At around the same time that Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his MLS debut for the LA Galaxy on Saturday, scoring a late equalizer and then game-winner in dramatic fashion, another football icon made a late entrance and saved the day. In this case, the player was Lionel Messi and the circumstance was a two-goal deficit against Sevilla, an unbeaten season on the line.
Lionel Messi scored the opener before Chelsea really touched the ball. Luis Suarez created Barcelona's second without touching the ball. Ousmane Dembele put Barcelona up 2-0 in the 20th minute on Wednesday, putting the Blaugrana up 3-1 on aggregate in their Champions League Round of 16 tie, and Suarez deserves much of the credit.
Here’s a five-day period so Luis Suarez that even Luis Suarez would call it cliché. Last Tuesday, the Uruguayan striker was booked in the 76th minute of Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea. Suarez was given the yellow directly after Lionel Messi’s equalizer for berating the linesman.
Like a good band, Barcelona played all the hits in their 6-1 demolition of Girona on Saturday, surely a treat for anyone seeing them live for the first time (I hate you Bryce I hate you so much).
They opened with Lionel Messi assisting Luis Suarez:
Barcelona opened a 10-point lead at the top of La Liga with a 2-0 victory over Eibar, although Atletico Madrid can again reduce the gap when they host Athletic Bilbao Sunday. The game-winner was scored by Luis Suarez — his 17th in 21 league matches — in the 16th minute after the Uruguayan striker was played through by an inch-perfect ball from Lionel Messi.
Luis Suarez scored twice and Messi and Paulinho each added a goal as Barcelona overcame a 2-0 deficit to Real Sociedad early Sunday to maintain their unbeaten run in La Liga. On the day when Manchester City saw their quest for invincibility ended by Liverpool, it looked for a bit like Barcelona might follow suit.