Messi shakes Barcelona awake - 7M sport

Messi shakes Barcelona awake



Posted Thursday, February 25, 2021 by Marca.com

Messi shakes Barcelona awake
Messi against Elche LALIGA

Lionel Messi bagged a brace and set up another goal to lead Barcelona to a 3-0 victory over Elche on Wednesday night at the Camp Nou.

Things were looking grim for the Catalans after a listless first half, but the Argentine would shake his side awake with a pair of goals before laying the groundwork for a Jordi Alba strike. With the victory, Barcelona pull within five points of leaders Atletico Madrid in the LaLiga Santander table.

Ronald Koeman made four changes from the teams that failed to deliver a win against PSG and Cadiz respectively, as right-back Sergino Dest, centre-back Clement Lenglet, midfielder Sergio Busquets and attackers Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann were rotated out for Oscar Mingueza, Samuel Umtiti, Miralem Pjanic, Martin Braithwaite and Trincao.

There was a good flow to the match to start, as Elche had the Barcelona defence on their toes and Lucas Boye should have done better with an early chance, only to fire over the crossbar.

Barcelona started to carve out chances of their own and some fantastic movement from Trincao after receiving a pass from Messi looked certain to end with a goal, but Elche goalkeeper Edgar Badia had other ideas and made a top-notch save.

As the half wore on, though, Barcelona reverted back to the same lucklustre football they had exhibited of late, with little penetration into the Elche area. They were seemingly content to pass the ball around, but with little danger.

Koeman went to his bench for a spark to start the second stanza, with Pjanic yielding his place to Dembele, but it was Messi who would light the fire. The Argentine received a pass from Pedri and charged into the Elche area before playing a slick one-two combination with Braithwaite in which the Danish striker back-heeled, allowing Messi to finish past Badia for a 1-0 lead.

There was a spring to Barcelona's step after the goal and an inclination to search for a second to nail down the three points, especially in light of Cadiz's late equaliser over the weekend.

That prompted Koeman to swap off Trincao for Busquets and, just like after the first change, moments later Messi had the ball in the back of the net. This time it was Frenkie de Jong receiving a pass from Pedri at midfield and the Dutchman eluding three defenders before crossing to Messi, who darted past a defender and decked Badia before finishing to make it 2-0.

Messi then got to play the role of playmaker by lofting a pass into Braithwaite, who headed across goal and found the swinging volleying foot of Jordi Alba to stretch the lead to 3-0.

Koeman elected to make his final three substitutions with a quarter of an hour left on the clock, with Griezmann, Dest and Lenglet on for Braithwaite, Alba and Gerard Pique respectively.

Dest and Griezmann came within a whisker of combining for a fourth goal, with the United States international sending in a cross from the left wing, only to see the Frenchman smack the crossbar with his effort.

Nevertheless, it was a warmly welcomed final few minutes for Barcelona, who closed things out to snap their two-match winless skid.

Match Sheet:

3.- Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Mingueza, Umtiti, Pique (Lenglet, min. 76), Jordi Alba (Dest, min. 76), Pjanic (Dembele, min. 46), Frenkie De Jong, Pedri, Trincao (Busquets, min. 67), Braithwaite (Griezmann, min. 76), Messi.

0.- Elche: Badia, Barragan, Verdu, Josema, Mojica, Cifuentes (Fidel, min. 60), Mfulu (Luismi, min. 81), Guti, Rigoni (Tete Morente, min. 60), Pere Milla (Nino, min. 72), Lucas Boye (Guido, min. 72).

Goals: 1-0, min. 48: Messi; 2-0, min. 68: Messi; 3-0, min. 73: Jordi Alba

Referee: Diaz de Mera (Castilla y La Mancha).

Yellow cards: None

Red cards: None

Stadium: Camp Nou

Attendance: 0



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