Fantastic four!

BARCELONA, February 23

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi was in a prolific mood as his side crushed Eibar 5-0 at home in La Liga on Saturday, scoring four goals to placate supporters who began the game by showing their discontent with president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

The win took Barca back to the top of La Liga on 55 points, two ahead of Real Madrid who lost 1-0 to Levante later, and gave them a boost before the Champions League last-16, first leg tie at Napoli on Tuesday and next week’s showdown at Real.

Messi had not scored in his previous four games but put the Spanish champions ahead in the 14th minute by dancing and barging his way past three players to slot home for the opener. He doubled the lead in the 37th with an equally impressive strike before completing his treble moments later and netted his fourth goal late in the second half before Arthur Melo completed Barca’s biggest league win of the season with a tap-in.

“Messi has been doing this for 15 years and he’s going to keep doing this, he is a guarantee for any team,” said Barca coach Quique Setien.

CR7 hits another landmark

Rome: Cristiano Ronaldo scored for a record-equalling 11th consecutive Serie A game in his 1,000th professional match as Juventus extended their league lead with a 2-1 win over basement club SPAL.

The 35-year-old tapped in six minutes before the break on Saturday to equal the mark held by Gabriel Batistuta and Fabio Quagliarella. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has now scored 25 goals in all competitions this season for Juventus, including 16 in his current run of 11 matches.

Aaron Ramsey added a second after an hour, before Andrea Petagna pulled one back from the spot for SPAL, amid controversy as the penalty was awarded following a VAR review despite the pitchside monitor not working.

It got Juventus back to winning ways away from home after consecutive defeats against Napoli and Hellas Verona, and ahead of next week’s trip to French club Lyon in the Champions League last-16, first leg.

Meanwhile, leading scorer Ciro Immobile grabbed his 27th league goal of the season as irrepressible Lazio won 3-2 at Genoa today to stay on the tail of leaders Juventus.

Jesus fulfills City’s need

Leicester: Gabriel Jesus came off the bench to secure Manchester City a 1-0 Premier League victory at Leicester City after yet another penalty miss by Pep Guardiola’s side on Saturday. It looked like being a frustrating day for second-placed City when Kasper Schmeichel saved Sergio Aguero’s spot kick just past the hour but Jesus spared his blushes late on. The Brazilian was fractionally onside as he collected a pass by former Leicester title winner Riyad Mahrez and he showed great composure to power a shot past Schmeichel. Victory lifted City seven points above Leicester in the battle for runners-up spot behind runaway leaders Liverpool, who face West Ham United in late Sunday night clash.

Today, Manchester United kept alive their hopes of finishing in top-4 after goals from Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood secured a 3-0 home win over Watford. Meanwhile, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice to earn Arsenal a 3-2 win over Everton, extending the Gunners’ unbeaten start to 2020. — Reuters

Braithwaite vows to not wash Barca shirt after Messi embrace

Barcelona: New Barcelona signing Martin Braithwaite had an ideal start to his career with the club by providing two assists in a 5-0 drubbing of Eibar and has already decided how he wants to remember the occasion — by never washing his shirt. Lionel Messi was already on three goals when Braithwaite came off the bench two days after completing a surprise move from La Liga strugglers Leganes and the Denmark international soon helped the Barca captain get his fourth goal. “I won’t wash my clothes after I hugged Messi,” Braithwaite said. “He congratulated me, he’s a great guy and tried to make me feel comfortable on the pitch by passing to me often. I’m very happy to have given my first assist to Leo. It was an extraordinary debut, a dream come true. I feel very good here, I’m surrounded by fantastic players.” Reuters