Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi (L) is congratulated by his teammates Barcelona’s midfielder Xavi Hernandez (C) and Barcelona’s midfielder Andres Iniesta after scoring. -Photo by AFP

MADRID: Lionel Messi came off the substitute’s bench to score twice and help Barcelona to a 4-2 win at home to Real Betis that moved them to within striking distance of the La Liga title on Sunday.

The World Player of the Year had missed Barca’s humiliating Champions League semi-final exit to Bayern Munich on Wednesday as he recovered from a hamstring problem, but came on in the 56th minute at 2-2 to score the goals that sealed the victory.

The Argentine’s 16th double of the season took his league tally to 46, just four short of last season’s record breaking total.

Barca have 88 points with four games left to play, 11 ahead of second-placed Real Madrid who triumphed 4-3 at home to Real Valladolid on Saturday.

Tito Vilanova’s side, who need two more points to secure a fourth league title in five years, could claim the trophy on Wednesday if Real fail to win at home to Malaga.

“We have to think we will need two more points because Madrid will probably collect all theirs,” Vilanova told a news conference.

Pep Guardiola’s former assistant went on to defend his management of Messi’s injury after not using him against Bayern during the week.

“If we hadn’t managed it this way he might not have made the Betis game to help us,” he said. “He lacks fitness because he hasn’t trained much in the last month and a half.”

CASUAL DEFENDING

Barca were behind from the second minute after some casual defending allowed Dorlan Pabon to burst through and fire past Jose Manuel Pinto, who was deputising for the injured Victor Valdes.

The hosts reacted quickly with Andres Iniesta dancing to the byline and crossing for Alexis Sanchez to bullet in a diving header in the ninth.

Betis are a team who like to attack opponents and as a result chances fell to either side in an open encounter.

An out-of-sorts David Villa could have had a hat-trick before halftime, his worst miss a volley over after wonderful approach play from Andres Iniesta and Xavi, while Pinto denied Salva Sevilla from close range.

Barca’s Cristian Tello lashed a shot against the crossbar which bounced down on the line, and almost immediately Betis were ahead again when Ruben Perez thundered a 30-metre shot into the top corner in the 43rd.

Villa made amends for his earlier misses with a far-post header from Dani Alves’s cross to level in the 56th and immediately made way for Messi, who entered to a huge roar.

He had barely touched the ball before he struck the third, curling a superb freekick over the wall and beyond Betis keeper Adrian.

A second Messi freekick struck the crossbar but he crowned the night with the goal of the game, tapping in from an Alexis pass to the back post after a clever backheel from Iniesta.

Adrian denied Messi a hat-trick with a couple of saves in the closing stages.

FLUKE GOAL

Three goals inside the opening 23 minutes earned Sevilla a comfortable 3-0 home win over mid-table Espanyol, that kept them in the hunt for a place in Europe next season in eighth with 46 points.

Jesus Navas forced a fluke opening goal when Espanyol defender Joan Capdevila headed his cross downwards only to see the ball bounce over his keeper and into his own net in the 11th minute.

Navas fed Coke to smash a rising shot into the top corner in the 19th, and soon after a howler from visiting keeper Kiko Casilla when he failed to collect a cross, allowed Alvaro Negredo to slide in at the back post and volley the third.

Real Zaragoza, who won their first game of 2013 last weekend, notched a second successive victory beating Rayo Vallecano 3-0 with two goals from Apono to haul themselves out of the relegation places.

Zaragoza climbed to 16th on 33 points, ahead of Osasuna in 17th due to their superior head-to-head record.

The bottom three, who all drew this weekend, were Deportivo La Coruna with 32 points, Celta Vigo with 31 and Real Mallorca with 29.

Depor drew 0-0 at home to Atletico Madrid, Celta 1-1 at home to Athletic Bilbao and Mallorca 1-1 against visiting Levante.

“Fortunately, the injury has not worsened. We hope that between now and the 23rd he can get back to full condition.” -Photo by AP

MADRID: Barcelona assistant manager Jordi Roura has said he is hopeful Lionel Messi will be fully fit for the first-leg of his side’s Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich in 10 days time.

