Barcelona extends its lead to 15 points from second placeholder Atletico Madrid in the La Liga – thanks to its score machine that again proved why they are the best in contemporary soccer. David Villa and Messi scored for Barca while Alberto Botia scored the only goal for Sevilla who eventually lost the game by 2-1. Barca again came from behind; once they were training by one goal; but, first, striker Villa equalized the lead in the 52nd minute and then Messi scored the winner in the 60th minute for La Liga champions. Messi has now probably become the only player to score in 15 consecutive games. Barca has now won 11 out of its 12 home games which ahead it by 16 points from defending champion Real Madrid who is now placed at third place with its 52 points out of 25 played matches. Barca will clash with its arch rival Real Madrid on Tuesday. Thereafter, Madrid will host Barca on Saturday in the Spanish league. Though, Atletico Madrid has to play its 25th match with Espanyol on Sunday, it has chances to reduce the gap from Barca if it manages to defeat Espanyol.
Actually, Barca could not prove its dominance over Sevilla especially in the first half when they were trailing by one goal. Things were not in favor of it; perhaps match was looking like a recap of its 2-0 loss to Milan in the Champions league. But, second half changed the whole picture in Barca favor when two of its main strikers find the net. Messi talked about their next crucial match with Real Madrid later, he said, “Madrid has an incredible team and we will have to be at our best to reach the final. We will have to play like we always do and not let the Milan game affect us. You could see we came into this game off a poor result, but we were able to pull out the win. It’s tough not to think about Milan. We know we didn’t play our best game in the San Siro, even if it wasn’t a reason to completely fall apart.”
He also praised Villa’s role in current win and said he helped him striking the ball more confidently, he added, “Against Milan we didn’t create many chances. Today, with Villa as a reference up front, their defenders had to stay put and that opened up spaces for me behind.” Anyways, everyone seems to be eyeing on their next high profile match with Madrid where we’ll see actual strength of Barca against Real defense.
