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Hello and welcome to daily news roundup for Barcelona!
Barcelona are on verge of winning the LaLiga title for eighth time in the last decade after their 2-0 win against Alaves. The Catalan giants are well on course for another historic treble and there is no shortage of news as we approach towards the business end of the season.
Today's top stories feature Lionel Messi, Luka Jovic and Ernesto Valverde.
Here are the top stories of the day surrounding the Catalan giants!
Messi reaches 100 matches as Blaugrana captain
Leo Messi was substituted on the second half against Alaves and wore the captain's armband for the 100th time. The 31-year-old first led Blaugrana back in 2013 due to an injury to Carles Puyol.
Under Luis Enrique, the Barcelona talisman became the vice captain in the 2015/16 season and is now leading this season after Andres Iniesta's move to Japanese side, Vissel Kobe.
Messi already reached the 100 game mark as a captain and can overtake Iniesta (151 games as captain) and Xavi Hernández (156 matches as captain) in the upcoming future. But Puyol's sensational record will be hard to match as the former Spanish center-back led the Catalan giants for 10 seasons (392 matches).
Luka Jovic move to Real Madrid is a real possibility
Jovic is one of most wanted men in Europe as he is enjoying a meteoric rise to fame in the Bundesliga. With 17 goals and six assists in the Bundesliga so far, the 21-year-old Serbian striker is currently the joint-second top scorer in the Bundeliga, just behind Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski.
Jovic has also racked up eight goals in the Europa League and led Frankfurt to the semi-finals of the competition. Frankfurt made his loan from Benfica permanent by signing the striker for just €12 million last week.
In a recent interview, the sporting director of Frankfurt said:
"There's a real possibility that Jovic signs for Real Madrid."
"I hope and want him to stay here at Eintracht, but I'm also realistic and know that if a big club like Real Madrid want him then we haven't got a chance of keeping him."
It is an open secret that Real Madrid and Barcelona have been scouting the player for a long time now and both the Spanish giants are in pursuit of the Serbian ace. His father revealed few weeks ago that they have received offers from Barcelona and Frankfurt can fetch over €50 million for his transfer.
Ernesto Valverde spoke about the 2-0 win against Alaves
Ernesto Valverde is now leading Barcelona to the second LaLiga title in his two years at the Nou Camp. With 2-0 win against Alaves, Valverde's Barcelona are now 12 points ahead with just four games remaining at the league and can win the title any moment.
"This win has an incredible value,” said the Barcelona boss. “Because however much they say the league is won, we have to do it on the pitch. They are three very important points because now we need three more points and we have four games ahead of us. It’s an immense joy.”
Despite the comfortable victory, it was questionable why Valverde used Messi as a substitute in the remaining half-hour of the game instead of resting the Blaugrana talisman for crucial fixtures ahead. Valverde explained:
“The idea was that he would play. We are focused on the games we have to win, as a team, although Leo has a lot of personal challenges ahead of him, Today it was right for him to rest but you have to keep them active because you can’t put players in an urn and take them out for the decisive games.”