The World Player of the Year was forced into action on Wednesday night against Paris Saint-Germain, despite carrying a hamstring injury, to help his side into the last four for the sixth consecutive season.

Messi has been left out of the squad for Sunday’s league match away at Real Zaragoza to allow him to recuperate, but Roura is hopeful he will return to face the German champions.

“We will see how Messi’s injury evolves,” he told a press conference on Saturday.

“Fortunately, the injury has not worsened. We hope that between now and the 23rd he can get back to full condition.”

Sergio Busquets will also miss the trip to Zaragoza due to a pelvic problem, whilst Andres Iniesta and Jordi Alba have been left out to give them a rest.

And their absence provoked Roura to join the increasing band of club coaches to criticise the impact that participation in international fixtures has had on his players.

“The calendar has been terrible. On top of all the competitions, we have had many internationals for Spain.

“Moreover, unfortunately, we have had a lot of injuries. If you combine all of this, it is true that we are a little squeezed.

“But the squad is big, despite all the difficulties we have overcome it and look where we are; first in the league and in the semis of the Champions League.”

Despite missing a number of key players though, Roura is determined for Barca to consolidate their 13-point lead at the top of the table this weekend.

“It is true that we are coming from a difficult game in Champions League and with a lot of players out, but the squad has shown it has a great level.

“Zaragoza are in a difficult situation and therefore it will be a very difficult game.

“They are playing for a lot and the game will be at six o’clock when it will still be warm and the pitch might not be great. All these things will make it more difficult.”

Finally, Roura also gave his thoughts on drawing four-times European champions Bayern in the Champions League semi-finals.

“All the opponents that we could have faced were difficult. I think the two best teams in Europe over the past few years are facing each other.

“We have both got to two finals in recent times and I am not going to discover Bayern, we have already seen how the beat Juventuss. They are very strong.

“In the majority of ties, Barcelona are used to being favourites. This time it might not be the case.

“This is conditioned by the previous game. Bayern won with ease and we suffered against PSG.

“I think it will be a well-balanced tie that will be decided by fine details.”

BARCELONA: Lionel Messi once again rode to Barcelona’s rescue as they squeezed past Paris Saint-Germain on away goals to qualify for an unprecedented sixth consecutive Champions League semi-final on Wednesday night.

However, having been outplayed by the visitors for the first hour, their dependence on Messi was exposed as despite struggling with a hamstring injury that forced him to start the match on the bench, the four-time World Player of the Year was called upon for the final half hour with his side trailing to Javier Pastore’s goal on the night and 3-2 on aggregate.

Messi’s sheer presence changed the complexion of the game. For the first time in the evening, the Catalan fans rose from their seats to greet their hero as he replaced a frustrated Cesc Fabregas, whilst wary of his threat – even on one leg – the PSG defence seemed to take a step back rather than pressing Barca incessantly as they had done to that point.

Just nine minutes later he sparked the move which proved decisive in the tie. The Argentine skipped past PSG’s defensive midfield shield of Marco Veratti and Thiago Motta to release David Villa inside the area and his layoff was smashed into the far corner by Pedro.

Barca’s celebration of the goal said it all as a screaming Pedro was engulfed by his teammates, it was a reaction of relief as much as joy.

Even in the final stages this was a distinctly un-Barcelona like display.

Villa was sacrificed with six minutes to go for the extra midfield protection offered by Alex Song, but their caution proved justified as starved of the counter-attack on which they had earlier feasted, PSG failed to create another clear opening on goal.

With attention now turning to Friday’s semi-final draw in Nyon though, there remains plenty for the Catalans to ponder as they target their third Champions League title in five years.

Overshadowed by Messi’s introduction was another defensive injury suffered by Adriano.

The Brazilian rushed his return from a hamstring injury of his own to start in an unfamiliar role at centre-back and his lack of positional discipline was cruelly exposed by PSG. Indeed, the full-back could count himself slightly fortunate to remain on the field after lunging in on compatriot Lucas Moura three minutes before half-time, but the yellow card he did receive will keep him out of the first-leg of the semis even if he should be fit.

