19.09.2020
16:08
The Argentine was on the court the entire game for the first time in the Koeman era: he was key in the only goal of the match and received a strong infraction in the area that the referee omitted
September 19, 2020 Share on FacebookShare Share on TwitterTweet Share on WhatsAppShareMessi’s participation in Barcelona’s goal
Lionel Messi had his third participation with Barcelona at the start of the season in the duel against Elche for the traditional Joan Gamper Trophy. With the captain’s ribbon on his arm, the Rosario was once again a starter on offense with Ansu Fati and Antoine Griezmann on the wings, in addition to being accompanied by Philippe Coutinho in the game generation.
In the first 45 minutes, the Rosario was key to the generation of the goal that opened the scoring: he put a surgical pass from the middle of the court so that Jordi Alba pierces the last rival line and serves the French Griezmann the first goal of the duel when just There were 2 minutes of play at the Camp Nou .
At 23 minutes he had his second intervention in the duel when he took over a free kick at the goal of the area: he hit with great precision the post furthest from goalkeeper Édgar Badía, who flew and managed to deflect with just what it would have meant the second goal.
Messi’s free kick against Elche
The Argentine footballer continued on the field at the beginning of the complement and after 5 minutes he received a kick that paralyzed hearts. Leo escaped into the area and defender José Manuel Sánchez Guillén dived to avoid his shot, giving him a strong kick in the ankle that left him lying for several seconds. Although he was able to continue the game, the judge did not charge anything after that clear infraction.
Several minutes later, the captain had an opportunity to stretch the gap with a low shot from outside the area but goalkeeper Badía again responded well to drown him out. Finally, he completed the 90 minutes on the court for the first time since Ronald Koeman is the team’s coach.
Kick to Messi in the friendly against Elche
La Pulga had played 45 minutes in the first friendly of the season of the Koeman era against Nástic last Saturday and then was replaced with 15 minutes remaining in the second game against Girona, where he was key in the 3-1 with two annotations and an assist. After postponing the first two presentations , Blaugrana will make their formal presentation in the Spanish League on Sunday, September 27 from 4:00 p.m. (Argentina time) against Villarreal as local.
It should be noted that Messi is also on the payroll delivered by Argentine DT Lionel Scaloni for the first two qualifying matches of the National Team: Thursday , October 8 at home against Ecuador and Tuesday, October 13, as a visitor against Bolivia .
This Saturday was not another afternoon for Leo. The conflict with the Blaugrana that was generated by his desire to leave had a new chapter after several days of calm. President Josep Bartomeu spoke about the subject for the first time in the preview of this presentation. “ I couldn’t allow myself to let the best player in the world go . He speaks in the field as we have seen, it is a parked issue. Things have to be discussed at home. You have to support the team and the players. We have to congratulate ourselves that Messi is still with us . He’s excited about Koeman. The important thing is that he plays for Barça, at home. We want him to retire at the club and make a project with Messi ”, said the president in the previous match.
