Messi makes a perfect return

[Barcaman]

Lionel Messi scored twice on his return after being out for almost two months as FC Barcelona edged towards the quarter-finals of Copa del Rey with a 4-0 win over Getafe in the first leg of their last-16 tie.


The four-time world player of the year came in for Iniesta after 63 minutes with Barcelona leading 2-0 thanks to a Cesc Fabregas double.
Messi put the tie to bed a minute from time when he slotted home a loose ball inside the area. In stoppage time, he added his 16th goal of the season with a stunning run and finish to celebrate a perfect return.

With Messi having been out of action since tearing his hamstring in the 4-1 win over Real Betis in early November he was left on the bench by Barca boss Gerardo Martino.


The Argentine coach also had Saturday's top-of-the-table clash away to Atletico Madrid in mind as he made had made six changes to the side that started last weekend's 4-0 win over Elche.


However, with Messi and Neymar - ruled out by a stomach bug - again not in the starting line-up, Martino maintained the front three of Alexis Sanchez, Pedro Rodriguez and Fabregas.


Martino's selection proved inspired as Pedro's lobbed cross was expertly headed into the far corner by Fabregas after just eight minutes.


However, Getafe then managed to stifle Barca from creating too many clear-cut chances before the break and the hosts were grateful to a great save from Jose Manuel Pinto to turn away Juan Rodriguez's header to go in ahead at halftime.


Barca did finally have the breathing space they craved when Juan Valera upended Pedro inside the area and Fabregas blasted the resulting penalty into the top corner.


That set the scene for Messi's arrival and he didn't disappoint as he calmly slotted home a loose ball inside the area with his trusted left-foot after Martin Montoya had burst into the Getafe box.


The best was still to come, though, as Messi embarked on a trademark run through the Getafe defence before slamming high past Jordi Codina to leave next week's second leg in Madrid a formality.

 

[jairzinho]

Fantastic cameo from Lionel . Looked really sharp as if he never missed a second. The big question or headache for Martino now is who does he start up front with Leo.

 

[Alik]

Awesome!

 

[Poor_Sunyol]

He looked happy, which is the main point for me. Welcome back Leo!

 

[Adrian]

Quotes:

Martino - "Messi's career is a cinema script, what happened tonight was just a sequence of his time here."
Martino - "Just when you think he might not be in his best shape, coming back from an injury, he does that - in two minutes. But we could tell from training that he was looking good. Messi reappeared tonight and we are all pleased."

Puyol - "I don't know if he'll be ready to play [for the game against Atletico]. He will have to keep on training and the boss will decide. It was a long time out for him with injury, but he hasn't forgotten how to play. He has trained well and it showed. That's what top players do."

Mascherano - "Messi made a good return. I haven’t had a lot of chances to speak with him but in his second goal you can see that he’s back to his typical runs, that explosion of pace is just different. I’m pleased because these past two months have been complicated and he shied away from the limelight in order to focus on his recovery. I think it’s served him well, though."

I'll put some more on later.

 

[Adrian]

Messi - "My idea is to stay here and finish my career at Barcelona"
Messi - "If I can play against Atletico, I will. I'll talk with Tata and the doctors. I always think of the club, I have the same desire as always. I was desperate to come back. I'd been sidelined for too long.
Messi - "I felt good physically, I didn't feel any pain in the hamstring. I was very happy to be in my country. I worked well to get out of this. Now I'm looking forward to a great year."
Messi - "I'll go to the gala, as always. It's a pleasure to be among the best three, the result will be what it will be. For me, the most important prizes are those of the team, but I always like these [individual awards]."

By the way if anyone's interested, I get my quotes from Barca's website.

 

[Equilibrium]

Simply the best. Good return. Hope he will become better and better just to prove he is a beast.

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[tello]

Very impressive return of the best player in the world and probably already the best player in the history of football !

 

[Telsom]

Welcome back, Barca king