With Carles Puyol and Javier Mascherano also out for another number of weeks, 22-year-old Marc Bartra, who replaced Adriano, would seem to be the only option left to Tito Vilanova, but for a club so renowned for blooding its own youth products, Barca’s reluctance to give Bartra his chance so far suggests the Camp Nou hierarchy aren’t convinced of the Spanish U-21 international’s capabilities at the highest level.

Concerns don’t just lie in the backline though. Ever since the moment Messi hobbled off at half-time at the Parc des Princes last week, the narrative in Spain has been whether Barca are “Messi-dependent”. The answer of Wednesday night was overwhelmingly yes.

Interestingly, on the two occasions the Catalans have failed to lift European football’s biggest prize in the past four years, their reliance on Messi has also been highlighted as a problem.

However, in those cases there was always a caveat. In 2009 when losing to Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan the issue was the failure to imbed Zlatan Ibrahimovic into the Barca system. A problem that was successfully solved by the signing of Villa and sale of the big Swede.

And when Chelsea conquered the Camp Nou a year ago it was easy to point to Villa’s absence due to a broken tibia as an excuse for the Azulgrana’s inability to breakdown a makeshift Chelsea defence.

On Wednesday there was a different feel, a both positive and negative inevitability. Barca’s players and fans were like the characters in a superhero film, watching everything go wrong and clinging to the hope that the hero would come and save them.

The fact he did so, whilst still visibly carrying the injury, was not a surprise. The fact a team that contained the spine of Spain’s three consecutive major championship wins were so dependent on him to do so was.

Barca’s aura will still make them feared in Friday’s draw, but with Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich making up the strongest final four there has been in many a year, you have to wonder whether even Messi’s superhuman talents can carry them to another Wembley final.

Messi sat out Saturday’s 5-0 win at home to Real Mallorca in La Liga with a hamstring problem, the first league game he has missed through injury since the 2010-11 season.

MANCHESTER: Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have one foot in the Champions League last four as they go into this week’s quarter-final second legs while Barcelona face a harder fight for their berth with doubts over the availability of injured Lionel Messi.

With Real holding a comfortable 3-0 lead over Galatasaray before Tuesday’s trip to Istanbul and Bayern travelling to Juventus with a 2-0 advantage on Wednesday, two semi-final spots seem already taken.

The other ties are much more delicately balanced with competition favourites Barca locked at 2-2 before hosting Paris St Germain on Wednesday and Borussia Dortmund tied at 0-0 before entertaining debutants Malaga on Tuesday.

The goals and magic of World Player of the Year Messi would usually be enough to dig Barca out of any sticky situation – as they did against AC Milan in the previous round – but if the Argentine does not play the team will need a different approach.

Messi sat out Saturday’s 5-0 win at home to Real Mallorca in La Liga with a hamstring problem, the first league game he has missed through injury since the 2010-11 season.

He had physiotherapy and did some fitness work on Sunday but it was unclear whether he would be fit to face PSG.

Barca, though, still have reason for optimism that they can reach a sixth successive Champions League semi-final as Messi’s stand-in against Mallorca, Cesc Fabregas, netted a hat-trick and coach Tito Vilanova was back on the bench after cancer treatment.

They are in good spirits after the return to competitive action of defender Eric Abidal following a liver transplant, while they remain 13 points clear of Real at the top of La Liga and have not lost at home in Europe for more than three years.

“There is life beyond Messi,” Barca wrote on their website).

“Maybe it’s not as beautiful, but it exists.”

Qatari-backed PSG geared up for the Barca trip by fielding a largely reserve team in a 2-0 win at Stade Rennes that restored a seven-point lead at the top of Ligue 1.

Brazil centre back Thiago Silva is a doubt because of a knee injury he sustained in the first leg, while holding midfielder Blaise Matuidi is suspended and could be replaced by Clement Chantome, who could feature alongside David Beckham.

There could be three Spanish sides in the last four as Malaga enjoy a dream run in their first season in Europe’s elite club competition.

