Lionel Messi scored twice on Wednesday as Barcelona beat second-division Girona 3-1 in a preseason friendly. Messi helped set up Philippe ...
Lionel Messi scored twice on Wednesday as Barcelona beat second-division Girona 3-1 in a preseason friendly.
Messi helped set up Philippe Coutinho, back from his loan at Bayern Munich, for the first goal after 21 minutes.
The Argentine scored his first after 45 minutes, spinning on the edge of the penalty area and drilling a shot in off the base of the far post. He scored his second, with a deflected shot, after 50 minutes.
He went off after an hour.
W😱W! pic.twitter.com/h2eka8HN6I
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 16, 2020
Receive the pass.
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 16, 2020
Turn around.
Off the back.
Nothing but net.
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▶️ https://t.co/v28AM27Zzq pic.twitter.com/10DjTwllXk
🐐 𝙂𝙊𝙇𝘼𝙕𝙊 !!!!! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/XaKV7gVhrq
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 16, 2020
Messi only returned to training at the start of last week after saying he wanted to leave the club.
Messi started Barcelona’s first friendly on Saturday, playing 45 minutes without scoring in a 3-1 victory over third-tier Gimnastica Tarragona.
From wanting to quit Barcelona to being forced to stay: Timeline of Lionel Messi (non-)transfer saga
Earlier on Wednesday, La Liga president Javier Tebas said he was pleased Messi had stayed at Barcelona.
“Messi is important for our competition,” said Tebas, at an event to promote the Liga sticker collection. “He is a player who was born in our competition... and hopefully he will finish his career in our league.”
Barcelona used 20...
