by Anton Johan
If there was even a sliver of doubt as to why Barcelona striker Lionel
Messi is the reigning World Player of the Year, he erased it on Sunday
(March 21) in La Liga with a display of talent and skill that was almost
solely responsible for dispatching, or should that read destroying, Real
Zaragoza 4-2.
To say that the 22-year-old Argentinean-born superstar was on fire on Sunday is
a vast understatement. He was glowing white hot as he streaked around the pitch
managing to capitalize on the opportunities presented him. So much so that he
scored three of his side's four goals. But he is no stranger to hat-tricks.
Just the weekend before, Messi took out his carving knife to slice a hat-trick
out of Valencia, before putting two away midweek in Barcelona's UEFA Champions
League match against Stuttgart. Though clearly still unsaturated, Messi opened
the score line against Real Zaragoza barely five minutes into the game.
And as Barcelona fans went wild, there was no doubt Real Zaragoza were in
trouble. Messi scored again in the 66th and 78th minute respectively. And
despite a frenzied effort in the late stages that saw Real Zaragoza score twice,
a converted penalty by Barcelona's Zlatan Ibrahimovic put the side 4-2 ahead.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day Real Mallorca also scored a quartet when they
dispatched Atletico Madrid 4-1. Real Mallorca's Víctor Casadesús opened the
scoring after just 12 minutes. However, his goal was answered approximately 15
minutes later by Atletico's Diego Forlan, and it was now definitely game on.
A few minutes later, Real Mallorca, who have only lost a single home game this
season, made it 2-1 thanks to a goal from Aritz Aduriz. But it was early on in
the second half that Atletico Madrid's fortunes really took a dive after
midfielder Raul Garcia was sent off leaving the already struggling side a man
short.
With just 10 men, it was no surprise that Atletico failed to fend off the Real
Mallorca assault and eventual 4-2 result. In other results, Malaga no doubt
surprised their fans when thanks to a superb double from Nabil Baha, took down
Villarreal 2-0. Valencia also celebrated a 2-0 win in their match against
Almeria.
Here are the La Liga football results from the weekend:
Malaga 2-0 Villarreal
Mallorca 4-1 Atletico Madrid
Osasuna 1-3 Racing Santander
Real Zaragoza 2-4 Barcelona
Valencia 2-0 Almeria
