a 2-1 deficit and advance to the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey at the expense of Athletic Bilbao, 4-3 on aggregate.
Lionel Messi had given Barcelona hope after striking a gorgeous free kick in the opening leg at the San Mames, but Barcelona still had it all to do against a Bilbao side that showed absolutely no fear against the Spanish giants.
In a moving and heartfelt article for The Players’ Tribune entitled “Letter to My Younger Self”, Ronaldinho has recounted the remarkable stages of his globetrotting career; from the death of his father as an eight-year-old to the highs of representing the Brazilian national team and winning the Ballon d’Or with Barcelona.
Norwegian prodigy Martin Odegaard joined Real Madrid two years ago at the age of 16, and having failed so far to break into Madrid's first team, the 18-year-old midfielder is going on loan to Heerenveen in the Netherlands.
After only two first-team appearances in two years, Odegaard will benefit from regular action against top division professionals.
The loan is reportedly for 18 months, and Odegaard will not be 20 years old yet at the end of it. There's room to grow here.
Odegaard joins a squad that sits fourth in the Eredivisie, in line for a Europa League place.
The rumor mill has been heating up as clubs start making moves this January. One big-time rumor that might make waves in the coming weeks, should it turn into reality, is Manchester City’s reported interest in Ivan Rakitic.
The Barcelona midfielder has been warming the bench for Luis Enrique’s side since early December, and a move to play under Pep Guardiola might prove alluring to the Croatian playmaker.
Still, how well would he fit into Guardiola’s team?
Barcelona dropped points to Villarreal on Sunday after a 1-1 draw, but they have Lionel Messi to thank for keeping their fading La Liga title hopes alive. With Villarreal leading 1-0 in the 90th minute, Messi stepped forward to deliver another fantastic free kick.
Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Messi has scored on 12 direct free kicks for club and country, moving him into the upper echelon of dead ball specialists.