Lionel Messi reached yet another milestone as Barcelona secured a vital 2-0 home win over Valencia in its quest to regain the La Liga title.<\/p>\n
The diminutive Argentine scored the 400th goal of his Barcelona career to seal the hard-fought win late on after Luis Suarez had opened the scoring in the first minute of the game.<\/p>\n
Valencia made its hosts sweat, however, spurning numerous chances to level matters including a first half penalty miss from Dani Parejo.<\/p>\n
But Barca missed chances of its own and was unlucky when Messi hit the bar from a second half free-kick.<\/p>\n
Messi is already the Catalan club’s all-time leading scorer and no player has more goals in Spanish league or Champions League history.<\/p>\n
“We scored in the first minute and then we had problems overcoming their pressing,” admitted Barca boss Luis Enrique in quotes carried by the AFP news agency after the match.<\/p>\n
“(But) the victory is deserved because one of the important facets of the game is effectiveness in front of goal.”<\/p>\n
The result temporarily moved Barca five points clear of title rivals Real Madrid.<\/p>\n
But Carlo Ancelotti’s men reduced the deficit back to two points with a 3-1 over Malaga later in the day.<\/p>\n
Sergio Ramos and James Rodriguez put Real in front before Juanmi pulled one back for Malaga. Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty midway through the second period but made amends by rounding off the scoring in injury time.<\/p>\n
However, Real’s night was spoiled somewhat by injuries to Gareth Bale (calf) and Luka Modric (knee).<\/p>\n
World record signing Bale has come in for criticism for this season but was an integral part of Ancelotti’s plans over the coming week as Real face city rivals Atletico in the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal tie on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Modric meanwhile was one of Real’s strongest performer in the first leg at the Vicente Calderon last Tuesday which finished 0-0.<\/p>\n
Ateltico itself warmed up for the occasion with a 2-1 win away at Deportivo La Coruna.<\/p>\n
Two first half goals from Antoine Griezmann gave the reigning La Liga champions an unassailable lead despite Oriol Riera pulling one back for Depor in the second period.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: CNN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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