LA LIGA - Messi, Neymar on target in Barca win at nine-man Rayo

Saturday, October 04, 2014 | 2:56 PM    

MADRID, Spain (AFP) – Barcelona recovered from their midweek defeat to Paris Saint-Germain as goals from Lionel Messi and Neymar handed them a comfortable 2-0 win away to nine-man Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.

Valencia remained just two points behind the Catalans at the top of the table with a 3-1 win over champions Atletico Madrid thanks to three goals in the opening 13 minutes.

After resisting some early pressure from Rayo, Barcelona killed the game off with two goals in as many minutes just after the half hour mark as Messi and Neymar took advantage of the hosts’ high line to continued their fine goalscoring form.

Rayo were reduced to nine men after half-time as Jorge Morcillo and Javier Aquino were shown second yellow cards and Barca saw the game out to preserve their record of not conceding so far this season in La Liga.

Barca now lead third-placed Atletico by five points and Real Madrid by seven, but Real can cut the gap when they face Athletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

“When you play on a pitch as small as here, playing with intensity is essential and I think we were up to the task,” said Barca boss Luis Enrique.

Claudio Bravo now holds the record for an unbeaten start to a La Liga season and Barca’s Chilean goalkeeper needed to be at his best early on to prevent Alberto Bueno firing Rayo into the lead.

However, Enrique dismissed the importance of Bravo’s 630-minute run without conceding.

“The only statistics that interest me are at the end of the season that will say whether we have deserved to win the title.”

Rayo’s offside trap was being breached regularly as the half wore on and moments after Messi had a goal ruled out, the Argentine showed great composure to dink the ball over the advancing Tono to open the scoring.

Barca doubled their advantage a minute later as this time Munir El Hadaddi fed Neymar and the Brazilian took his time before drilling the ball into the far corner.

Rayo could have been back in the game early after the restart had it not been for another fine save from Bravo to deny Leo Baptistao.

However, any hope for Paco Jemez’s men was ended when Morcillo was given his marching orders for an unnecessary lunge from behind on Neymar.

Messi then missed a number of chances to add to his tally in the final quarter, leaving him still just two goals shy of Telmo Zarra’s all-time La Liga goals record of 251, before a disappointing afternoon for Rayo was rounded off when Aquino was also sent-off for a late challenge on Sergio Busquets.

Atletico, meanwhile, paid for their efforts in beating Italian champions Juventus in midweek as a Miranda own goal, Andre Gomes’s strike and a Nicolas Otamendi header gave Valencia a dream start at Mestalla.

Mario Mandzukic reduced the arrears on the half hour mark, but any hopes of an Atletico comeback were halted when Diego Alves saved Guillherme Siqueira’s tame penalty just before half-time and they ended the match with 10 men as substitute Alessio Cerci was sent-off in stoppage time.

“Valencia started very strongly and we made mistakes that we don’t usually make,” said Atletico boss Diego Simeone.

“After that Atletico played very well and they didn’t have any more chances. If we had scored the penalty, perhaps it would have been different.”

Valencia coach Nuno Espirito Santo refused to specify what he would deem as success for his side come the end of the season, but believes they can get even better with star summer signing Alvaro Negredo set to return from injury after the upcoming international break.

“Our objective is to keep growing and keep improving as individuals and as a team.

“Today is a great day for us, but I am very optimistic and I think we will improve.”

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LA LIGA - Messi, Neymar on target in Barca win at nine-man Rayo

Spanish judge rules Messi should not post bail

Sport

Thursday, September 05, 2013

MADRID, Spain (AP) — A Spanish court has declined a request by the State Agency for Tax Administration to set bail for Lionel Messi and his father in a case of alleged tax fraud after ruling that a payment made satisfied the case’s legal requirements.In a ruling published yesterday, a Catalan court says that a payment of more than 5 million euros (US$6.6 million) made by Jorge Horacio Messi, the Barcelona star’s father, made it unlikely that either Messi or his father would withhold funds “during the legal process of a pending tax fraud trial”.The complaint, originally lodged by Raquel Amado, a state prosecutor for the northeastern region of Catalonia, alleged Messi tried to conceal the extent of his earnings and he owes 4 million euros (US$5.3 million) in back taxes.

