Recriminations over 'Barcagate' and the signing of
Martin Braithwaite meant locals were unhappy with
the president and board but Messi quelled dissent They say football is an escape from the real world
and if there’s one player who can help you
disconnect more than any other it is Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi. The Catalans hosted Eibar on Saturday at the end of a rough week, reeling from the fallout of the social media scandal labelled ‘Barcagate’ , and being battered in the media both at home and abroad for snatching Leganes striker Martin
Braithwaite , leaving the Madrid minnows stricken. Barcelona fans showed their anger at the board by
waving white handkerchiefs and chanted for
president Josep Maria Bartomeu to resign, in a
stormy opening few minutes, while Eibar had
Sergio Enrich’s goal disallowed for offside. MORE TEAMS  Then Messi took control with a casual and brilliant
first-half hat-trick, the perfect sedative for Camp
Nou. He added a fourth at the death in Barcelona’s
5-0 win, taking them top of La Liga for the time being at least, ahead of Real Madrid by a point before Los Blancos play at Levante. The Argentine star broke the deadlock after 14
minutes with a brilliant individual goal, nutmegging
defender Anaitz Arbilla, holding off another
defender and dinking home. That ended Messi’s personal drought of four
matches without scoring - the longest he’s gone in
the league without a goal since the 2013-14
season - although he had racked up six assists
since he last netted. And more importantly for Barcelona, it helped them
start to move forward after the turmoil of the past
few days. On Tuesday they travel to Napoli in the Champions League and the chaos the club has been living in cannot be allowed to spoil their
chances of European success. The social media story - allegations that Barcelona’s
board were paying a company to lambast their
critics including Messi and Gerard Pique - is not
over. Barca deny all allegations and Bartomeu said
they are analysing what happened. Messi himself said he’ll wait and see what the
evidence says. But it’s important for the team, and
for him, to get on with the task at hand. They did against Eibar, with Quique Setien selecting
Arturo Vidal on the left wing, Antoine Griezmann
on the right and Messi in between, with Braithwaite
warming the bench. He might be spending a lot of
time there. Barcelona, despite their emphatic triumph, still
aren’t playing particularly fluidly under Quique
Setien, but having Messi is a good way to mask
your problems. The skipper added a superb second after good
work by Sergio Busquets and Arturo Vidal, cutting
through the defence and slotting home after 37
minutes. He completed his treble three minutes later, trying
to set up Antoine Griezmann, who was robbed, but
slamming home the loose ball. Braithwaite warmed up at half-time, his first taste of
a bustling Camp Nou. The Danish international,
Barcelona’s ‘emergency’ signing was presented on
Thursday night with no public attendance allowed,
in deathly silence bar the clicks and flashes of a
handful of photographers present. “Braithwaite Ballon d’Or,” joked one reporter. No, but Messi might get one if Barcelona can
maintain their La Liga and Champions League
charges. While relegation-battling Leganes are now in more of an emergency than Barcelona were - as
if a club with Messi could be - Braithwaite could
prove useful in the weeks ahead. The striker replaced Antoine Griezmann for the final
20 minutes, letting the forward rest for Tuesday’s
Champions League showdown with Napoli at the
San Paolo. He was cheered by the fans surprisingly
raucously. If there was a hint of irony it disappeared when he
crossed for Messi to add the fourth, three minutes
from time, and his effort was parried into Arthur’s
path for number five. This was the best way for
Barcelona to turn the page.

Quote me anytime anywhere there's something definitely strange about Cr7 vs Messi's rivarly. I've been noticing this for a long time call it delusional or conspiracy theory but it's damn near strange from their exact difference in age and that of their kids and their pattern of reign. when Cr7 is performing to the tops Messi tend to retreat and after a while Cr7 does same and Messi starts performing. within the past few weeks Cr7 has been on form with the goals while Messi was with the assist, today with Messi's super hattrick watch as Cr7 goals drys up. it's all in my head though

Messi finish work

Judithjovial:
Quote me anytime anywhere there's something definitely strange about Cr7 vs Messi's rivarly. I've been noticing this for a long time call it delusional or conspiracy theory but it's damn near strange from their exact difference in age and that of their kids and their pattern of reign. when Cr7 is performing to the tops Messi tend to retreat and after a while Cr7 does same and Messi starts performing. within the past few weeks Cr7 has been on form with the goals while Messi was with the assist, today with Messi's super hattrick watch as Cr7 goals drys up. it's all in my head though

nah it's just the media pushing agenda that makes you and most people think there's a rivalry in the first place.

Judge this stats yourself.

Ronaldo is having is best season with 24 goals in 30 appearances with just 2 assists and 10 penalties.

While Messi is a failure by the media because he has 23 goals, 16 assists and just 2 penalties in 28 appearances.

Judithjovial:
Quote me anytime anywhere there's something definitely strange about Cr7 vs Messi's rivarly. I've been noticing this for a long time call it delusional or conspiracy theory but it's damn near strange from their exact difference in age and that of their kids and their pattern of reign. when Cr7 is performing to the tops Messi tend to retreat and after a while Cr7 does same and Messi starts performing. within the past few weeks Cr7 has been on form with the goals while Messi was with the assist, today with Messi's super hattrick watch as Cr7 goals drys up. it's all in my head though

may God bless you.. It's like they're playing us. If it's true that they're playing us then they deserve to be ass wiped

Igbosmoker:
nah it's just the media pushing agenda that makes you and most people think there's a rivalry in the first place.

Judge this stats yourself.

Ronaldo is having is best season with 24 goals in 30 appearances with just 2 assists and 10 penalties.

While Messi is a failure by the media because he has 23 goals, 16 assists and just 2 penalties in 28 appearances.

hmm what a legend

Am sure the moderator is one of Ronaldo fans or anti Messi.Even If Ronaldo score a brace, he would have rush and put it on frontage.

The Mr. Incredible, Messi is something something else.

If na CR7 score 4 goals (No penalty ooo), the thread will reach front page even without any comment.

newworld31:
I sure the moderator is one of Ronaldo fans or anti Messi.Even If Ronaldo score a brace, he would have rush and put it on frontage.

The Mr. Incredible, Messi is something something else.

Yeah
He won't move it to the FP

Greatest player ever

Messi is everywhere on the news except nairaland. #Injustice

yungsmart:
Messi is everywhere on the news except nairaland. #Injustice

Dats Nigeria 4 u.Notin is working.Corruption everywhere.

Nairaland mods re one of d most biased set of entities hv heard of in modern tym.Nt jux in Messi's case alone,buh oda issues inclusive.