Next up for the Lionel Messi show - Osasuna.
Messi has been a one-man scoring act with his second hat
trick inside eight days keeping Barcelona in the Spanish league
race as the defending champions kept pace with Real Madrid on top
of the standings with 68 points.
Messi leads Spain with 25 league goals and has 34 in all
competitions after notching his fifth career hat trick in Sunday's
4-2 win at Zaragoza. His form has inspired suggestions that the
22-year-old is on course to becoming one of the all-time greats,
alongside the likes of his Argentina coach Diego Maradona.
Coach Pep Guardiola said he'd run out of superlatives to
describe Messi.
"He's so good that it's impossible for him not to be so
involved in so much of the play," Guardiola said. "He's been one of
the chosen ones for some time now."
The biggest question for Wednesday's opponent Osasuna is how
to stop Messi after his dominating performance at La Romareda,
where even the home fans were out of their seats.
Messi scored with his head before a highlight reel run that
he called one of his greatest and added the second with a defender
who he left on the turf with his quick feet tugging on his shorts.
He took his third from a quickly taken shot that curled past
goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez.
"I have no doubt that you can compare him (to Maradona) and
that he's even better. He's so young and he has a fabulous future
ahead," defender Daniel Alves said. "Let's hope he keeps on like
this."
Barcelona president Joan Laporta called Messi the best player
in the history of football, even if Messi hasn't been able to carry
over that form into international play with Argentina.
"I don't know what the secret with Messi here is," Guardiola
said. "I know that at Barca he's comfortable and that he's also the
one who most wants to triumph with Argentina."
While Barcelona shines with Messi, the form of Madrid with
Cristiano Ronaldo appears less inspired.
Madrid had to rally to beat Sporting Gijon 3-1 on Saturday.
Ronaldo has scored 15 league goals but the team is out of the
Champions League and the league title is its only focus. It next
plays in a derby match against Spanish capital neighbor Getafe on
Thursday.
The contrast between the two teams is underlined by the
behavior of their top players. Ronaldo has argued with teammate
Xabi Alonso over penalty duties this year, while Messi let
struggling striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic take Sunday's.
"What matters to me are trophies at the group level," Messi
said. "The league and the Champions League are more important
awards than individual ones."
Meanwhile, Sevilla will be without winger Jesus Nava (ankle)
for up to four weeks and Diego Capel (leg) for at least 10 days as
it prepares for Tuesday's game against last-placed Xerez.
Xerez has won two straight to give the team hope in its
battle to avoid the drop although it is still eight points back of
17th-placed Zaragoza. Sevilla is winless in six with two straight
losses to slump to fifth in the standings.
Valencia is without a number of injured regulars for
Wednesday's game against Malaga as it looks to consolidate third
place. Valencia is four points clear of Mallorca, which plays
bottom-of-the-table Racing Santander.
In other midweek games, it's: Sporting Gijon vs. Deportivo La
Coruna; Almeria vs. Zaragoza; Tenerife vs. Villarreal; Valladolid
vs. Espanyol; and Atletico Madrid vs. Athletic Bilbao.
