The League was shaken in the absence of nine days. Barcelona and Real Madrid, the clubs that won the most titles in the history of Spanish football and dominated the last six championships, carry and stalk Atlético de Madrid, that he got tangled up in the course and will have to endure the advance of the two giants if he wants to celebrate like in 2014. Under Diego Simeone’s leadership, the leader accumulates 66 points; Blaugranas and meringues chase at a distance of one and three units, respectively, and on Saturday they will meet at the Alfredo Di Stefano stadium. A derby to feed back the scoring voracity of Lionel Messi, the icon who scored 26 times in the classic, but has not converted since the 2017/18 season.
La Liga burns: Barcelona beat Valladolid and is one point behind Atlético Madrid
Top gunner in the history of the classic, Above three madridistas such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Di Stéfano -both with 18- and Raúl (15), the crack drags four games in the League without being able to score against the maximum rival, a statistic that increases to five if the game of the who was absent in 2018 due to a fracture in the radius of his right arm.
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The Rosario also took four games to score among the scorers of the match that transcends the Spanish borders, but his appearance had the stamp of the distinguished: a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium –Barcelona always traced the result-, in a season that the Madridistas ended up celebrating over the Blaugranas, despite having tied at 76 points. The 2-0 victory in the first round match, with goals from Raúl and Ruud Van Nistelrooy, tipped the balance against equality.
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He starred in the worst series in the League between the 2014/15 and 2016/17 seasons, where he failed to score in five games. In that period, Barcelona won twice, lost twice and tied the rest. A striking fact: never managed to turn him into Copa del Rey matches, where it was measured twice in the final match -in both the crown went to Real Madrid-, twice in the semifinal series and once in the quarterfinals.
Messi. From the family photo to the annoyance with the referee who wanted to admonish him?
Instead, his streak is positive in the Spanish Super Cup, scoring six goals in six games, and in the Champions League, where he played in the semifinals of the 2010/11 season: the two celebrations in the first leg, in Madrid, for the 2-0 victory -the revenge was 1-1-, paved the way to the conquest at Wembley, by defeating 3- 1 to Manchester United.
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Messi’s repertoire against Real Madrid is varied, with highlights that will remain for posterity. Impossible to forget his two goals in the 6-2 away game in 2009, with Pep Guardiola as coach; a second hat trick in the 4-3 success of the 2013/14 season or the definition in the final seconds for the 3-2 triumph of the 2016/17 championship.
Pichichi of the current season, with 23 goals in 26 games, Messi will reach the classic after breaking the streak of two doubles against Real Sociedad and Huesca. This Monday, in the agonizing 1-0 victory over Valladolid, the star discovered in free throws the most direct way to try to break goalkeeper Jordi Masip, whom he tried seven times, although only two went to goal. In addition, they committed two infractions and a foul. A half-machine performance, where an assist to leave Ousmane Dembelé, the scorer of the goal in the 44th minute of the second half, hand in hand with the goalkeeper was the action in which he demonstrated his talent at the service of the team.
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Messi is the guide of Barcelona in a season in which the relationship between the crack and the club ranged between hate and love, distrust and familiarity. On Saturday he will try to take his golden numbers that he shows at the Santiago Bernabéu – the stage where he scored the 500th goal of the 661 – to the modest Di Stéfano stadium, with the challenge of sustaining the march of 19 games without defeats -16 ended with a victory- and hope to win the 35th title with Barcelona.
Opposite will be Real Madrid, which he faced 44 times, with a favorable balance of 19 wins and 14 falls. Too It is the fifth club that he converted the most times, behind Sevilla, Atlético de Madrid, Valencia and Athletic Bilbao. Messi, the one with the records, will try to create some new fantasy in the Spanish derby.
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