SM
Liverpool vs. PSG: 13 hrs 42 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
SP
Champions League | Group Stage
Oct 23, 2019 at 8pm UK
 
BL

1-2

Boril (50')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Messi (3'), Olayinka (57' og.)

Messi makes Champions League history as Barca scrape past Slavia Prague

:Headline: Result: Messi makes Champions League history as Barca scrape past Slavia Prague: ID:376006: from db_amp
Barca recorded a sixth successive win in all competitions.

Lionel Messi made Champions League history as Barcelona scraped an unconvincing 2-1 success at Slavia Prague to move top of Group F.

Messi became the first player to score in 15 consecutive seasons of the competition by putting the visitors ahead inside three minutes.

Czech champions Slavia deservedly levelled through Jan Boril early in the second half, but Barca secured a sixth successive win in all competitions thanks to a fortuitous own goal from Peter Olayinka.

Victory for Ernesto Valverde's men moved them on to seven points from three European fixtures and above Borussia Dortmund in the table following the German club's 2-0 loss to Inter Milan at the San Siro.

Slavia, meanwhile, were left with nothing to show from a positive performance and slip to the bottom of the standings on a solitary point.

In-form Barcelona wasted little time in asserting themselves on the contest and went ahead when Messi seized on sloppy play from Petr Sevcik to claim his 113th Champions League goal.

The Argentinian anticipated a loose pass from the Czech midfielder and, after exchanging passes with Arthur, emphatically slotted a composed first-time finish into the bottom left corner.

Luis Suarez was also on target in Prague (Petr David Josek/AP)

The early opener momentarily silenced the Sinobo Stadium and Slavia could easily have been overawed by their high-profile opponents.

But the hosts quickly regained composure and had the better of the first-half chances as Marc-Andre Ter Stegen was forced into a string of fine saves.

Germany goalkeeper Ter Stegen instinctively denied Jaroslav Zeleny with his legs and was later thankful that the unmarked Lukas Masopust produced a tame finish, before being forced to tip over from Nigerian forward Olayinka.

The visitors remained a substantial threat at the other end, particularly on the counter-attack, and were perhaps culpable of over-playing in the final third.

Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde gives instructions to his players (Petr David Josek/AP)

Luis Suarez and Frenkie De Jong each had decent openings to double the advantage but, on the balance of play, Valverde would undoubtedly have been relieved to reach the break with the slender lead still intact.

The hosts continued to rattle Barcelona and were rewarded with a deserved equaliser five minutes after the restart.

Masopust made amends for squandering his earlier chance, chesting down a long ball forward and producing a perfectly weighted pass for left-back Boril to poke beyond Ter Stegen.

Barca were on the back foot but regained the lead against the run of play seven minutes later thanks to a large slice of luck.

Former Liverpool forward Suarez, without an away goal in the Champions League for more than four years, attempted to divert a deep Messi free-kick back across goal and saw the ball take a heavy deflection into the net off the unfortunate Olayinka.

Suarez then wasted a golden chance to put the Spanish side in complete control when he fired wide after being slipped in by Messi, while the latter was later uncharacteristically off target from close range with an unconventional finish.

Once again Slavia came back into the contest and Barca were forced into a series of late blocks during a prolonged period of Slavia pressure to escape home with maximum points.

amp_article__376006 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2019-10-23 21:44:07:
html db last update - 2019-10-23 21:44:07 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html
Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona26183571254657
2Real Madrid27176457263157
3Atletico MadridAtletico27168344182656
4Athletic Bilbao271310445242149
5Villarreal26128648361244
6Real BetisBetis2711883533241
7Mallorca27107102633-737
8Rayo Vallecano279992929036
9Celta Vigo27106114041-136
10Sevilla279993236-436
11Real Sociedad27104132328-534
12Getafe2789102322133
13GironaGirona2796123540-533
14Osasuna2671273237-533
15Espanyol2677122537-1228
16Valencia2769123045-1527
17Leganes2769122440-1627
18AlavesAlaves2768133040-1026
19Las PalmasLas Palmas2766153045-1524
20Real ValladolidValladolid2744191862-4416
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .