Messi breaks Ronaldo’s Barcelona record for most Liga goals in a season

The Argentine continues to rewrite the club’s history books as his strike on Saturday means he has now beaten the Brazil legend’s record of 34 goals during the 1996-97 campaign
Lionel Messi has become the highest-scoring Barcelona player in a single Primera Division season after he found the back of the net in the 2-0 win over Mallorca on Saturday.
The Argentine’s first-half strike against the islanders means he has now scored 35 times in the league this term, overtaking Ronaldo’s previous high of 34 during the 1996-97 campaign for the Blaugrana.
Messi equalled Ronaldo’s overall mark in 2009-10, and last season scored 53 goals in all competitions, surpassing the Brazilian’s haul of 47 in the process.
The 24-year-old is now on course to beat Real Madrid attacker Cristiano Ronaldo’s return of 40 goals last term, currently the highest by any player in a Liga campaign.
It has been a year to remember for Messi, who also became Barcelona’s leading scorer of all time earlier this week and the first-ever player to score five goals in one Champions League match as he netted a quintuple against Bayer Leverkusen recently.

Guardiola: “Los árbitros y los comités no se han hecho respetar”

Pep Guardiola apuntó que los comités y colectivo arbitral no se han hecho respetar y ahora son sospechosos en todas sus decisiones algo que debería corregirse “urgentemente”
Guardiola se mostró muy satisfecho por la victoria en Mallorca pero no dejó pasar la ocasión para pronunciarse sobre las últimas actuaciones del Comité de Competición y Comité Técnico de Árbitros.
Aunque Pep no expresó manifiestamente su descontento por las sanciones al Real Madrid, sí cree que el asunto se les está yendo de las manos.
“Sus razones tendrán para haber puesto estas sanciones pero creo que los árbitros y los comités no se han hecho respetar y ahora son sospechosos en cualquiera de sus decisiones. El problema es que no han marcado una línea clara. Han dejado pasar muchas cosas y ahora siempre se sospecha de ellos. Con un Comité serio, Piqué merecía una sanción por sus declaraciones pero entonces el que dicen que roban, también”, manifestó.
Por último, agregó: “Tienen que hacerse respetar urgentemente y que se ganen los partidos en el terreno de juego”.
Pep se mostró especialmente satisfecho con la respuesta del equipo ante la expulsión de Thiago y afirmó que “”Con el esfuerzo y las no excusas” fueron capaces de sacarlo adelante.
Sin embargo, todavía le cuesta entender como se ha quedado en inferioridad númerica en 4 de los últimos 8 partidos. “Bordeamos el 75% de posesión del balón y a veces cuesta creer que en 8 partidos hayamos tenido 4 expulsiones. Pero lo aceptamos, nos vamos a la caseta y seguimos jugando”, comentó.
Guardiola también alabó la capacidad de sacrificio de sus jugadores para trabajar por el equipo.”Tenemos personas con disponibilidad para hacer cosas por el equipo. No por su bien sino por el de todos. Somos afortunados de tenerlos con nosotros”, apuntó.
Por último, elogió el hecho que sus jugadores estén mostrando su mejor versión ahora que se deciden los títulos.
“Después de ganarlo todo durante 4 años y ser ejemplares en todo, al principio ves la temporada muy larga y nos pudimos dejar ir. Ahora estamos al final y lo sabemos. Los esfuerzos no se pueden medir. O van todos o no lo conseguiremos. Me gratifica que con diez no nos hayamos lamentado y nos hayamos esforzado para generar incluso más oportunidades”, sentenció.

El sol anima a Alves a ‘pasarse’ al futvoley

Dani Alves aprovechó el buen tiempo y su partido de sanción para pasar la mañana en una de las playas de Barcelona
Dani Alves no viajó con el resto del equipo a Mallorca para cumplir su sanción y se quedó en Barcelona donde disfrutó de un día de tranquilidad antes de ver el encuentro en el Estadio Iberostar.
El buen tiempo del que se gozó en la ciudad condal fue aprovechado por un Dani Alves para combinar dos de sus grandes pasiones: playa y fútbol.
El lateral brasileño se dejó ver por la Playa de la Villa Olímpica donde se prestó a jugar un partido de ‘futvoley’ en uno de los lugares más transitados de Barcelona cuando comienza el buen tiempo.

600 goals since Guardiola took charge of the Barça bench

FC Barcelona have scored 600 goals in official matches since Guardiola took charge of the Barça bench in 2008/09. This year they’ve scored 150 goals per season, averaging 2.57 goals per game
Furthermore, the team is on the verge of breaking the Club record of most goals scored in a single season
Josep Guardiola’s Barça have won 170 of their 233 official matches in all competitions (73% win rate) and they’ve scored 600 goals, averaging 2.57 per game. The first was scored by Samuel Eto’o in the Camp Nou against Wisla Cracovia, in the 2008/09 season pre-Champions League playoff. The 600th goal was scored this Saturday by Piqué against Mallorca. Only Cruyff’s Dream Team, who scored 870 in 430 official matches, have scored more (averaging 2.02 goals per game).
A new record within reach
This Barça side have another record in their corsairs: the most goals scored in a single season.  Guardiola’s team set the record in 2008/09 when they bagged 158 goals. This year, however, with at least 12 matches to go, they’ve scored 152 goals; only 7 adrift of the record.
Messi, 193 of the 600
Leo Messi has scored 193 of the 600 official goals. Almost a third. Furthermore, the Argentine has 35 goals in La Liga this season, beating Ronaldo’s 34-goal record in the 1996/97 season

