Messi nets a brace in pre-season match with Girona

Lionel Messi has netted a brace after deciding to stick with his long-standing home club FC Barcelona owing to his astronomical transfer price.

The Argentine footballer scored two goals in a friendly match with Girona (second division), which took place on Thursday at Yohan Cruyff Stadium in Barcelona. Indeed, the legendary foot star engaged in all goals from his team’s comfortable 3-1 victory, given Phillippe Coutinho’s opener in the 21st minute of the first minute started from the magical pass from Messi. While the Argentine football legend declared to leave Barcelona late last month, he decided to stay until June 30, 2021, striking a snag of the clause on minimal transfer cost worth almost 700 million euros.

In the 45th minute, Messi scored a decider to add to Barcelona’s 1-0 lead, and six minutes into the second half, he found another goal, sealing the win for his team. This is the first time that Messi has found the net since Ronald Koeman, the new manager, took the helm of the Spanish club. The Argentine appeared in the first pre-season matcha against Gimnastic de Tarragona (third division) on Sunday but failed to chalk up attacking points. During their first meeting since Koeman joined team, the Dutch manager is reported to have declared the end of privilege for the Argentine and demanded dedication, but after the Thursday match, Koeman said Messi had conflicts with the team, yet there was no problem between the new manager and the player at all.


Seung-Kun Lee why@donga.com