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Barcelona: Lionel Messi’s unbelievable record and Panenka treat for fans

By Akhilesh Kulkarni

10 Leo Messi of FC Barcelona celebrating his goal during the "Derby" of La Liga match between FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol in Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona 30 of March of 2019, Spain. (Photo by Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
10 Leo Messi of FC Barcelona celebrating his goal during the "Derby" of La Liga match between FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol in Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona 30 of March of 2019, Spain. (Photo by Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /
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Lionel Messi came to the rescue of Barcelona in the local derby with two goals including a Panenka free-kick.

Barcelona had been struggling to find a way past the Espanyol defence for 70 minutes before Lionel Messi turned the tables. The Argentinian man, who never gets exhausted of scoring, was in the news for using another creative way to finish. This time he scored a delightful Panenka free-kick in the 71st minute of the match.

Messi has now scored six free-kicks against their city rivals. The Espanyol midfielder Victor Sanchez dropped back to save the free-kick in what looked like a prepared routine in order to allow Diego Lopez to be closer to the other post than usual, but he ended up causing an absolute mess of the Panenka. The star player also scored a Panenka penalty against Lyon in the Champions League round of 16 second leg.

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It did not take long for Messi to score his second with an assured finish in the 89th minute to seal yet another win and take Barcelona closer to the title. The 31-year-old produced the golden pass, which Malcom cut back to Messi and he finished it with quality taking his goal tally to 31 in La Liga this season.

The two goals against Espanyol also took his overall tally to 41 for Barca this season. He has now scored 40+ goals in ten continuous seasons, which is a remarkable run of consistency that highlights his unique greatness. Though the task is far from over for him this season. It’s not the goal tally that he aspires for but the treble that gives him happiness. Messi’s brilliance continues to astound and cules will be hoping that he still has plenty of years left in him.