Lionel Messi demonstrated the full width and breadth of his repertoire of qualities for Barcelona against Celta Vigo on Sunday evening.
With both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid having won this weekend, the pressure was on Barca to re-establish their lead at the top of La Liga and keep their fierce rivals at bay.
Indeed, while Atletico may have laboured to victory over Getafe on Sunday, Real impressed—at least offensively—against Athletic Bilbao, and demonstrated that, under Zinedine Zidane, they ought to be taken seriously again as genuine title contenders.
However, Barcelona remain a cut above their rivals, and demonstrated their class early on against Celta on Sunday.
They opened the scoring in the 28th minute when Lionel Messi stepped up to send a delicious curling free kick over the Celta wall and past Sergio Alvarez.
The Argentine superstar is regularly lauded for his dribbling skills, his movement, his finishing, his passing and his creativity, but perhaps his set-piece abilities—which also rank among the best in the world—are somewhat underrated!
Barca would go on to extend their lead through a Luis Suarez hat-trick—the last a cheeky effort after Messi played a penalty into his path—and a late finish from Ivan Rakitic.
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