There has never been a tie that has ended 0-0 after two legs since the Champions League format began in 1992-93 and Malaga know any away goals they score at Dortmund could be key.

Malaga’s preparations for the game have been far from ideal, though, with the death of coach Manuel Pellegrini’s father, a 4-2 defeat at Real Sociedad in La Liga on Saturday and the team’s plane being hit by lightning on the way to that match.

BIG LEAD

Fellow La Liga side Real Madrid enjoyed a far better warm-up to their second leg at Galatasaray, thumping Levante 5-1 in the league on Saturday despite having rested several first-choice players.

First-leg goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain have put nine-times European champions Real within grasp of a 24th semi-final appearance although they are not getting carried away.

“It’s a tough match and our passage to the next round is not yet assured. Three goals is a big lead but we have to go there and play and at least get one goal,” Ronaldo told reporters.

Centre back Sergio Ramos and midfielder Xabi Alonso are suspended for Tuesday’s game at the Turkish side, who have won once at home in this season’s competition and have reached the semi-finals only once, in 1988/89.

Newly crowned German champions Bayern Munich are in a similarly comfortable position after David Alaba scored inside 30 seconds before Thomas Mueller added a second in their first leg at home to Juventus last week.

Last season’s losing finalists, who are looking for a third semi-final appearance in four seasons, secured their 23rd German league title in record time on Saturday by winning 1-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Juventus, however, will take some hope from the fact that they have won all five European quarter-finals they have played against German opponents.

MADRID: If Saturday’s La Liga match at home to Real Mallorca was a test to see if Barcelona could cope without Lionel Messi, they passed it with flying colours.

The World Player of the Year was ruled out with a damaged hamstring, the first league game he has missed through injury since the 2010-11 season, but Barca made light of his absence with a crushing 5-0 victory that maintained their 13-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid with eight games left.

The performance was all the more impressive given that coach Tito Vilanova rested several key players, including midfielder Sergio Busquets, ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final, second leg at home to Paris St Germain.

Mallorca, who are bottom of the table, are battling to maintain their top-flight status but were swept aside by a masterly Barca performance with Cesc Fabregas, Alexis Sanchez and Andres Iniesta in inspired form.

Fabregas, operating in Messi’s roving forward role, scored his first hat-trick since returning to his boyhood club from Arsenal in 2011 and Alexis netted twice and set up two goals.

Alex Song, who has struggled to settle since joining from Arsenal, was solid in Busquets’s holding midfield position, while centre back Marc Bartra played well enough to suggest he might be an effective replacement for the injured Carles Puyol and Javier Mascherano alongside Gerard Pique.

“When you don’t have a player like Messi available there’s no doubt that you have a problem,” assistant coach Jordi Roura told a post-match news conference.

“The squad once again showed their enormous quality,” he added. “Everyone performed at a high level.”

FALSE NINE

It is not clear whether Messi, who has scored 43 goals in La Liga and eight in the Champions League this season, will be back for Wednesday’s game against PSG, when the teams will resume locked at 2-2.

If he fails to make it, Fabregas, who came through the club’s youth ranks with Messi and has regularly played in the “false nine” position for Spain in recent years, looks to be a fine replacement.

“Cesc adapts perfectly to this ‘false nine’ position and he played an extraordinary match,” Roura said.

“It’s one more option that we have,” he added. “But I would also like to single out Song’s performance. In fact, in general everyone played very well.”

With fierce competition for places, Fabregas has not been an automatic starter this season.

He said he did not think Saturday’s performance was his best but noted that in football goals were all-important.

“I feel very comfortable playing as a false striker but the best player in the world plays there,” he told reporters.

“I am still a midfielder,” the 25-year-old added.

“We scored early, we were able to see some nice play and the fans had a good time. It’s easy to play with Alexis, he’s a player with a lot of qualities.”

Barca pointed out before the Mallorca game that they had won 13 and drawn one of the La Liga, King’s Cup and Champions League games Messi has not featured in over the past three seasons.

“There is life beyond Messi,” they wrote on their website (www.fcbarcelona.es). “Maybe it’s not as beautiful, but it exists.”

