Messi stars as Barcelona begin La Liga title defence with win

Argentinian superstar, Lionel Messi bagged a brace to help Barcelona kick off their La Liga title defence with a hard-fought victory over Alaves on Sunday night.

The champions secured a 3-0 win over their visitors, with Philippe Coutinho scoring the other goal.

Messi’s fantastic 64th-minute free-kick open the scoring in the game and was Barcelona’s 6,000th La Liga goal.

The hosts doubled their lead when Coutinho, who came in at halftime, cut inside to curl home in the 83rd minute.

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Messi then scored his second of the night by controlling Luis Suarez’s pass with his chest, beating two defenders before steering a low shot into the bottom corner of the net in injury time.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is now Barcelona’s captain after Andres Iniesta’s move to Japan.

He has scored in 15 consecutive La Liga seasons.

Barcelona were made to work hard for the win by Alaves, who offered little going forward and only had three shots, none on target, and 21% possession.

 

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