Lionel Messi Scores twice as Barcelona ease past Levante at Home

Barcelona kept their place at the top of the Primera Division and maintained their 100 percent start to the season by beating Levante 4-1 at the Nou Camp.

The visitors managed to keep the Spanish champions at bay until half-time, but Marc Bartra soon broke the deadlock before a double from Lionel Messi and a goal from Neymar increased Barca's advantage, while Victor Casadesus netted a consolation for Levante.

Luis Enrique rotated his side following the 1-1 draw with Roma and with a difficult trip to Celta Vigo coming up in three days' time. Sergi Roberto, Andres Iniesta, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez all dropped to the bench, while Munir El Haddadi, Sandro Ramirez and Marc Bartra came in, and Dani Alves returned after spending a month out injured.

Although Barcelona predictably dominated possession throughout the game, they struggled to break Levante down in the opening 45 minutes. Neymar flashed a shot wide of the far post after being played in by Messi, and the Argentinian was then denied by a double save from Ruben Martinez.

The goalkeeper kept out another shot from Messi later in the half, and to his relief Sandro blasted the loose ball into the side netting. There were also a couple of scares for the hosts, who found themselves caught on the break on two separate occasions, but they were grateful for the wayward finishing of Levante forward Nabil Ghilas and midfielder Verza.

Barca finally took the lead on 50 minutes through the unlikely figure of Bartra, who controlled a curling pass from Messi with his chest before tucking the ball in at the near post. Levante's resistance had finally been breached, and six minutes later Barca struck again, this time Neymar getting on the end of a ball from the right-hand side from Alves, and striking the ball beyond three Levante defenders at the second time of asking.

Messi had been playing a deeper role in the game than usual but was able to get on the scoresheet via the penalty spot after Neymar was tripped by Angel Trujillo. Casadesus made the most of some sloppy goalkeeping from Marc-Andre Ter Stegen to pull one back for Levante but the visitors then conceded another penalty when Zouhair Feddal tugged Messi's shirt in the area.

This time the Argentinian sent the ball flying into the stands behind the goal, missing his second penalty of the season. However, he made amends in the last minute with a trademark run through the defence and a low, driven, left-footed shot into the bottom corner [Source : ESPN FC].

Messi Dedicates "Winning Goal" to Newborn Son in Barca win at Atletico

Lionel Messi returned to Barcelona from international duty with Argentina this week and skipped the club's only training session on Thursday to attend the birth of his son Mateo. But even the world's best player doesn't go straight back into the starting XI without training.

So when Barça kicked off Saturday's big La Liga showdown at Atletico Madrid, Messi began the game watching from the bench. Judging by Messi's expression, he wasn't thrilled.

But Little Leo came on as a substitute in the 60th minute and, as has been the case for most of his encounters with Atletico Madrid, he scored – the 20th goal of his career against Atleti – finishing a nifty combination play in the 77th minute to cap Barcelona's comeback for a 2-1 victory.

Messi marked the occasion by doing the requisite thumb-sucking celebration to honor his baby boy. Remarkably, he entered the day having gone goalless in his first two La Liga matches like his Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo took care of his "goal drought" in impressive fashion with a five-goal explosion in a 6-0 destruction of Espanyol.

Overshadowed by Messi's heroics was the brilliant free kick by Neymar that brought Barcelona level at 1-1. Four minutes after Fernando Torres gave Atleti the lead, the Brazilian produced this thing of beauty [Source : Yahoo Sport].

Lionel Messi: "Wayne Rooney is a Once in a Generation Player"

Many tributes have flooded in for the Manchester United and England captain after the striker became England’s all-time leading goalscorer on Tuesday — he scored his 50th goal in 107 games for the Three Lions to surpass Sir Bobby Charlton’s long-standing record — but perhaps Messi’s glowing praise will stand out above them all.

Messi, the captain of Argentina and a Barcelona legend who has been crowned the best player on the planet on four different occasions, had the following to say about Rooney.

“Wayne Rooney is for me a once in a generation player. One of those special players, who is not comparable to any other,” Messi said. “There are many special players, but Rooney has exceptional quality and technical ability as well as being one of the strongest players I have faced with an exceptional work rate – there is nobody like him.”

With Messi, 28, just a year younger than Rooney, we have barely seen their talents grace the same field over the years with only fleeting appearances against each other in the UEFA Champions League and on the international stage.

However, if Messi rates Rooney so highly, does he deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the Argentine magician, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Luis Suarez in terms of his greatness?

In a few years time, despite all the doubts and off-the-field issues during his 13-year career to date, fans of England and United may well look back and realize they didn’t truly appreciate what they had with Rooney until he’s gone [Source : NBC Sport]..