Lionel Messi scored a mazy dribble of a goal for Barcelona in their 3-1 win vs. Napoli.
Messi continues to score for Barcelona and this one is among his very best. With Barcelona leading 1-0, Messi received the ball, dribbled past a few Napoli players, went down, kept control of the ball, got back up, shot and scored as he was falling.
He had scored another goal which looked to be wrongly disallowed by VAR due to a handball while it looked as if Messi had controlled it with his chest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrk0Xe0qMi0
He doesn't just wait to score the penalties or finish tapin opportunities
It’s a unique continuation of the UEFA Champions League as two matches will take place on Friday with Manchester City hosting Real Madrid and Juventus hosting Lyon.
Manchester City will be taking with them a 2-1 lead going into the second leg but have been dealt a blow for some time. Sergio Aguero will miss the match due to injury and is a doubt for City should they even reach the final of the competition. The other Argentine on the team, Nicolas Otamendi is part of the squad.
In the other match taking place on Friday, Lyon take with them a 1-0 lead going into Turin. Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain will try to turn things around for Juventus. Both Argentine players have been included in the match day squad.
Emiliano Martinez has had a stellar second half of the season as he won the FA Cup for Arsenal and is now looking to solidify his spot with the team and with the Argentina national team.
Martinez became a starter for Arsenal after regular goalkeeper Leno had to be sidelined due to injury. The Argentina man has impressed and spoke with Sportia about his future with the club. Here’s what he had to say:
“If Arsenal doesn’t assure me 35, 40 matches and I don’t play as a starter, I’ll look for minutes elsewhere.
“I don’t want to have any illusions. I have an important future with the club for next season which begins in two or three weeks. I don’t have much time to think.”
Regarding the Argentina national team:
“I fought against the great goalkeepers of the world throughout my career. I’m ready to fight with anyone. Those from the Argentina national team are great goalkeepers but I don’t feel greater nor less than anyone of them.”
Marcos Rojo was a hero at the 2018 World Cup for Argentina as he scored the goal which secured qualification to the Round of 16 and he spoke about it all.
From the goal vs. Nigeria, to the relationship with Jorge Sampaoli and his off the pitch friendship with Lionel Messi, Rojo spoke about it all. Speaking in an interview with TyC Sports, here’s what he had to say regarding the match against Nigeria:
“The first half we played incredible. But when they drew level with us, we fell apart. We didn’t have a plan. We just tried to score a goal before the end of the match. And it was luck… Imagine that I almost caused a penalty. They put in a cross, it was going for the number 9, I tried to close it down, it rebounded, went passed and it hit me on the hand…
“At times, the hero could have been the villain of the match. The goal was incredible. The next day, I couldn’t even talk. If you see the play, you’d say “What is Rojo doing there?” We went for a back line of 3, Gaby Mercado sends in the cross and I got to it on the other side. They put me in that place to score the goal.”
Rojo also spoke about the relationship with Jorge Sampaoli during that World Cup:
“From the start, things didn’t work out. After that, there were a lot of changes against Croatia. Me, Di Maria and Biglia were out. When you play your hand like that, it’s messed up. If it doesn’t work out, you lose the credibility of the squad. I felt that Jorge had lost a bit of it and didn’t know how to continue. It showed. The player perceives it.”
Regarding a talk the team had with Sampaoli:
“That was the talk. To tell him that we weren’t understanding him, that he was lost, that we saw the relationship with Beccacece wasn’t the best and that it had influenced the group a lot. After the match against Croatia, we all watched Iceland and Nigeria and thank God we were left with one more chance.
“At that time, the idea was to talk, to understand that we were in a difficult spot and that if we didn’t do it together, we weren’t going to move forward. He could make the decisions that he thinks are good but the correct one was this: That the greats show their face. More than just Pavon who played well when he did, Meza too…
“It’s not easy to play a World Cup and even less so one like this. If you don’t win, you go home with a knife in you that you could never take out. This wasn’t the time to gamble or try something strange. He accepted it in the best way, he knew we were right. If not, today, we wouldn’t be talking about how we made it to the next round.”
Marcos Rojo and Lionel Messi celebrating Argentina’s goal vs. Nigeria at the 2018 World Cup.
About his goal and iconic photo with Lionel Messi on his back:
“When my grandkids talk about Messi, I’ll be able to say “look at this picture I have: The grandfather carrying him, ha! That moment (his goal vs. Nigeria) was incredible. It was the goal I screamed the most in my life.
“Putting aside how great he is, we have a good relationship off the pitch. We lived beautiful moments.”
Congratulations to Paulo Dybala who has been named the Serie A MVP of the 2019-2020 season and Alejandro “Papu” Gomez on winning the best midfielder award.
From nearly leaving Juventus and Serie A all together last season to this, the Argentina man turned his fortune around with hard work and determination. Finishing the campaign with 11 goals and 11 assists to his name as he beat out league top scorer Ciro Immobile for the award.
Another Argentine was recognized for his great play as Alejandro “Papu” Gomez was awarded the midfielder of the season. The Atalanta man finished the season with 7 goals and 16 assists.
