Messi adds goals to allow Barcelona FC to win 7 consecutive matches

Lionel Messi displayed stellar performance again to help Barcelona FC to win seven consecutive matches and to rank second overall in the Spanish league. The 33-year-old started in a home match against Deportivo Alavés FC of the 2020-2021 Spanish La Liga, which took place at Camp Nou in Barcelona on Sunday, and scored two goals to lead his team 5-1 victory.

Barcelona has secured seven consecutive wins, and continued to play 12 straight matches without any loss (10 wins and 2 draws). With winning points of 46, the team has risen to second overall, and narrowed its gap vis-à-vis the league’s frontrunner Atletico Madrid (winning points of 54) to eight, elevating the possibility to regain the lead of the league.

Playing as the frontline striker, Messi added a goal during overtime in the first half when his team was leading 1-0, and scored another at 29th minute in the second half to seal his team’s victory. With the two goals, which are his 14th and 15th in the league, the Argentine-born football player is just one goal behind La Liga’s top scorer Luis Suárez of Atletico Madrid FC (16 goals), and has come a step closer to becoming the top scorer in the league for five consecutive seasons. Messi participated in his 505th match in the La Liga on the day, to tie with Xavier Hernández of Al Sadd in the total number of matches played for Barcelona FC in the league ever. The player who has played the most matches of the La Liga was Andoni Zubizarreta, who played 622 matches as goalie for Barcelona and other teams.


Dong-Wook Kim creating@donga.com