Messi celebrates scoring a goal. -Photo by AP

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic heaped praise on his former team-mate Lionel Messi on Monday, but insisted it was too soon to describe the Argentine as the greatest player of all time.

Messi, who turns 26 this year, scored his 43rd goal of the season in La Liga at the weekend, becoming the first player ever to score against every other team in the league in consecutive games.

The Argentine has broken endless goalscoring records in recent times and will be Barcelona’s principal threat when the Catalans take on Ibrahimovic and PSG in the Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday.

“I think today for sure Messi is the best player in the world,” said Ibrahimovic, who played alongside the reigning world player of the year at the Camp Nou in the 2009-10 season.

“He has been winning this golden ball for so long now (he has won it four times in a row), maybe they should change it’s name to Messi from the Ballon d’Or.

“He breaks every record there is and is still young, but is he the best ever?

“I think he has to quit football and then you can say if he is the best there has been. We can talk about it now, but when he quits playing I will answer.”

“I do think Coutinho has that same quality that Ronaldinho and Messi have, but he has much to prove yet.” -Photo by AFP

LONDON: Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho has the same quality as Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho, Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino said on Friday.

The 20-year-old Brazilian joined Liverpool in January from Inter Milan with a reputation for quick feet and a turn of pace but with question marks hanging over his physicality and ability to adjust to the all-action Premier League.

He has silenced the doubters, however, with a promising start to life on Merseyside, scoring one and showcasing an armoury of flicks and tricks as Liverpool have won all three of the matches he has started.

Pochettino knows the player well after coaching him during a loan spell at La Liga side Espanyol last season and the pair will come face to face again on Saturday when Liverpool visit Southampton in the Premier League.

“Philippe is a Brazilian player and, as it happens with most Brazilians, he has a special magic in his feet,” the Southampton manager told reporters.

“Aside from the magic that he has, he also has an amazing work rate and that makes us doubt whether he fits the mould of a typical Brazilian player or a European one because his work ethic is outstanding.

“What is important about him is he is a good lad, a good kid – a great, humble person.

“I do think Coutinho has that same quality that Ronaldinho and Messi have, but he has much to prove yet.

“What is really clear to me is that Coutinho is a really responsible player – really dedicated and responsible to his own players.”

Coutinho’s ability has never been in doubt, but he often found himself on the sidelines at Inter with commentators questioning whether with his slight frame meant he could have a sustained impact on matches.

The Premier League is frequently heralded as one of Europe’s most physically demanding and the Brazilian has been putting in extra hours in the gym in an effort to acclimatise.

“It is very different here. In Brazil the game is very open, the defenders are not as tight with the attacker. I think this is the hardest thing here,” he said on the club website.

“Also, the game is very quick – but I feel I can improve these things during training and improve my intensity.

“I have been doing some body building, too, so I can get more used to the physicality.”

”We went out gunning from the start, and scoring early helped us,” Villa said. ”We have believed in the comeback ever since we lost in Milan, and belief combined with hard work is how you achieve things.” — Photo by AFP

BARCELONA: Hailed as perhaps football’s greatest team ever, Barcelona faced a challenge no club had overcome: advancing in the Champions League after a 2-0 first-leg loss on the road.  

Lionel Messi & Co. came through in spectacular fashion with another record-setting night.

Messi started the revival with a pair of first-half goals as Barcelona overwhelmed AC Milan 4-0 Tuesday to reach its sixth straight Champions League quarterfinal with a 4-2 aggregate win.

”It had been a long time since we had pulled off a historic comeback,” Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez said. ”We pressed them very well and played an exceptional match.”

Messi scored in the fifth and 40th minutes, and David Villa and Jordi Alba added second-half goals.

”We went out gunning from the start, and scoring early helped us,” Villa said. ”We have believed in the comeback ever since we lost in Milan, and belief combined with hard work is how you achieve things.”

Before a screaming crowd of 94,944 at Camp Nou, Europe’s largest stadium, Messi scored his first goal to goalkeeper Christian Abbiati’s right with curling left-footed shot into the upper corner from 17 yards between two defenders. The goal moved Messi past Ruud van Nistelrooy into sole possession of second on the Champions League career list with 57, trailing only Raul Gonzalez’s 71.

