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Cristiano Ronaldo Scores Just as Much as Lionel Messi
While last season may have been a more evident team effort from Real Madrid, this season it’s all about the scoring ability of Cristiano Ronaldo, showing his usual clinical finishing in Istanbul to send his team through into the Champions League semifinals for a third consecutive season, while proving a point about his goal scoring rivalry with Lionel Messi, showing he can be just as efficient.
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FC Barcelona – Cesc Fabregas Can Fill in for Lionel Messi
Barcelona aren’t a better team without Lionel Messi – no one can be better than what they are with the best player in the world. On the other hand, they are not helpless without him, as Cesc Fabregas, who seems to be the player the coaches feel most comfortable moving around, did the ‘false-nine’ position in Messi’s absence, with the same amount of accuracy and clinical finishing Messi possesses on his good days.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Runs Out of Luck
Staying healthy for so long is a matter of luck, among other things. Lionel Messi scored a goal that should have opened the floodgates towards a comfortable away win for Barcelona and securing a semifinal spot. Instead, Messi limped off with a hamstring injury that should keep him out of the second leg, while Barca have a complicated job ahead of them.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Can’t Stop Scoring Even in Garbage Time
The Spanish La Liga, like other major leagues around Europe (all of them, maybe?) seem like one big garbage time in the second half of the season. So Barcelona are taking it easy knowing there are tougher challenges than “meaningless” league matches, but Lionel Messi simply keeps on scoring, setting records and making new standards for perfection and excellence.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi & David Villa on Same Wavelength
What a difference a big win makes for a team and its players. Not that Lionel Messi was lacking any confidence in his scoring ability before; and it’s not that David Villa forgot how to score goals at any point of his more frustrating moments this season. Still, Barcelona had the swagger it was missing in recent matches, until their Champions League turnaround.
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Still Waiting for Lionel Messi & Neymar to Become Rivals
Until we actually see Neymar pulling on a Barcelona, Manchester City, Real Madrid or any other team’s jersey, his dribbling skills and impressive numbers won’t mean a thing. Until he won’t become he permanent fixture in the world’s top footballing competition, the Champions League, there’s no point in comparing him to Lionel Messi.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Gets the David Villa Help He Needed
When Barcelona failed to make it through into the Champions League final last season, everyone talked about how Barcelona needed a real striker to help Lionel Messi against defenses that park the bus. From the first minute in their comeback attempt against AC Milan, it was clear that Barca finally made the right choice up front, and all across the pitch.
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Lionel Messi Proves Everyone Wrong (Barcelona vs AC Milan)
They always said that this Barcelona team never had a great comeback. It was so good it never needed win. After Lionel Messi took hits and jabs from every possible direction for having three bad matches in the “money time” he silenced everyone in one half, and Barca eventually advanced to the quarterfinals with a 4-0 win.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Gets Help From Alexis Sanchez
The goal was to steady the ship, after one of the rockiest 10 days Barcelona have been through in quite some time. While Lionel Messi and to most people’s surprise, Alexis Sanchez, set up a much needed league win over an insignificant rival, everyone thoughts are geared towards later on this week.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Records Mean Nothing Sometimes
Who cares about breaking records when your team keeps losing in every big match? Lionel Messi now has more goals than anyone else (except for one player) in Clasico matches, ever, but Barcelona keep losing to their biggest rivals and the confidence and belief at least form the outside, seems shattered.