With a glimpse of his famous glimpses, Lionel Messi led
Barcelona to win 1-0 away from Real Valladolid, and to
continue chasing Real Madrid, the leaders of the Spanish
League, on Saturday, in the hope that the royal team will falter
Chilean Arturo Vidal scored the game’s only goal in the
15th minute after he fired a low shot from inside the area after
a wonderful pass from Messi, who passed 20 decisive passes
in the league this season, along with scoring 22 goals.
But Barcelona failed to take advantage of the early progress and
had to retreat in the second half, while Valladolid approached
a tie on two occasions, had it not been for the goalkeeper
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.
Barcelona, second-placed, has 79 points from 36 games,
one point behind leaders Real Madrid, who will regain the
four-point difference if they beat Granada on Monday.
If Real Madrid beat Granada and then beat Villarreal on
Thursday, it will crown the La Liga title for the first time
since 2017.
Valladolid, on the other hand, is ranked 14th and has 39 points,
seven points behind the drop zone.
“It was a tough match against a team that knows how to play
great and did that today. The hot weather made things harder
for us but I’m happy we won,” said the winner, Vidal.
Barcelona’s victory came with difficulty after defeating
