Lionel MESSI wins Copa del Rey, Leandro PAREDES scores “Olympic” goal

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April 22, 2018

Lionel Messi FC Barcelona Copa del Rey — Lionel Messi celebrates winning the Copa del Rey with his son.

Lionel MESSI made history once more on Saturday as FC Barcelona won the Copa del Rey while Leandro PAREDES scored a direct goal from a corner kick.

It was an eventful Saturday for Lionel MESSI as he scored and assisted twice in FC Barcelona’s 5-0 win against Sevilla. MESSI scored goal number two of the match and assisted goals three and four while giving COUTINHO the penalty kick for goal number five.

After great link-up play between Jordi ALBA and Andres INIESTA, ALBA back heeled the ball in the area to MESSI who fired the ball into the net. MESSI then got his first assist of the match after delivering a perfect eye of the needle pass to Luis SUAREZ. MESSI’s second assist came to Andres INIESTA. Lionel could have had the chance to add a second goal to his name after the club were awarded a penalty kick but he gave it to COUTINHO to take instead.

Per Opta, MESSI is the second player in Copa del Rey history to score in five different finals. Telmo ZARRA accomplished that between 1942 and 1950 scoring eight goals.

5 – Lionel Messi is the second player in Copa del Rey history to score in five different finals (six goals). The first player to achieve this feat was Telmo Zarra between 1942 and 1950 (eight goals). Emperor. pic.twitter.com/Y3RV6YzuyD

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 21, 2018

Also an incredible piece of statistic, MESSI has now scored 40+ goals in all competitions for the 9th consecutive season.

For Sevilla, it meant another heartbreak for Ever BANEGA, Gabriel MERCADO, Joaquin CORREA, Franco VAZQUEZ and Nicolas PAREJA (who didn’t play in the final due to injury).

Moving over to Russia, Leandro PAREDES had a goal and an assist in Zenit St. Petersburg’s 3-3 draw versus Arsenal Tula. With the score 1-0 in favor of Arsenal Tula, Zenit were awarded a corner kick which was taken by PAREDES. However, to everyone’s surprise, PAREDES aimed at goal and scored directly from the corner kick!

With the latest news of Lucas BIGLIA’s injury breaking over the weekend, Leandro PAREDES could possibly have a spot in Argentina’s World Cup squad.

Lionel MESSI versus Sevilla:

Leandro PAREDES goal for Zenit St. Petersburg:

🇷🇺⚽ Leandro Paredes (23) has equalised for Zenit from a direct corner. 😮

What a goal! ⭐ pic.twitter.com/Aw2QofR0ce

— SidelineScouted (@SidelineScouted) April 22, 2018

Lucas BIGLIA out for six weeks, World Cup spot in jeapordy

By

John

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April 22, 2018

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Lucas Biglia AC Milan — Lucas Biglia while playing for AC Milan in Serie A.

Lucas BIGLIA is expected to miss five to six weeks following an injury he picked up on Saturday.

AC Milan gave an update on the latest developments pertaining to Lucas BIGLIA’s condition after he was withdrawn in their match against Benevento on Saturday. It appears he has suffered a slight lumbar fracture in his back and should be sidelined for around five to six weeks.

Argentine journalist Hernan CASTILLO has earlier tweeted that with the World Cup just eight weeks away, Jorge SAMPAOLI and Dr. MARTINEZ will need to seriously assess his condition on whether he makes the cut for Russia.

ATENCIÓN: Lucas Biglia tiene una fractura leve en la zona lumbar que no deja entre 5 y 6 semanas en recuperación. El mundial es en 8 van a ver su evolución. Otra baja tremenda. Kranevitter gana lugar otra vez. Sampaoli y el Dr Martínez están en Europa y siguen la evolución.

— Hernán Castillo (@HernanSCastillo) April 22, 2018

If BIGLIA isn’t fit enough to the World Cup, the door for Matias KRANEVITTER is now wide open. Both SAMPAOLI and Dr. MARTINEZ are now in Europe and will only make a decision at the end of their trip.

Lucas BIGLIA leaves AC Milan match injured

By

Roy Nemer

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April 21, 2018

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Alarming news for Jorge SAMPAOLI as Lucas BIGLIA was substituted off injured for AC Milan.

Lucas BIGLIA reportedly felt some discomfort in his lower back and left the pitch with 20 minutes to play on Saturday. It went from bad to worse for AC Milan. With the team losing 1-0 at home to Benevento, BIGLIA was taken out.

The seriousness of his injury is still unknown.

Alfio BASILE: “HIGUAIN soiled himself”

By

Roy Nemer

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April 21, 2018

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Gonzalo Higuain Argentina — Gonzalo Higuain playing for Argentina vs. Germany in the final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Former Argentina National Team coach Alfio BASILE wrote about Gonzalo HIGUAIN, the chance he missed in the 2014 FIFA World Cup final, Lionel MESSI, Jorge SAMPAOLI and Marcelo BIELSA.

In Alfio BASILE’s latest autobiography, the former two time Copa America winning coach commented on HIGUAIN’s infamous miss. In the book called “Generación Lio”, BASILE also spoke about Jorge SAMPAOLI (and how he doesn’t know him), Lionel MESSI himself and Marcelo BIELSA. Here’s what he had to say:

“Of all the players, the one that was most singled out by the people for blame was Gonzalo HIGUAIN. They do not want him in their squad because when that World Cup is remembered, the chance he missed at the start is what cost us the title.

“The truth is that it’s difficult to explain what happened to him, because suddenly he was unmarked, had the ball at his feet and was 20 metres from goal with every option open to him and could place the ball anywhere, but instead the mist descended and he fired it wide.

“It’s not good to say that he soiled himself, but that’s basically what happened. He was weighed down by the responsibility of realising he was about to score the goal that gave Argentina the World Cup and would gain immortality.”

Alfio BASILE on Jorge SAMPAOLI:

“SAMPAOLI, in the group of coaches, no one knows him. Because between us, among colleagues, we all know each other. We always see each other in meetings in the different countries in South America but he was never in any of them. It’s amazing how he got the Argentina National Team job. He got it only because he won the Copa America with Chile by beating us. Only then did I find out who he was…”

Alfio BASILE on Marcelo BIELSA:

“BIELSA is the most marketed coach in the world. More than GUARDIOLA and MOURINHO put together. He manages mediocre teams that don’t have the obligation of being champions. How is it that when he took Lille, all of a sudden they even started televising the training sessions.”

Alfio BASILE on Lionel MESSI:

“MESSI is an alien. When I was coach, the “friends club” didn’t exist. At least, at that time it didn’t…”

Lautaro MARTINEZ scores and Lisandro LOPEZ misses two penalty kicks

By

Roy Nemer

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April 20, 2018

109

It was a night of unbelievable events in the Copa Libertadores as Lautaro MARTINEZ scored and Lisandro LOPEZ missed two penalty kicks before finally convering on his third in Racing Club’s 4-0 win against Vasco da Gama.

Former FC Porto and Lyon man Lisandro LOPEZ missed a pair of first half penalty kicks for Racing Club despite his team scoring twice in the opening 45 minutes. Ricardi CENTURION opened the scoring in 33rd minute to give Racing a 1-0 lead. Lautaro MARTINEZ added a second for his club as his reputation continues to grow. Matias ZARACHO added a third for Racing Club.

The third time was definitely a charm for Lisandro LOPEZ as he finally got his goal off a penalty kick. There were some inevitable comparisons being done to Martin PALERMO’s infamous match against Colombia at the 1999 Copa America for Argentina where he missed three penalty kicks in a single match. However, LOPEZ wasn’t going to pull that kind of hattrick.