DBasia.news – Lionel Messi scored his first goal for Barcelona after ending a heated conflict over his future. This moment occurred in the trial match against Girona at the Johan Cruyff Stadium, Thursday (17/9) am, WIB.
In that match, Barcelona won 3-1. The Blaugrana’s three winning goals were scored by Messi (2 goals) and Philippe Coutinho.
Barcelona broke the deadlock in the 21st minute through Coutinho. This goal cannot be separated from the role of Messi who provided a key pass to Trincao.
Towards the end of the first half, Messi doubled the lead through a spectacular goal. His hard shot from outside the penalty box had hit Girona’s goalpost before finally entering.
Interestingly, the goal was scored with his right foot. This is a rare sight as the 33-year-old player is left-handed.
Messi scored again when the second half was five minutes in. This time, his hard left foot shot outwitted goalkeeper, Girona as he turned after hitting the opposing defender.
Messi played a total of 63 minutes in the match against Girona. He was later replaced by Ousmane Dembele.
The performance shown by Messi certainly satisfied Ronald Koeman as the coach. La Pulga seemed to have completely forgotten the conflict with Barcelona officials and is focused on the field.
The match against Girona is the second time Messi has appeared under Koeman’s tutelage. Previously he played 45 minutes when Barcelona defeated Gimnastic 3-1.
Koeman himself is reluctant to overly praise Messi. He prefers to comment on the overall team performance.
“In terms of fitness, the players are much stronger now. They are able to devour intense physical training sessions so they are able to play for 60 minutes, ”said Koeman after the match.