Barcelona - NouCamp Faithful

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Barcelona 3 - 0 Elche : Lionel Messi scores twice as Barcelona beat Elche, move to third in La Liga

Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona overcame an uninspiring first half to beat Elche 3-0 at home in La Liga on Wednesday and keep leaders Atletico Madrid in their sights.

The Catalans created little in one of their worst first-half displays at the Camp Nou this season but found a breakthrough early in the second when Martin Braithwaite released Messi with a classy backheel and the Argentine did the rest.

Barca, who failed to hold onto a narrow lead in Sunday's 1-1 draw at home to Cadiz, got an all-important second goal in the 69th when Frenkie de Jong received the ball after some clever play from 18-year-old Pedri.

The Dutchman burst through the middle of the pitch and laid the ball off for Messi to dribble into the net for an 18th league goal of the season, extending his lead at the top of the scoring charts.

Left back Jordi Alba struck the third goal from another Braithwaite assist to round off a victory which took Barca back above Sevilla and into third in the standings on 50 points, five behind Atletico but having played a game more.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Sevilla 0 - 2 Barcelona : Messi stars as Barcelona go second in La Liga with Sevilla win

Barcelona avenged their first leg Copa del Rey defeat to Sevilla earlier in the month with a 2-0 win on Saturday in La Liga.

The two sides will meet again on Wednesday for the Cup's second leg -- with Barcelona losing 2-0 on aggregate -- but the points were all the Catalan's side on Saturday thanks to goals from Ousmane Dembele and Lionel Messi.

The win puts Barcelona into second position but a win for Real Madrid on Monday would see them leapfrog Ronald Koeman's side.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Barcelona 3 - 0 Sevilla FC : Barcelona need dramatic late goal, extra time to reach Copa del Rey final

(After Extra Time, Barcelona wins 3-2 on agg)

Barcelona advanced to the Copa del Rey final, 3-2 on aggregate, after a dramatic 3-0 extra-time victory over Sevilla in the second leg of their semifinal on Wednesday.

Having lost the first leg at Sevilla, 2-0, Ronald Koeman's men knew they needed to score two goals without reply to force extra time at the Camp Nou, and instead did one better to win the tie on goals from Ousmane Dembele, Gerard Pique and Martin Braithwaite.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

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Osasuna 0 - 2 Barcelona : Barcelona move two points behind Atletico Madrid with win at Osasuna

Barcelona continued their rampant run of domestic form to beat Osasuna 2-0 away from home on Saturday and move to within two points of La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid, with Lionel Messi setting up goals scored by Jordi Alba and teenager Ilaix Moriba.

Messi helped Barca take the lead on the half-hour mark when he carved open Osasuna's defence with a superb cross-field ball to Alba, who controlled before blasting into the roof of the net.

He then laid the ball off when 18-year-old midfielder Ilaix Moriba struck in the 83rd minute, producing a confident finish inside the post from outside the area to score his first goal for the club in only his third league appearance.

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)