Lionel Messi has put on an absolute masterclass at Estadio Reyno de Navarra, directly involving himself in all three of Barcelona’s goals in every way imaginable, turning in what can only be described as a complete performance. He played a great through ball to assist on Pedro’s opener, finished off a great assist by Xavi to score Barcelona’s second, and both drew and converted a penalty kick at the end of the game to give himself two goals and one assist on the stat sheet, two assists in reality, on three Barcelona goals.
Osasuna Vs. Barcelona: 3-0 Full Time, Messi Man Of The Match
It was an impressive performance for Barca coming off the back of an emotional win over Real Madrid in El Clasico, as well as horrific travel arrangements that saw them arrive late at the stadium. Due to an air traffic controllers strike, Barcelona could not fly to Pamplona and instead were forced to take a train and a bus. The trip took them five hours and they arrived at the stadium at 8 pm local time, when the game was scheduled to kick off. The league would not let the sides postpone the match, nor did Osasuna want to, and instead the game was started 50 minutes late. The Blaugranes started slowly, but eventually found their stride. Pedro and Messi combined for the opener in the 26th minute and it was all Barcelona from there.
Real Madrid are currently in action against Valencia, but as it stands, Barcelona are five points clear at the top of La Liga. That game at the Santiago Bernabeu is currently tied 0-0 at halftime, so if that result holds, Barcelona’s lead would be four points after 14 rounds.
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