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Spanish judge rules Messi should not post bail

Free-scoring Messi hits hat-trick for Barca

MADRID, Spain (AFP) — A first-half hat-trick by Lionel Messi ensured Barcelona maintained their 100 per cent start to the La Liga season, with a thrilling 3-2 win over Valencia as Real Madrid also made it three wins from three games yesterday.

Messi had looked far from his best in Barca’s Super Cup victory over Atletico Madrid in midweek, but looked more like his old self as he put Barca 2-0 up inside 39 minutes and was then brilliantly set up by Neymar to complete his hat-trick.However, Valencia were amazingly back in the game by half-time as Helder Postiga struck twice in first-half stoppage time.Barca then passed up a host of chances to put the game to bed in the second half and were nearly punished when Jonas struck the post four minutes from time.Real Madrid continued their unblemished start under new manager Carlo Ancelotti as they beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu to move alongside Villarreal at the top of La Liga.After a promising start from the visitors, who had also won their opening two games, Madrid began to take control midway through the first half and went ahead when Isco collected Karim Benzema’s lovely scooped pass and lifted the ball beyond Iago Herrerin.Cristiano Ronaldo then registered his first goal of the season when he nodded Angel Di Maria’s free kick home in first-half stoppage time and Isco made it 3-0 with a deflected strike in the second period before Ibai Gomez scored a consolation for Athletic late on.“We have won all three games and this is the right road to having a good year,” Isco told Canal Plus afterwards.“We have started well and there is still margin to improve. We are improving with every game and this is our objective.”With all the transfer speculation surrounding Gareth Bale’s imminent arrival in the Spanish capital, it was the absence of one of those rumoured to be leaving the Bernabeu that was the big news pre-match as Mesut Ozil was dropped to the bench by Ancelotti.Ander Herrera was also only a substitute for Athletic following Manchester United’s bid for the midfielder earlier this week as Mikel Rico came in to make his debut.After a slow start, Madrid’s passing and movement steadily improved as the first half wore on and Ronaldo was first to seriously threaten as he saw a low drive tipped around the post from Herrerin before Pepe just failed to turn in Sergio Ramos’s header from the resulting corner.However, the hosts had to wait just a few minutes more for the opener as Benzema picked out Isco and he controlled and finished calmly to register his second goal in as many games at the Bernabeu since joining from Malaga.Athletic were enraged moments after the opener, though, as Benat Extebarria’s free kick struck Sami Khedira’s arm in the wall and referee Carlos Clos Gomez awarded another free kick just outside the box rather than a penalty. Benat stepped up again and this time saw his effort whistle just past Diego Lopez’s left-hand post.Madrid were continuing to look the more threatening, however, and it was no surprise when they doubled their lead just before the break as Ronaldo rose highest to power home Di Maria’s in-swinging free kick.Ronaldo was denied his second of the afternoon after the break by an excellent stop by Herrerin as the keeper got down low to parry the Portuguese’s free kick, but Isco did complete his double 20 minutes from time as he controlled another pass from Benzema and saw his volley from the edge of the box deflect in off an Athletic defender.The visitors did finally get some recompense for their efforts six minutes later when Ibai swept home De Marcos’s cut-back.Real held on to ensure Ancelotti has started his maiden league campaign in Spain with three straight wins, a feat Jose Mourinho failed to achieve in his three years in charge at the Bernabeu.Atletico Madrid also maintained their perfect start to the campaign with a 2-1 win away at Real Sociedad.David Villa and Koke scored either side of half-time to put Diego Simeone’s men in charge.However, the visitors were thankful to Thibaut Courtois for the three points as the Belgian produced two stunning saves after Xabi Prieto had reduced Sociedad’s arrears 22 minutes from time.And on a night filled with goals, Sevilla and Malaga played out a 2-2 draw in the first Andalusian derby of the season.Pedro Morales and Roque Santa Cruz twice put Malaga in front, but French international Kevin Gameiro levelled on both occasions with his first goals for Sevilla since joining from PSG.MADRID, Spain — Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal (right) clashes with Athletic Bilbao’s Carlos Gurpegi during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium here, yesterday. Real Madrid won 3-1. (PHOTO: AP)

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Free-scoring Messi hits hat-trick for Barca