Messi vs Cristiano: La encarnizada lucha por el pichichi

Una animalada. Sólo así se pueden definir los números realizadores de Leo Messi y Cristiano Ronaldo, con 35 dianas cuando aún restan nueve jornadas para el final de Liga
Messi y Cristiano Ronaldo suman 70 goles entre los dos sólo en Liga (35 cada uno), unas cifras de récord, al alcance de muy pocos.
Este sábado Leo Messi logró su gol 35 al abrir el marcador con el Barça ante el Mallorca. En un primer momento el gol se le adjudicó a Alexis Sánchez, que pareció tocar el balón en última instancia.
Sin embargo, la repetición de la jugada permitió comprobar que el chileno no toca el balón tras el libre directo del argentino.
Por tanto el gol fue de Messi. Así lo reflejó el árbitro del partido, Ayza Gámez, en su acta y también el Diario Marca, medio de comunicación que anualmente otorga el Trofeo Pichichi.
Cristiano Ronaldo salió espoleado a superar los goles del ’10' del Barça en su partido ante La Real Sociedad. El luso necesitaba un hat-trick, pero se tuvo que conformar con un doblete que le deja empatado con el ‘Balón de oro’ a 35 goles (Messi ha marcado tres goles de penalty por 10 del portugués).
Y es que estamos hablando de los mejores goleadores de los últimos años. Messi, por ejemplo, lleva tres años superando la treintena de goles en Liga.
El año pasado marcó 31 goles (4 de penalty), quedándose a 9 del delantero madridista que marcó 40 (8 de penalty) y ganó la Bota de Oro, trofeo que acredita al máximo goleador de las Ligas europeas. Un trofeo que también se llevó el barcelonista una temporada antes tras conseguir 34 tantos.

Allegri confirms Thiago Silva will miss Barcelona clash

The Brazilian stopper was forced off against the Giallorossi during the first half and will now be ruled out of his side’s crucial European tie with the Blaugrana on Wednesday
AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed defender Thiago Silva will miss Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final first-leg with Barcelona, following Saturday’s 2-1 win over Roma.
The defender was a doubt for the fixture against the Giallorossi and was expected to be rested for the game after picking up a knock during last week’s 2-2 draw with Juventus in the Coppa Italia; a result which saw Massimiliano Allegri’s men crash out 4-3 on aggregate.
However, the former Fluminense defender was put through his own personal warm-up prior to kick-off and deemed fit enough to start versus Roma, only to be hauled off after just 10 minutes with a troublesome flexor muscle.
“Thiago Silva has a problem with a flexor muscle and cannot play in the Champions League against Barcelona. I risked him, but it did not pay off,” Allegri told Sky Sport Italia after the match.
Silva’s injury could prove to be a big blow for the reigning Italian champions, who are already set to be without a host of players for Wednesday’s first-leg encounter against Barca.
Nevertheless, the win against Roma means Milan move seven points clear of Juventus at the summit of Serie A, thanks to a pair of goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Guardiola: “We didn’t lament when we were down to 10 men, we worked harder”

The Barça manager said that victory against Mallorca was a tremendously important win, especially seeing how the team reacted after Thiago was sent off on 56 minutes
“The attitude displayed by this team makes me proud,” said the manager
osep Guardiola was pleased with his team’s victory in Mallorca (0-2). The manager said that this win will help “prepare the right tone” for Barça ahead of the Champions League match this Wednesday against AC Milan. “Despite everything, with our effort and not complaining, we came out ahead and we won,” said the manager. He was also pleased with the team’s attitude after Thiago was shown a red card: “we didn’t complain when we were down to 10 men, we worked harder.”
The Barça boss highlighted the level of sacrifice shown by the players in his team: “we have players with the ability to help the team. Not for their good, but for others. We’re very fortunate that we have these players with us.”
Maxium effort for the greater good
The manager then went on to praise the attitude shown by the team throughout the competition: “we have always had a hard time. In these last four years, where we’ve won almost everything, we’ve been exemplary. At the beginning, the season seems very long and you let yourself go a bit, and our opponents aren’t forgiving. We’re at the end now and we know it. You can’t measure effort, we either all work for the same goal or we won’t make it. The players have put in a tremendous amount of effort.”
Barça was reduced to 10 men at the beginning of the second half when Thiago was shown his second yellow card. Guardiola said: “we have about 70% to 75% of possession in almost every game. Of every 10 minutes, we have the ball for 7. But we’re the most penalized, sometimes it’s hard to understand. If someone is ejected from a game for any reason, we have to accept it – and we do and we keep on playing.”
“They need to demand respect”
Lastly, Josep Guardiola talked about the recent decisions made by the Competition Committee and the Referee Technical Committee, saying that “they need to demand respect.” He added: “it’s been a while now that the committees haven’t demanded respect. We’re at a point where everything is too suspicious. There are too many things that they’ve let pass, and in the end they haven’t made themselves respected. Gerard [Piqué], with what he said, probably deserved a ban. But they don’t do it, of course, because if there’s another player that says that his team was robbed, they’d have to ban him too. This has been going on for a while, and they [the committees] urgently need to reestablish respect.”