Messi then scored his second goal to Abbiati’s left with a low 19-yard shot after Andres Iniesta stole the ball from Massimo Ambrosini.

”For anyone who doubted Messi, today Messi gave a lesson on how to play football,” said Barcelona assistant coach Jordi Roura, in charge while coach Tito Vilanova undergoes treatment in New York for a saliva gland tumor. ”He is extraordinary, and surrounded by great players, he is capable of doing what he does.”

Villa put Barcelona ahead in the series in the 55th minute with a 14-yard shot after Cristian Zapata’s weak clearance was intercepted by Javier Mascherano, and Kevin Constant missed a sliding tackle on Xavi’s through pass to the forward.

Alba sealed the win in the second minute of stoppage time when he raced the length of the field on a counterattack after Messi stole the ball and passed to Alexis Sanchez on the break.

”Milan only needed a goal, but we knew how to handle the game very well,” Alba said. ”This is a very important win for us. A lot was at stake.”

AC Milan, a seven-time champion, won the first leg at San Siro on Feb 20 and nearly got a valuable away goal in the 38th minute, but 18-year-old forward M’baye Niang hit a post with an open shot after a sloppy headed backpass by Mascherano. If Niang had leveled the game at 1-1, Barcelona would have needed at least three more goals at that point to advance because away goals are a tiebreaker.

”Barcelona is still the best team in the world. Moving on was a true feat,” Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri said. ”The first leg didn’t change these two teams, and whoever thought so was wrong. We played worse than in the first leg, but that is to Barcelona’s credit.”

Messi, the four-time FIFA Player of the Year, got his 18th multigoal game of the season and increased his season goals total to 53.

Led by the 25-year-old Messi, Barcelona is seeking its fourth Champions League title in eight years and is closing in on its sixth Spanish league championship in nine seasons.

Milan lost by four goals for the first time since a 4-0 Champions League defeat at Manchester United in March 2010.

In the night’s other match, Galatasaray won 3-2 at Schalke to advance on 4-3 aggregate and reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2001.

After Roman Neustaedter put Schalke ahead in the 17th minute, Galatasaray took a 2-1 lead when Hamit Altintop scored against his former team in the 37th and Burak Yilmaz got a goal in the 42nd. Michel Bastos scored for the hosts in the 63rd, leaving the Turkish team ahead on away goals, and Umut Bulut ended any doubt when he scored for Galatasaray in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Real Madrid, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain also are in Friday’s quarterfinal draw. In the final second-round matches Wednesday, Arsenal tries to overturn a 3-1 deficit at Bayern Munich and Porto goes to Malaga with a 1-0 lead.

If Arsenal is eliminated, England won’t have a team in the last eight for the first time since the 1995-96 season.

Barcelona’s Chiliean forward Alexis Sanchez (L) celebrates with Barcelona’s forward David Villa (R) after scoring during the Spanish league football match FC Barcelona vs RC Deportivo de la Coruna at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on March 9, 2013. — Photo by AFP

BARCELONA: Lionel Messi extended his Spanish league record by scoring in 17 straight games to cap Barcelona’s 2-0 win over last-place Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.  

Messi started on the Camp Nou bench with several other first-choice players, saved for the decisive Champions League last-16 match against AC Milan, but went on in the second half and scored two minutes from time with a delicate chip shot to double Barcelona’s lead after Alexis Sanchez opened in the 38th.

It was the four-time world player of the year’s league-leading 40th goal of the season and 51st overall.

Barcelona hosts Milan on Tuesday, facing the daunting challenge of overturning a 2-0 loss in their first meeting to keep alive its bid for a fourth European title in eight seasons.

Barcelona’s 12th win in 13 league home games provisionally extended its league lead to 14 points over Atletico Madrid.

Meanwhile, Malaga’s winless run reached four consecutive games with a 1-1 draw at Valladolid as it continues to sputter before its Champions League match against FC Porto on Wednesday when it must come back from a 1-0 loss.

