Lionel Messi was unsurprisingly the star of the show this evening, as Barcelona made short work of Granada.
Last Updated: January 9, 2021 7:33 pm
Barca cruise
Ronald Koeman’s men made the trip to Andalusia a short time ago, for the club’s latest La Liga outing.
The Blaugrana headed into proceedings with their tails up, having looked much improved over the last couple of weeks.
A hard-fought 3-2 victory at Athletic Bilbao during the week made it 3 wins from 4 for the Catalans, guiding Barca back into the Spanish top-flight’s top-4.
Pedri’s game by numbers for Barcelona against Athletic Club Bilbao:
74 touches
5 touches in opp. box
4 final third entries
4 ball recoveries
4 duels won
3 chances created
2 tackles
2 fouls won
1 shot
1 goal
1 assistBarcelona have a star in the making. pic.twitter.com/NgbTV4VdSi
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 6, 2021
And, as outlined above, when all was said and done at Los Carmenes this evening, the upturn in form being enjoyed by Koeman’s outfit only continued.
A dominant display on the part of the visitors eventually saw Barca rack up 4 goals without reply.
Antoine Griezmann was first on target, slotting home on the turn amid major protests on the part of Granada’s stars.
Lionel Messi was next up, picking out the top-left corner with a typically sweet left-footed finish:
Messi doubles the Barca lead with a trademark finish! 🙌
After a slow start to the season, Barca’s legendary No. 10 is starting to hit top form 🔥 pic.twitter.com/3g7i91dpAJ
— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) January 9, 2021
And the Argentine was back at it again shortly before the interval, this time finding the bottom corner of the home side’s net with a pinpoint free-kick:
More MAGIC from Messi! 😱
Granada were preparing for the free kick to go under the wall, so Messi went low into the other corner instead 👏 pic.twitter.com/trTUi3ElhA
— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) January 9, 2021
Ronaldo tie broken
Messi’s superb free-kick, meanwhile (which was followed early in the 2nd-half by Griezmann’s 2nd of the evening), as well as essentially sealing all 3 points for Barcelona, also came as a significant one in the long-standing individual battle between the 33-year-old and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi’s set-piece strike versus Granada marked the 48th of his storied club career.
And, as since revealed by statisticians OptaJoe, this marks one more free-kick than Juventus hitman Ronaldo has managed to net over the course of his legendary career at club level:
48 – Lionel Messi 🇦🇷 has scored 48 direct free-kick goals for @FCBarcelona in all competitions (37 in @LaLiga), one more than Cristiano Ronaldo 🇵🇹 in his profesional club career (47, 32 in league). Stars. pic.twitter.com/sKujVwD6p6
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 9, 2021
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Source: 101greatgoals.com
