Thomas Muzekari
Staff Writer
On Tuesday Sept. 12 in Barcelona, Spain, FC Barcelona avenged last season’s Champions League Quarterfinals loss to Juventus with a 3-0 win in this season’s Champions League Group Stage opener versus the Italian side.
The scoring was led yet again by the magic man Lionel Messi, as the Argentine scored two goals, one just before halftime after a clever give-and-go with Luis Suarez and a sublime finish in the bottom right corner, and the other coming in the 69th minute, when Messi received a through ball from Andres Iniesta, then maneuvered around two defenders, and ultimately struck another past the great Italian goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon. The other goal came sandwiched in between the two Messi goals in the 56th minute, when Ivan Rakitic followed up on a Messi pass across the face of the goal, as the ball was deflected back to the center of the box, leading to the Croatian coolly placing it home.
This victory for new manager Ernesto Valverde and Barcelona came just after a 5-0 home win over Espanyol on Sept. 9 in a La Liga matchup in which Messi scored a hat trick, with the other two goals coming from Gerard Pique and from Luis Suarez late, one that put the icing on the cake of a dominant league win.
Barca’s next league fixture was on the weekend after the Juventus win, a game away at Getafe. The team pulled off a 2-1 comeback victory after trailing 1-0 until the 62nd minute when Denis Suarez--who came in as a sub--measured a precise lobbed finish into the top left corner. The game-winner came from the new signing Paulinho, who also came in as a sub, as the Brazilian took a pass from Messi, shrugged off a defender and calmly slotted home his first goal for the Spanish side. In the win, however, Barcelona’s other key signing this past summer, Ousmane Dembele was hurt and is now expected to miss 3 to 4 months of action.
The following league game was another win, this time at home over Eibar in a 6-1 triumph at the Camp Nou. Paulinho and Denis Suarez both scored for the second game in a row, but the headlines again belonged to Lionel Messi after another staggering performance, this time scoring an astonishing four goals.
In their most recent La Liga game, Barcelona defeated Las Palmas 3-0, led by Messi’s two goals and an assist to Sergio Busquets.
Before the start of this season, many were questioning and doubting Barcelona after the Brazilian Neymar left the squad to join Paris Saint-Germain for a record signing transfer fee this past summer. Add that to the fact that last season with Neymar, the Spanish side was unable to win La Liga or the Champions League. After Neymar departed, Barca made a few signings, bringing in Dembele and Paulinho. The team also kept all of their key players from last season aside from Neymar, but many retained their doubts and the belief that Real Madrid is certainly above Barcelona at this point.
Well, look now. Barcelona has commandingly taken down Juventus in the Champions League, and they most recently beat Sporting Lisbon 1-0. The club has played seven league games, and they have won all seven. Their 21 points in the league put them in sole possession of first place in the standings. Messi has been playing like his usual spectacular self, now doing even more to lead Barcelona without Neymar in town. Meanwhile, last season’s La Liga champions and Champions League winners, Real Madrid, are sitting in 6th place, seven points back from Barca. So, what are the doubters saying now?
