Lionel Messi scores twice as Barcelona survive early Valencia shock
Lionel Messi scored twice as La Liga champions, Barcelona, saw off a persistent Valencia, who had Eliaquim Mangala sent off in the first half, to win 4-2 and stay on the heels of the leaders, Real Madrid.
The Manchester City loanee Mangala stunned the Camp Nou by heading Valencia in front in the 29th minute but Luis Suárez soon cancelled out this opener following a quick throw-in by Neymar. The Uruguayan then won a penalty when he was hauled down by Mangala, who was sent off for a second booking.
Cesare Prandelli: I said no to Leicester over treatment of Claudio Ranieri
Read more
Messi beat the penalty-saving expert Diego Alves from the spot for the second time this season to put Barça ahead in the 45th minute but Munir El Haddadi, who is on loan from the Catalans, equalised immediately in injury time of the first half.
Barcelona dominated the second half and took the lead for the second time through Messi. The former Valencia midfielder André Gomes then scored his first goal for Barcelona to make sure of the points.
Barcelona are second in the standings on 63 points, two behind Real who have a game in hand.
Sevilla’s La Liga title hopes have been killed off because the players lack “emotional strength”, the coach Jorge Sampaoli said. A run of three league matches without a win means their promising title chase has unravelled and Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at Atlético Madrid left Sevilla, who lost to Leicester City in the Champions League last 16 this week, trailing Real by eight points.
“It’s difficult to diagnose what has happened but it has a lot to do with our emotional strength. We had great expectations in fighting for the title and in the Champions League and everything that didn’t go our way killed our hope,” Sampaoli said. In Serie A Juan Cuadrado’s seventh-minute goal helped Juventus preserve their dominant lead at the top while ending Sampdoria’s seven-game unbeaten run. The Chelsea loanee Cuadrado raced in behind the Sampdoria back line and nodded in a sumptuous Kwadwo Asamoah cross for the winner.
Where will the goals come from in Gareth Southgate’s England?
Read more
Juve are once again eight points clear of Roma, who beat Sassuolo 3-1 while Napoli’s 3-2 win at Empoli leaves them 10 points off the title pace.
Grégoire Defrel gave Sassuolo a surprise ninth-minute lead but Leandro Paredes soon restored parity and Mohamed Salah struck in first-half stoppage time to turn the game round. Midway through the second period the Roma substitute Edin Dzeko reached 21 goals for the 2016-17 campaign.
Thomas Müller scored in his 250th Bundesliga match to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 victory at Borussia Moenchengladbach that put them 13 points clear at the top. The Germany international, with only two league goals before Sunday, controlled a Thiago Alcântara chip in the box to score in the 63rd minute and seal Bayern’s fourth straight league win.
The Bavarians are on 62 points, 13 ahead of second-placed RB Leipzig, who lost 3-0 at Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Kylian Mbappé capped a remarkable week when he netted twice as Monaco beat Caen 3-0 away to extend their Ligue 1 lead provisionally to six points.
Mbappé scored in each half and won a penalty that was converted by Fabinho to lift the principality team to 71 points from 30 games, six clear of Paris St Germain.
The 18-year-old Mbappé scored the opener on Wednesday when Monaco beat Manchester City to advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. He then received a maiden call-up to the France squad for their World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg and a friendly against Spain.