Messi’s 51st treble blows away Betis

Madrid, March 18 

Even the Real Betis fans were applauding by the end as Lionel Messi scored another spectacular hat-trick to fire Barcelona to a 4-1 victory on Sunday and leave them with one hand on the La Liga trophy. 

Messi’s treble, his second in a month in Seville, fourth of the season and 51st of his career, moves Barca 10 points clear of Atletico Madrid with 10 games left to play, a gap surely too big to close.

Luis Suarez, whose superb flick set up Messi’s second, scored his own brilliant goal after a scintillating solo run but it was ultimately reduced to a footnote, in what became another night all about his Argentinian partner.

The only blot on the night was the sight of Suarez limping off late on, although he was able to walk after the final whistle.

Messi now has 29 league goals this season, 39 in all competitions, and together with Suarez’s 18 their joint-total of 47 is more than all but two of the other teams in the division. 

Injured Suarez to miss China Cup for Uruguay

Barcelona forward Suarez has been ruled out of playing in the China Cup with Uruguay after spraining his ankle for his club at the weekend. Suarez, 32, is expected to miss between 10 and 15 days. “He will... undertake his recovery with the FC Barcelona medical team, having been withdrawn from the Uruguayan national team squad,” the club said in a statement Monday.

Suarez’s absence adds to that of Edinson Cavani for Uruguay after the Paris Saint-Germain striker failed to shake off a thigh injury for the trip to China. 

Ronaldo probed for ‘improper conduct’

Milan: UEFA on Monday opened an investigation into Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal celebration after scoring a hat-trick in Juventus’ Champions League comeback win against Atletico Madrid last week. European football’s governing body said Ronaldo was facing charges of “improper conduct” after he mimicked Diego Simeone’s crotch-grabbing ‘cojones’ gesture in last Tuesday’s 3-0 win that sent Juventus through 3-2 on aggregate.

A decision will be taken by UEFA on March 21. Juve take on Dutch club Ajax in the quarterfinals over two legs, on April 10 in Amsterdam and April 16 in Turin. — AFP