Month: May 2013

Argentina national team manager Alejandro Sabella has praised his countryman Lionel Messi by saying that he has once again proven that he is the best in the world by helping Barcelona to the verge of the league title this season. Messi scored two goals against Real Betis during the weekend to put Barcelona on the brink of the title. The club needs only two more points from the remaining four matches in order to seal the title, which will be their fourth in the last five years. Messi, who has been suffering from a hamstring injury problems in recent weeks, came on as a substitute for former Valencia star David Villa in the second half.

It did not take long for him to open the scoring, as he did so just 4 min after his arrival with a stunning freekick. He then doubled the advantage after just 11 min by taking on the pass from Alexis Sanchez to put the game beyond any doubt. His two goals helped Barcelona beat the opposition 4-2 at the camp Nou. After the match, Sabella praised the performance of Messi by saying that it was due to his presence that Barcelona won the match. He said that the overall performance of the Catalan club was not up to the mark.

“Messi scored two goals and could have scored more. Barca did enough to deserve the win, but it was not an easy match. Regardless, Messi is the kind of player who can change everything when he comes on. This is what the greatest players are like. They get annoyed about things that would not bother other players,” said Sabella. Many feel that Barcelona would have at least come close to reaching the Champions League final had Messi been fit for the matches against Bayern Munich.