Spanish La Liga
BarcelonaBarcelona7OsasunaOsasuna1

Barcelona 7-1 Osasuna

Lionel Messi
Messi's two goals took his tally to 49 for the season in all competitions, from 48 games

Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona retained their La Liga lead with a thumping win to relegate Osasuna.

The defending champions are level on points with Real Madrid, who beat Deportivo la Coruna 6-2 later on Wednesday and have a game in hand.

Messi's 501st Barca goal opened the scoring, before Andre Gomes smashed in.

Roberto Torres gave the away side hope, but further strikes by Gomes and Messi, two from Paco Alcacer and Javier Mascherano's first Barca goal followed.

After Messi's 12th-minute opener, fans held up their shirts as they mirrored the Argentine's celebration of a 93rd-minute winner - his 500th goal for Barca - at Madrid on Sunday.

Barcelona fans hold up shirts in tribute to Messi
Messi held up his shirt to the travelling away support at the Bernabeu on Sunday
Lionel Messi
Before kick-off a huge banner was unfolded in commemoration of Messi's landmark total, reading: "Thank you Leo!"

That 3-2 victory re-opened the title race in dramatic fashion, but Barca must hope Madrid slip up in one of their five remaining matches if they are to defend last season's success.

Leganes beat Las Palmas later on Wednesday to confirm bottom side Osasuna's relegation.

After Torres curled past Marc-Andre Ter Stegen just after half-time, they were buried by four goals within 20 minutes.

Messi's second of the night was the pick of the bunch as he skipped past a series of challenges and fired home, shortly after Gomes had put Barca 3-1 up with his second, tapping in after Gerard Pique's header struck the post.

Argentina forward Messi has now scored 49 goals this season in all competitions, from 48 games.

'I tried to get out of it...'

Mascherano's first goal in 319 games for Barca was thumped home from the penalty spot after Messi had been withdrawn.

As he ran up to take it, the Barca bench watched on in excitement, with Luis Suarez - rested for the match - barely able to contain his glee.

Mascherano
Mascherano was mobbed by his team-mates after converting the spot-kick

"At first I tried to get out of it but under pressure from my team-mates and the crowd I decided to take it on," Mascherano said.

"It would have been a fun moment to remember in years to come had I missed it. I wasn't sure about it at all but it was difficult to say no to my team-mates."

It was the 32-year-old's third goal in senior club football, having scored twice during three years at previous club Liverpool - who he left for Barca in 2010.

"The fans behind the goal were chanting for Mascherano to take it," manager Luis Enrique said. "I am happy for him - he is a key player for the club and he has shown that down the years."

The La Liga title run-in

BarcelonaReal Madrid
Espanyol (a)Valencia (h)
Villarreal (h)Granada (a)
Las Palmas (a)Sevilla (h)
Eibar (h)Malaga (a)
Celta Vigo* TBA (a)
* match was postponed in February
La Liga table

Line-ups

Barcelona

Formation 3-1-4-2

  • 1ter Stegen
  • 14Mascherano
  • 3Piqué
  • 19Digne
  • 5Busquets
  • 21André Gomes
  • 4Rakitic
  • 6D Suárez
  • 7Turan
  • 10MessiSubstituted forAleñáat 63'minutes
  • 17Alcácer

Substitutes

  • 8Iniesta
  • 9Suárez
  • 13Cillessen
  • 18Alba
  • 20Roberto
  • 23Umtiti
  • 28Aleñá

Osasuna

Formation 4-5-1

  • 25Sirigu
  • 34Buñuel Redrado
  • 6Sanjurjo Maté
  • 37Mondragón
  • 16Fuentes Hernández
  • 17RomeroSubstituted forOlavide Montesat 72'minutes
  • 18Mérida PérezSubstituted forCausicat 79'minutes
  • 14Tienza Núñez
  • 20de las Cuevas Barberá
  • 10Torres
  • 7León LimonesSubstituted forKodroat 73'minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Fernández
  • 8Causic
  • 19Kodro
  • 21Clerc Martínez
  • 30Barja Alfonso
  • 33Márquez Álvarez
  • 35Olavide Montes
Referee:
José Luis Munuera Montero
Attendance:
62,453

Match Stats

Home TeamBarcelonaAway TeamOsasuna
Possession
Home77%
Away23%
Shots
Home19
Away3
Shots on Target
Home9
Away2
Corners
Home10
Away1
Fouls
Home3
Away7

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Barcelona 7, Osasuna 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Barcelona 7, Osasuna 1.

  3. Post update

    Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Salvatore Sirigu.

  4. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Paco Alcácer.

  5. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Denis Suárez (Barcelona) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by André Gomes.

  6. Goal!

    Goal! Barcelona 7, Osasuna 1. Paco Alcácer (Barcelona) right footed shot from the right side of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Denis Suárez with a through ball.

  7. Post update

    Attempt missed. Carles Aleñá (Barcelona) left footed shot from the right side of the box is too high.

  8. Post update

    Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  9. Post update

    Foul by Fuentes (Osasuna).

  10. Post update

    Corner, Osasuna. Conceded by Javier Mascherano.

  11. Substitution

    Substitution, Osasuna. Goran Causic replaces Fran Mérida.

  12. Post update

    Javier Mascherano (Barcelona) wins a free kick on the right wing.

  13. Post update

    Foul by Fran Mérida (Osasuna).

  14. Post update

    Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Roberto Torres.

  15. Substitution

    Substitution, Osasuna. Kenan Kodro replaces Sergio León.

  16. Substitution

    Substitution, Osasuna. Olavide replaces Jaime Romero.

  17. Post update

    Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Fran Mérida.

  18. Goal!

    Goal! Barcelona 6, Osasuna 1. Javier Mascherano (Barcelona) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the high centre of the goal.

  19. Post update

    Penalty Barcelona. Denis Suárez draws a foul in the penalty area.

  20. Post update

    Penalty conceded by Fran Mérida (Osasuna) after a foul in the penalty area.

Scores, Results & Fixtures

Wednesday 26th April 2017

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Barcelona342464101336878
2Real Madrid33246390385278
3Atl Madrid34208660253568
4Sevilla33198658391965
5Villarreal34179849272260
6Real Sociedad34184125247558
7Ath Bilbao33175114637956
8Eibar33148115245750
9Espanyol341311104544150
10Celta Vigo32135144852-444
11Alavés331111113240-844
12Valencia34117164959-1040
13Las Palmas34109155261-939
14Malaga34109154049-939
15Real Betis33107163651-1537
16Dep La Coruña34710173757-2031
17Leganés3479183051-2130
18Sporting Gijón3459203767-3024
19Granada3448222772-4520
20Osasuna3439223582-4718
View full Spanish La Liga table

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