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#Post#: 9--------------------------------------------------
Dethroned Barcelona ride Messi, beat Alaves 5-0 on final day of
La Liga
DIR By: The Referee
Date: July 19, 2020, 2:22 pm
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Dethroned La Liga champions Barcelona beat Alaves 5-0 with
thanks to a brace from Lionel Messi on the final day of the
Spanish league on Sunday.
Ansu Fati, Messi, Luis Suarez and Nelson Semedo all found the
net for the Catalan side. Barcelona coach Quique Setien made six
changes to the side that lost to Osasuna on Thursday with Neto,
Ronald Araujo, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Arturo Vidal and
Suarez added.
With Real Madrid claiming the 2019-20 title on Thursday and
Alaves ensuring their safety from relegation on Wednesday, there
was little to play for but pride in this top vs. bottom of the
table clash.
A pattern for the game was set early on when Barcelona hit the
woodwork three times within the first 15 minutes. It took
17-year-old Fati to break the deadlock after 24 minutes with a
quick shot from close range following a sweeping cross from
Messi.
That assist brought Messi to 21 this season and a new La Liga
record, surpassing the 20 that Xavi had previously achieved.
The Argentina international also took one step closer to a
record seventh La Liga top scorer award 10 minutes later when he
added a goal to his assist. A second score on 75 minutes brought
him to 25 goals this season.
Messi's closest challenger for the award is Real Madrid's Karim
Benzema who will need to score four goals against Leganes on
Sunday to catch him.
Suarez added a third goal just before halftime. Alba floated a
cross into the box and the striker headed home for his 16th
league goal this season.
Barcelona were forced into a substitution five minutes into the
second half after Clement Lenglet went down with an injury.
Substitute Semedo made his presence felt, however, scoring a
blazing right-footed shot from the right side of the box into
the top left corner just seven minutes after coming on.
Alaves had a couple of chances late on in the second half but
could do nothing to stop the wave of Barcelona attacks. Messi's
second came from another Alba cross which he caught on the
half-volley to take it to 5-0.
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