Barcelona were on fire on Saturday as they defeated helpless Eibar 5-0 in front of fans at Camp Nou stadium. The man of the match without any doubt would be Lionel Messi who stole the show by scoring four goals. Messi, who has been named football player of 2019 has helped send his side back to the top of the La Liga Table.
Messi scored a hat-trick all within the first half of the match sending Barcelona into half time up by 3 to Eibar’s nil. The hat-trick obviously wasn’t enough for the Argentine international as he found the back of the net in the 87th minute, putting an end to his four-game scoreless streak.
Arthur also scored in the 89th minute making it 5 goals to Eibar’s nil. Arthur’s goal wouldn’t be complete without the assist of new signee striker Martin Braithwaite who has impressed on his debut.
This win will make it the fourth league win in a row for the Camp Nou players, who have been enduring crises within their institution amid conflict between players and club directors and change in manager. President Josep Bartomeu received a lot of backlash from fans who have called for his resignation during Barcelona’s win over Eibar.
“We needed a game like this, when we did things well and everything went our way,” Barcelona coach Quique Setien said.
Messi has scored four or more goals for the seventh time in a game for the Catalans and Setien was left far impressed as he is a big fan of the player before joining Camp Nou.
“Messi has been doing this for the last 14 or 15 years, and he will keep doing it. He is a guarantee for any team or coach. He always comes through, either with goals or with assists” Setien said.
Their next game would be somewhat of a test to their performance thus far as Barcelona will face their main rivals Real Madrid on March 1.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid struggled to find the back of the net which caused them a defeat in the hands of Levante. Real lost 0-1 to Levante in the Ciutat de València Stadium on Saturday.
Real winning streak of four months without defeat finally came to an end thanks to a late goal by Morales in the 79th minute. Having received the ball from the depths of the field, the midfielder took on Thibaut Courtois one-on-one before finding the back of the net. Mid-table Levante was seen jubilating as they have only won one of their last 14 league games against Real Madrid.
Before their Clasico match against each other on March 1 both Barcelona and Madrid have a round-of-16 match in the Champions League. Barcelona will travel to Napoli on Tuesday while Real will host Manchester at the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday.
