On a night marked by the surprise announcement that Luis Enrique will leave Barcelona at the end of the season, his team beat relegation-threatened Real Sporting de Gijon 6-1 to return to the top of the La Liga table on Wednesday.
Lionel Messi scored his league-leading 21st goal less than 10 minutes into the match at the Camp Nou to help Barcelona earn a comfortable victory.
Barcelona lead the standings for the first time since the opening round, one point ahead of Real Madrid, who were held by UD Las Palmas to a 3-3 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Photo: Reuters
Luis Enrique announced that he will not coach Barcelona next season in the post-match news conference, saying that he needed to rest.
“The reason clearly had to do with the way of life I need to have in this profession, constantly having to find solutions, constantly trying to improve my team,” he said.
After scoring important late winners in the past two games, Messi put Barcelona on the board with a header off a long cross into the area in the ninth minute.
Photo: Reuters
It was his 36th goal in 36 matches this season and his 12th in the past 11 league games.
The Argentina playmaker also hit the crossbar with a free-kick in the 59th minute, a couple of minutes before being substituted.
Two minutes after Messi opened the scoring, Barcelona’s lead was extended by an own-goal by Juan Rodriguez, who deflected a shot by Luis Suarez.
The Uruguay striker scored with a volley from inside the area in the 27th minute and his second-half substitute, Paco Alcacer, added the fourth from close range after a pass by Messi. Neymar found the net with a well-placed free-kick in the 65th minute and Ivan Rakitic rounded off the scoring with an angled shot in the 87th minute as Barcelona made it five league wins in a row.
Gijon, who could have left the relegation zone with a victory, got their lone goal from Carlos Castro in the 21st minute.
Third-placed Sevilla, five points off the lead, were due to host Athletic Bilbao yesterday. Fourth-place Atletico were playing RC Deportivo de La Coruna on the same day.
Madrid, who have a game in hand, scored twice through Cristiano Ronaldo in the final minutes to erase a two-goal deficit and salvage a point, despite playing most of the second half with 10 men after a red card for Gareth Bale.
In other games, RC Celta de Vigo and RCD Espanyol drew 2-2, with all four goals scored in an 11-minute span in the first half, CA Osasuna lost to Villarreal 4-1 and Granada beat Deportivo Alaves 2-1.
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