Messi Nets Brace As Barcelona hits Seven/one against Osasuna

     Lionel Messi rewarded a homage by Barcelona fans with two more goals as they thrashed Osasuna 7-1 to move three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
     Defeat relegates Osasuna after just one season back in the top flight after Leganes beat Las Palmas 3-0.
The much-criticised Andre Gomes and Paco Alcacer also bagged doubles, whilst Javier Mascherano scored his first Barca goal in seven years with the club from the penalty spot.
      Madrid have two games in hand and can move back level on points with victory at Deportivo la Coruna later on Wednesday.
   "We had the chance to use a lot of players that have played fewer minutes," said Barca boss Luis Enrique.
     "It is a game that boosts those individuals, the team as a whole and gives us hope for the end of the season."
       Messi's brilliance against Madrid at  the weekend El Clasico kept Barca in the title race as he netted his 500th Barca goal with the last kick of the game to hand the Catalans a 3-2 win.
     A huge "Thanks Leo" banner was raised before kick-off at the Camp Nou, whilst many fans imitated Messi's goal celebration by raising Barca shirts with Messi's name on the back in the 10th minute.
The five-time World Player of the Year responded by opening the scoring two minutes later as he pounced on an error in the Osasuna defence to stroll through on goal and lift the ball over the advancing Salvatore Sirigu.
      Gomes has been the scapegoat for many of Barca's most disappointing defeats this season.
But the Portuguese had arguably his best night in a Barca shirt as he drilled home Ivan Rakitic's cross to make it 2-0 on the half hour.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen was Barca's other hero from the weekend with a string of stunning saves.
      However, the German international was caught out by Roberto Torres's free-kick which brought Osasuna back into the game three minutes into the second half.
      Barca, though, simply went through the gears with a four-goal burst in 10 devastating minutes.
Firstly, Gomes slotted home his second of the night after Gerard Pique's initial effort came back off the post.
     Messi then curled in his 49th goal in 47 appearances this season from the edge of the area.
And the Argentine instantly made way for 19-year-old Carles Alena to keep him fresh for Saturday's Catalan derby at Espanyol.
Alcacer then finished on the stretch for Barca's fifth.
      And when Denis Suarez was felled in the area seconds later the cry went round the Camp Nou for Mascherano to take the spot-kick.
Rakitic obliged by stepping aside to let the Argentine take it and he smashed the ball into the roof of the net for his first goal in 319 Barca appearances.
      Alcacer rounded off the scoring four minutes from time when he latched onto Suarez's fine through ball to round Sirigu and slot into an empty net.

El Clasico : Is Lionel Messi better than Christiano Ronaldo?

            The ever awaited El Clasico has come and gone and Messi have once again proved to be a better player than Ronaldo after he scored two goals and Ronaldo couldn't put a ball through Barcelona's goal post.
              Weaving through a mass of defenders in the game’s dying moments, the Barcelona magician had found a pocket of space in the box and received the ball on his left foot. He didn’t hesitate, locking in with the side of his boot and, with power and focus, drove the ball just off the fingertips of the Madrid keeper and into the net.
             The goal, the 500 of Messi’s Barcelona career, gave Barcelona the win and silenced the thousands on hand in Santiago Bernabeu. It was a goal we’ve come to expect from the genius from Argentina, a goal we’d seen in some form or another hundreds of times before.

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Drawing of Messi Kissing C.Ronaldo surfaces just days before El Clasico

             A graffiti portraying Lionel Messi on tiptoes kissing arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo has caused a stir in Barcelona, just two days before the seaside city's team faces Real Madrid in a crux game.
              The graffiti on a bus stop in central Barcelona shows the Argentina and Barcelona star embracing and tenderly kissing his Portuguese Real Madrid rival, a football at their feet and a rose in Messi's hand, drawing many camera-wielding tourists.
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              The artist Tvboy said he had been inspired by the fact that Sunday's El Clasico game happens to fall on April 23 – which is when people in Barcelona and the wider region of Catalonia celebrate their very own Valentine's Day.
                "I'm looking for a message of hope and positivity. With all the clashes there have been in football between hooligans, I want to say: 'be calmer'," he told AFP.
                     "Messi and Cristiano are opponents, I know they would never kiss. But art must portray an ideal world, it must astonish, provoke."
Tvboy is an Italian from Milan who has lived for 13 years in Barcelona, whose streets have become his canvas.
                  His latest project dubbed "Love is blind" started during the US election campaign, during which he drew Republican candidate and current president Donald Trump kissing his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton.