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Lionel Messi was at his imperious best for Barcelona as the Catalan giants secured a thrilling 5-2 victory over Getafe. The win sees them move up to 68 points, 5 points behind leaders Atletico Madrid, although they do have a game in hand over the league leaders.
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has been in fine form in 2021 and he continued to show his class as he scored a brilliant brace and dictated play throughout the game.
Lionel Messi even sacrificed his chance to score a hat-trick as he allowed Barcelona teammate Antoine Griezmann to take the penalty in stoppage time. With Barcelona looking dangerous under Ronald Koeman, the title race promises to go down to the wire. Speaking after the match, Koeman spoke about the title race and their title rivals:
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"I don't think we're stronger than the other three teams [Real Madrid, Atletico and Sevilla], They're winning games too and we all have tough matches left. The fight will be until the final day."
Lionel Messi's future has been subject to intense speculation over the last few months. With the Barcelona superstar's contract running out in the summer, this might well be the Argentine maestro's last season at Camp Nou.
When asked about Lionel Messi's future, Ronald Koeman said:
"If I had spoken to Leo, I wouldn't tell you. The decision [to stay] is in his hands.
"He never lets his concentration slip. If he does, you don't notice it in his game.We need him. Today, he was decisive again.
"Let's hope he stays for many years."
Another major talking point of the game was Ronald Koeman's anger at young Barcelona defender Oscar Mingueza. Koeman criticized Mingueza on the sidelines before substituting him in the second half and the Barcelona manager explained his actions:
"He got injured and I wasn't sure whether to take him off, we had to make the decision sooner. Then in the second half, maybe my stance towards him was exaggerated.
"He's having a great season. But the young players must learn to be at 100 percent in every game. We had a dip. We struggled to get rhythm in our game. Defensively, we let our concentration slip. I was angry because they weren't playing well.
"The substitution was to get Umtiti on. He deserves more minutes. It's not because I was angry with [Mingueza]. I'm very happy with Oscar. I've spoken to him and there's no problem."
With Lionel Messi looking back to his best, Barcelona will be confident of going all the way and claiming the league title at the end of the season. Without further ado, let us take a look at the:
Best Tweets from Barcelona 5-2 Getafe
Lionel Messi is back to his best
