Under the heat of the news after the revelations on his “pharaonic” contract with FC Barcelona, Lionel Messi replied with a masterful free kick Sunday night which allowed Barça to win 2-1 against Athletic Bilbao for the 21st day of La Liga.
The Catalan superstar opened the scoring with this direct free kick that came to lodge in the Basque skylight (20th), then Antoine Griezmann pushed the offering of Oscar Mingueza into the nets (75th) to seal the Catalan success, while Jordi Alba had allowed the Basques to equalize with a goal against his camp (49th).
Cornered by the Spanish press on Sunday after the publication of astronomical figures for the Blaugrana captain’s contract (more than EUR 555m over four years), Messi responded on the pitch: his 48th direct free kick at Barça (his 37th in La Liga) , synonymous with his 650th goal in the blaugrana colors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drt2PXMWixY
“A legend”, a “born winner”
“(These revelations), it was done with very bad intentions, to hurt a player to whom we all owe immense respect for everything he has done for the club and for football. Today he has shown that he is a born winner, ”reacted coach Ronald Koeman after the match.
“He is a legend, I hope that we can continue to enjoy him for many more years to come,” Griezmann soberly wished on Movsitar + after the match.
La Pulga (chip, in Spanish) unblocked the situation to allow the Catalans, who started badly at the start of the season, to join Real Madrid in 2nd place in the standings (40 pts), ten points behind the leader, Atlético Madrid , solid winner of Cadiz 4-2 in the afternoon.
And the Argentine superstar was able to take his revenge on Bilbao during this first Barça meeting at Camp Nou in 2021: on January 17, in the final of the Spanish Supercup, Messi received the first red card in his history at Barça in the very end of overtime for a gesture of frustration.
A victory where the French were also in sight: Ousmane Dembélé was very sharp on his right side, and Antoine Griezmann very present in the construction of Catalan actions, and author of a goal, his 6th of the season in La Liga.
Messi’s match is a great answer, too, to the double of his ex-teammate and great friend Luis Suarez during Atlético’s resounding success in Cadiz in the afternoon.
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