Wednesday night’s El Classico promises to be an exhilarating shoot-out between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo after both players performed wonders at the weekend.
After Ronaldo bagged a sensational hat-trick on Sunday morning , Messi went one better against Osasuna in the evening, grabbing four goals in Barcelona’s 5-1 demolition of their opponents.
The mind-boggling statistics just keep coming for the Artgentine wizard, who has now scored a total of 33 goals after just 21 La Liga games. On the fifth occasion when he has scored four or more goals in a single game for Barcelona, Messi’s opener came when he waltzed the ball around Andres, the Osasuna keeper, after another perfect Xavi assist.
He then converted a penalty before completing his hat-trick in the 56th minute when he once again made a fool of Andres and slotted the ball into the unguarded net. It was the third time that Messi and Ronaldo had registered three or more goals on the exact same day. That is a fascinating statistic which tells us not only of the brilliance of La Liga’s stand out stars, but also of their domination of Spanish football in recent years.
However, Messi was not content in merely emulating his rival’s virtuoso performance earlier in the day. As if to shove it Ronaldo’s face why he has been beaten to four consecutive Ballon d’Or awards, the Argentine cooly scored his fourth of the game just two minutes after his third.
Jose Mourinho may have already conceded the league to the Catalan enemy, but make no mistake about it, Wednesday night’s Copa del Rey tie will be hotly contested. The Bernabéu will be the venue for the clash and with both maestros on the top of their game, it is all set up for yet another mouth watering El Classico.
