He makes it look so effortless, doesn't he? Lionel Messi may have had his season disrupted by two month's worth of injury and a rather surprising run of five games without a goal recently, but even during a 'quiet' season by his standards, the Argentina captain has had endless highlights to enjoy, and he produced another one during Barcelona's crucial derby match with Espanyol, this afternoon.
The match was played in an intense atmosphere as not only was the Camp Nou playing host to a local derby, but a vitally important game in La Liga's title run in, with just one point seperating the top three teams; Barca, Atletico and Real Madrid. Naturally, Messi stepped up in the eighth minute and calmed Camp Nou nerves with an expertly dispatched free-kick, bending the ball gloriously over the wall from 25 yards out and into the top corner with consummate ease, sending the Blaugrana crowd into raptures.
Luis Suarez added a second and third for Barca in the second half. They lead (at the time of writing) 3-0, thus taking a huge step towards retaining their league title, leaving them on course for a domestic double.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football, Barcelona, Lionel Messi
