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Hello and welcome to the Barcelona news the day! Here are the top stories of the day surrounding the Catalan Giants!
Valverde on Barcelona and Lionel Messi
Ernesto Valverde warned that winning the LaLiga won't be easy for Barcelona after they managed to salvage a point against Villareal. Barcelona boss also heaped praise on Lionel Messi, admitting that the Blaugrana are dependent on him.
Valverde decided to rest his most in-form player as they took on 17th placed Villarreal. Despite a good start which saw them go 2-0 up in the opening quarter of the first half, Barcelona looked well beaten as Villareal managed to lead for the most part in the second half.
Barcelona managed did not waste any time and brought on Messi around 60th minute when the Blaugrana were losing 4-2 and the five-time Ballon d'Or winner reminded why Barcelona are overdependent on him soon after. Messi scored a direct free kick in the 90th minute and provided another pass for Suarez to finish, and ultimately rescued a point for the Blaugrana.
Speaking after the match, Valverde said:
" I think this is a game that will help us a lot. Especially in the face of the commitments we have now. We know that there's a lot left to win LaLiga Santander. It will be difficult and all the teams have good players."
"We allowed too many chances against us, but it's not because of the defence. It's the whole team, we have to control things better. It happened to us last year and we suffered."
When asked if Barcelona were overdependent on Messi, Valverde added:
"Yes, of course we are," he said.
"Any team in the world would be, but we can also play without him. In the first 15 minutes there was no Messidependence and in the last 15 there was. "
Barcelona captain sets record with his goal against Villareal
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi became the top goalscorer in the European top five leagues, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and set another free-kick record after his exploits against Villareal last night.
There is no doubt about the fact that Messi is enjoying another historic campaign with Barcelona. The 31-year-old magician leads the goal-scoring charts in the European top five leagues and hence, leads the race for the European Golden Shoe. He has scored 32 goals in the La Liga and has been involved in a staggering 46 goals so far in the league.
Messi once again conveyed that he is still football's finest as his majestic free-kick helped Barcelona salvage a point after going 4-2 down against Villareal.
On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo is recovering from an Injury but has taken Italy by storm since his arrival at Juventus last year. The Portuguese talisman is among the top scorers in the Serie A with 19 goals so far this season and also one of the leading assist providers in the division.
The Argentine magician weaved his magic soon after being brought on by Valverde in the second half. Messi put his free kick in the top left corner out of reach of the Villareal goalkeeper in the 90th minute and provided another pass for Suarez to finish, and ultimately rescued a point for the Blaugrana.
With his goal, Messi set yet another record in the Spanish league as he became the first player in the top five European leagues to score six-plus direct free-kick goals in consecutive seasons since at least 2006/07.
Ronaldo netted 84 league goals during his time with Manchester United in the Premier League, 311 goals during his nine-year stint with Real Madrid and 19 in the Serie A with Juventus so far.
The goal against Villarreal took Messi's league goal tally to 415, one more than Ronaldo, to become the player with most league goals in the history of Europe's top leagues.
The Catalan giants sit top of the league table with an eight-point lead over Atletico Madrid and Juventus leads the Serie A table, too. Both sides have also progressed to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League where Barca take on Manchester United, while Juventus face Ajax.
New signing Frenkie De Jong reveals why he rejected Tottenham and chose Barcelona
Arguably the biggest news of the January transfer window was that Barcelona has splashed €75 million to secure the services of the Dutch prodigy, Frenkie De Jong.
The 21-year-old wonder kid has been the center of attraction across Europe for some time, but will arrive at the Catalan club in the coming summer.
De Jong is already being hailed as the next big thing across Europe due to his ability to dictate play on the pitch. The Dutch midfielder has shown his caliber against toughest of opponents like Real Madrid and Germany over the season.
The Ajax Prodigy revealed in a recent interview why he rejected Tottenham last year and chose Barcelona over his other suitors.
"The moment wasn’t right. I wasn’t finished at Ajax, as I had not yet played a full season in my own position. I was also injured in that period, so I was thinking, ‘Not yet’. I felt I should stay for another year at Ajax, or perhaps longer", De Jong told FourFourTwo via AS.
"I considered their offer long and hard. I see Tottenham as a very stable club, and they are only getting better. They give young players a chance and I see Mauricio Pochettino as a manager who really improves young players. I like the kind of football they are playing. I think it would have suited my game.”
"I’d always wanted to play for Barcelona. The money they were prepared to pay Ajax showed me how serious they were. I felt I had to grab the opportunity because maybe it wouldn’t come around again. Of course, a big transfer fee doesn’t mean I’ll automatically play from the start. But everything about Barcelona is beautiful. My family agreed I had to go for it. I’ll do everything in my power to succeed there."
