Sports

Messi increases goal haul as Barca draw with Eibar

May 20, 2019
Barcelona's Lionel Messi scores their first goal  against Eibar in the La Liga match at  Ipurua, Eibar, Spain, on Sunday. — Reuters
Barcelona's Lionel Messi scores their first goal against Eibar in the La Liga match at Ipurua, Eibar, Spain, on Sunday. — Reuters

EIBAR, Spain — Barcelona captain and La Liga top scorer Lionel Messi rounded off a spectacular season by netting twice in a 2-2 draw away to Eibar in the champions' final game on Sunday, taking his tally to a remarkable 36 goals.

Eibar went ahead in the 20th minute with a strike from Barca's on-loan midfielder Marc Cucurella which squirmed under keeper Jasper Cillessen but Messi leveled in the 31st, sneaking into the box to meet a pass from Arturo Vidal and score.

Messi struck again a minute later, racing through the middle unchallenged and calmly chipping the outstretched keeper Marko Dmitrovic, but Eibar's Pablo de Blasis levelled right before halftime with a superb one-touch strike from long range.

Malcom and Gerard Pique missed second-half chances for the champions while Cucurella spurned an even better opportunity for Eibar. Barca finished the campaign on 87 points, 11 clear of runners-up Atletico Madrid. — Reuters


May 20, 2019
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