Messi on Barcelona’s bench was a rare sight as he rested up for Milan. It was just the second time he didn’t start a league game this season.

In September, he went on late to score twice in a 4-1 win at Getafe. The only regular starters on the pitch for Barcelona were defenders Carles Puyol and Dani Alves and midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

Jose Pinto had a quiet night in goal after stepping in to replace Victor Valdes, who was serving the first of a four-match ban for protesting after the finish of Barcelona’s 2-1 loss at Real Madrid last weekend.

Even with the lineup shuffle, the 51-point gap separating the two sides at the start of the game was evident as Barcelona dominated possession and Deportivo failed to get a shot on goal through 90 minutes.

Only Daniel Aranzubia’s inspired goalkeeping kept Deportivo alive as Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara and young forward Cristian Tello poked holes in his team’s defense.

Alexis finally broke through when Deportivo left him unmarked to turn Dani Alves’ cross home with a bouncing header that Aranzubia got a hand on but couldn’t keep out of his net.

The Camp Nou crowd cheered as Messi began warming up early in the second half, and the applause grew when he went on in the 62nd. Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets joined him later.

Just when the nerves among the home fans began to fray with Deportivo showing signs of life, Messi put everyone at ease by gliding across the edge of the box before combining with Alexis, who returned the ball from the wing for the cutting Messi to deftly flip it over Aranzubia.

Deportivo is a shell of the side that pushed Barcelona before succumbing to a 5-4 loss earlier this season.

The Galician club appears doomed to be relegated after just emerging from one season in the second division eight points from safety with 11 rounds to go. It is the only team in Spain’s topflight division to have not won away from home this campaign.

In Valladolid, defender Martin Demichelis scored for Malaga in the eighth, only for Manucho to split the points in the 41st.

Malaga remained in fourth place, but opened the door for Valencia to grab control of the final Champions League spot if it beats Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Rayo Vallecano beat visiting Espanyol 2-0 from goals by Alejandro ”Chori” Dominguez and Francisco ”Piti” Medina as the Madrid minnow stayed in upper part of the standings.

Mallorca hosts Sevilla later.

Second-place Atletico hosts Real Sociedad on Sunday, while third-place Madrid visits Celta Vigo, and Getafe is at Levante.

Real Zaragoza hosts Granada on Monday. Real Betis downed Osasuna 2-1 on Friday.

“This club is like this. When you lose two games it is a disaster, when you win two it is normal.” -Photo by AFP

MADRID: World Player of the Year Lionel Messi believes many people are hoping that Barcelona crash out of the Champions League next week so they can call an end to the Catalans’ amazing run of success in recent years.

Barca face a huge task to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit against AC Milan at the Camp Nou on Tuesday but Messi said he was hoping that the occasion would lift them out of their recent slump.

“There are a lot of people that are waiting for us to lose so that, like they did last season, they can say this is the end for this Barcelona,” he was quoted as saying by ESPN Deportes.

“It is time to turnaround this situation. It all began in Milan and the return could be the game where we lift ourselves.”

It is not just in Europe that Barcelona have struggled of late, though, as back-to-back defeats to Real Madrid have seen them eliminated from the Copa del Rey and their lead at the top of La Liga cut to 11 points.

But Messi said both he and his teammates were accustomed to the pressures that come with playing and did not see the need for any sweeping changes in the playing squad.

“This club is like this. When you lose two games it is a disaster, when you win two it is normal,” he added.

“The people in the dressing room have known this club since they were very young and to talk about buying replacements is crazy. The majority of the players are still young.”

Messi will also be heavily involved when Argentina get their World Cup qualification campaign back underway in two weeks’ time and the 25-year-old is hoping to take another significant step to securing La Albiceleste’s place in the finals.

Argentina currently sit atop South American qualifying and host Venezuela at home on March 22 before facing Bolivia at altitude in La Paz four days later.

“First of all we need to think about the game against Venezuela. It is always important to win the home games and then we will go to Bolivia to try and to do the same there,” he added.

“We’ll see how it goes but it would be a big step towards being in a more comfortable position if we could win these two games.”