Sporting Gijon 1-3 Barcelona: Magic Messi hits milestones with brace

Lionel Messi became the first ever player to score 300 La Liga goals as Barcelona beat Sporting Gijon 3-1 to move six points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of the league. 

The Argentine brought up the landmark with a strike from outside the area, with his 301st league goal and Barça’s 10,000th goal then moving Luis Enrique’s side back in front after Carlos Castro had levelled the scores.  

Luis Suarez had the chance to put the game to bed from the penalty spot after the break, only to see his effort saved by Ivan Cuellar - the Catalan side have only scored seven of their 15 direct spot kicks this season.

However, the Uruguayan was soon on target, curling home his 40th goal of the season with his left foot from inside the box to extend Luis Enrique’s side’s unbeaten run to 31 games. 

This was a game which had been parked earlier in the season to allow Barcelona to play in the Club World Cup and it presented them with the chance to extend their lead over Atletico and Real Madrid at the top of the table. 

The match carried plenty of sentiment for Luis Enrique, too. Gijon is his home town, Sporting are the club he made his name at and he remains a member and a fan, while Abelardo ‘Pitu’ Fernandez, who was sat in the home dug out, is a life-long friend of the Barça manager and a former Blaugrana player himself. 

Personal feelings had to be put to one side, though, something Luis Enrique had promised he was professional enough to do in his pre-match press conference. 

Roared on by El Molinon, Sporting had the first chance, despite the visiting side’s possession. A counter-attack saw the ball worked left, with Alex Menendez’s shot dragging just wide of Claudio Bravo’s post. 

Messi wasn’t so generous when a half chance fell his way a few moments later. Cutting past two defenders from right to left, he bent a low, left-footed shot into Cuellar’s bottom corner. Three-hundred up for La Liga’s all-time top goalscorer. 

Sporting’s response was immediate, though. Another impressive counter exposed Barça’s occasional weakness at the back and Jeremy Mathieu lost Castro, who arrived at the far post to slide home Menendez’s low cross. 

The action didn’t end there and Barça went right back up the other end to retake the lead. Messi’s chipped pass was perfect for Suarez, who used his strength to turn in the area and re-find Messi, who slammed home with the outside of his left. 

A hat-trick almost followed before the break, only for Cuellar to make a fine save to keep the hosts in the game. Neymar’s precise effort from the rebound bounced back off the post. 

Luis Enrique’s side would wrap the points up after the break, but not before another penalty disaster. Messi and Neymar have both been guilty of missing this season - which was perhaps one of the reasons behind Sunday’s improvised effort - and this time it was Suarez’s turn to be denied from 12 yards. 

But it didn’t take long for him to make up for the miss. Seemingly in no position to score when he picked up an Aleix Vidal pass, Suarez twisted past his man, relying on a little bit of luck in the form of a slight deflection, and unleashed a whipped left-footed shot which needed no luck whatsoever.