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Hello and welcome to the Barcelona news of the day! Here are the top stories of the day surrounding the Blaugrana!
Lionel Messi breaks another record
Lionel Messi surpassed Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas' record to become the player with most wins in the LaLiga.
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Real Madrid icon Casillas previously held the record for most wins in the league with 334 wins in his 16-year-tenure with Los Blancos. The veteran goalkeeper features for Porto, since moving out in the club in 2015.
The Argentine genius scored his 33rd league goal of the season to double Barcelona's lead and to ensure the victory against Atletico Madrid. The victory against Espanyol last weekend matched Casillas' record but Messi's exploits held Villareal to a 4-4 draw in the midweek.
It goes without saying that the Barcelona captain is enjoying one of the best seasons in his career as Barcelona are marching ahead in all competitions. Messi maintains a commendable lead in the race for European Golden Shoe and remains way ahead of anyone in Europe's goalscoring charts with 43 goals in all competitions.
The 31-year-old is also the highest assist provider in this current campaign and his unfathomable impact continues pushing the Blaugrana towards more silverware at the end of the season.
Valverde reaches 50 League wins after last night's victory
Barcelona boss, Ernesto Valverde, reached his 50th victory in the LaLiga as the Blaugrana manager after last night's 2-0 victory against Atletico Madrid. Valverde took 69 games to reach the milestone since he took charge of Barcelona.
Despite starting well in the first half, Atletico Madrid lost the plot after Diego Costa was sent off and Barcelona punished 10 man Atletico late in the match. Goals from Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi helped Barcelona beat 2nd placed Atletico Madrid, who trail the Catalan giants by 11 points. With seven games left in the league this campaign, LaLiga is all but looks out of reach of any other team.
Valverde is in his second season as the manager of Catalan side. Under the tutelage of Valverde, Barcelona lost only once in the league last season and is on verge of retaining the Liga title this season, which will make their 5th league win in 7 years. Barcelona are also in the Copa Del Rey finals, where they face Valencia.
Sport compared the list of coaches who took the fewest games to reach the 50 win mark with Barcelona and Valverde is on fourth on that list, behind Luis Enrique, Pep Guardiola and Helenio Herrera.
- 63 Luis Enrique
- 67 Guardiola
- 68 Helenio Herrera
- 69 Ernesto Valverde
- 79 Van Gaal
- 80 Johan Cruyff
Gerard Pique's words to Diego Costa revealed
Barcelona defeated 10-man Atletico Madrid in the LaLiga last night and Atletico Madrid ace, Diego Costa, was in the lime-light for all the wrong reasons.
Diego Simeone's men started the match solidly as they seemed to be matching Barcelona in every department. But things got ugly in the 27th minute when Costa was sent off for his words to the referee. Later, match official revealed in his match report that Costa abused the referee, which was the reason for the direct red card against the former Chelsea striker.
It was the fourth red card in his career and the Atletico striker was furious with the decision. Gerard Pique immediately came to the rescue of the Spanish sharpshooter.
According to Spanish media outlet AS, Pique said: "Stop talking now! What do you want, a four-match ban?"
Costa seemed to calm down after hearing the words of Barcelona center-back, who escorted him out from the pitch. Atletico sharpshooter could only witness his team's defeats from the stands.
Valverde admits that title is in Barcelona's hands
Valverde claimed LaLiga win will be difficult few days ago but admitted that last night's win has almost secure the title.
Diego Simeone was looking for his first win against Barcelona at the Camp Nou to close the gap between them and the Catalan giants. But the result was very different from Atletico Madrid's perspective while the Blaugrana can look to focus on the Champions League with just a few games needed to clinch the league title.
Valverde won the LaLiga title in his debut season as the manager of Barcelona with just one loss and it seems like he will retain the title after a dominating campaign from his side in the Spanish top flight.
"It's three very important points," he told reporters. "We are closer to the title, but we still have it [to win]. The work has been finished. Today [Saturday] was a fundamental match because they can mean a lot. the table and a huge team who have fought to the end with one less man. "
Valverde hailed 32-year-old Luis Suarez, who again proved his caliber in another big match. Suarez opened the scoring in the 85th minute of the match and Barcelona boss heaped praise on his team's striker.
"He [Suarez] always ends up being decisive," he added. "He's a permanent headache for the opponents and you do not know when he's going to appear. He was fresh, with a spark, and he had a great goalkeeper [Jan Oblak] in front of him."
