Lionel Messi scored twice helps Barcelona got their La Liga title defence winning over Alaves
Special Report by; ASGHAR ALI MUBARAK
The Genius Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona got their La Liga title defence off to a winning start with a deserved, hard-fought victory over Alaves. Lionel Messi fired a fantastic free-kick under the wall to open the scoring – Barcelona’s 6,000th La Liga goal.Half-time substitute Philippe Coutinho then cut inside to curl home a second. And Messi controlled Luis Suarez’s pass with his chest, beat two defenders and steered a low shot into the bottom corner of the net in injury time. Messi, now Barcelona’s captain after Andres Iniesta’s move to Japan, had also hit the woodwork twice – with a free-kick that deflected off the bar and another effort coming off the post. He has scored in 15 consecutive La Liga seasons.
Lionel Andrés Messi was born on 24 June 1987 is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward and captain for Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentine national team. Often considered the best player in the world and regarded by many as one of the greatest of all time, Messi has won a record-tying five Ballon d’Or awards four of which he won consecutively, and a record five European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won 33 trophies, including nine La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles, and six copas del rey. Both a prolific goals corer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most official goals scored in La Liga (385), a La Liga season (50), a club football season in Europe (73), a calendar year (91), El Clásico (26), as well as those for most assists in La Liga (149) and the copa America (11). He has scored over 600 senior career goals for club and country.
Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a child. At age 13, he relocated to Spain to join Barcelona, who agreed to pay for his medical treatment. After a fast progression through Barcelona’s youth academy, Messi made his competitive debut aged 17 in October 2004. Despite being injury-prone during his early career, he established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, finishing 2007 as a finalist for both the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award, a feat he repeated the following year. His first uninterrupted campaign came in the 2008–09 season, during which he helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football. At 22 years old, Messi won the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award by record voting margins.Three successful seasons followed, with Messi winning three consecutive FIFA Ballons d’Or, including an unprecedented fourth. His best campaign statistically to date was the 2011–12 season, in which he set the La Liga and European records for most goals scored in a single season, while establishing himself as Barcelona’s all-time top scorer in official competitions in March 2012. The following two seasons, Messi finished twice second for the Ballon d’Or behind Cristiano Ronaldo, his perceived career rival. Messi regained his best form during the 2014–15 campaign, breaking the all-time goal scoring records in both La Liga and the Champions League in November 2014, and led Barcelona to a historic second treble.
An Argentine international, Messi is his country’s all-time leading goal scorer. At youth level, he won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, finishing the tournament with both the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, and an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. His style of play as a diminutive, left-footed dribbler drew comparisons with compatriot Diego Maradona, who declared the teenager his successor. After making his senior debut in August 2005, Messi became the youngest Argentine to play and score in a FIFA World Cup during the 2006 edition, and reached the final of the 2007 Copa América, where he was named young player of the tournament. As the squad’s captain from August 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals: the 2014 World Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball, and the 2015 and 2016 Copas América. After announcing his international retirement in 2016, he reversed his decision and led his country to qualification for the 2018 World Cup.
Barcelona were made to work hard for the win by Alaves, who offered little going forward and only had three shots, none on target, and 21% possession. Messi, who also hit Barcelona’s 5,000th La Liga goal eight years ago, has scored 6.4% of the club’s top-flight goals ever.Barcelona, who brought on summer signings Arthur and Arturo Vidal for league debuts, beat Sevilla 2-1 in the Spanish Super Cup.Real Madrid get their league campaign under way on other day.Elsewhere in La Liga, Villarreal midfielder Santi Cazorla made his first appearance since October 2016 for Arsenal following a serious Achilles tendon injury. Unfortunately for him, his side lost 2-1 at home to Real Sociedad. The soccer star Lionel Messi revealed the Champions League is in his sights after being announced as Andres Iniesta’s successor as captain at the Npu Camp. winning La Liga will be high on his list of priorities for the campaign, which Barcelona kicked off against Alaves .Ernesto Valverde’s side found it tough to break down the visitors, although two moments of Messi magic helped seal a 3-0 win..Alba paid tribute to Messi post-match, claiming no player will ever replicate the 31-year-old.”Leo makes the difference all the time,” said Alba.”He hits perfection every year.”We’ll never see another like him.”Alba was not alone in hailing Messi, whose opener against Alaves was Barcelona’s 6000th La Liga goal.Sergio Busquets said: “It was quite hard, until Messi appeared with his work of art.”While Sergi Roberto quipped: “Leo is still up to his tricks.”Barcelona boss Valverde also waxed lyrical about Messi.”Messi is a genius,” said Valverde.”We’re lucky to be able to see him every day.”We’re lucky to be involved in football during the era in which he is playing – we want him to pull a rabbit from the hat every day.”There’s still room for Messi to surprise us.”He always surprises you – he never ceases to amaze me, honestly.”You have to be ready to expect anything from Messi because he sees what no one else sees.”Barcelona sit top of the La Liga standings in the wake of their opening day win over Alaves.
