Barcelona’s fearsome forward line of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar haven’t just been helping their team win trophies this season.
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They have also been setting records, with goals for Messi and Neymar in Saturday’s 3-1 Copa del Rey victory over Athletic Bilbao making them the highest scoring forward line in Spanish football history.
The South American trio have combined for an astonishing 120 goals this season – Messi 58, Neymar 38 and Suarez 24 – taking them past the total of 118 mustered by Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain in Real Madrid’s 2011/12 league title winning campaign under Jose Mourinho.
I keep watching this & still don’t get how Messi did it.Don’t care he hasn’t wonCup.We’ve never seen the likes of him http://t.co/UBciX4qriP
— Ambassador Gaspard (@patrickgaspard) June 1, 2015
Manager Luis Enrique was particularly keen to pile praise upon Messi after the Argentine made an addition to his career highlight reel with a sensational opening goal.
“He does even more difficult things in training!” smiled Enrique. “He’s the best player in the world and I’m looking forward to enjoying the goal again on television.”
With one more game remaining, Barca’s spectacular strike force will now be aiming to add further goals in next weekend’s Champions League final against Juventus, which could see Barca claim a league, cup and European treble for only the second time in the club’s history, following in the footsteps of Pep Guardiola’s 2008/9 team.
And Enrique knows that his first season at the Nou Camp will only be judged an unqualified success if they triumph in Berlin, admitting: “Our season can be exemplary, but not if we don’t win. It’s important to be optimistic, but we are also realists. Juve are tough rivals – they can also win their treble which shows they have had a fantastic season.
“And we are certainly not invincible. That is a horrible word because it does not exist.”
Not everybody enjoyed Barca’s display against Athletic, with an extravagant piece of skill in the dying moments from Neymar drawing heavy criticism from Bilbao players who felt the Brazilian’s showboating was disrespectful.
With angry Athletic players surrounding him, Neymar was wisely led away from the scene by veteran captain Xavi, but the winger only received lukewarm support from his manager after the game.
Enrique admitted he understood the fury of the opposition, conceding: “If I had been an Athletic player, I would have reacted in the same way – or worse. In Spain such things are not taken kindly, but we have to understand that doing things like that are normal in Brazil. We will try to make him understand.”
Neymar, however, was unrepentant, insisting that he will not refrain from showcasing his individual trickery simply to avoid upsetting opponents.
“It’s football,” he shrugged.“These things happen. It’s dribbling just like any other part of the game. You can’t get angry because that’s the way I play and I have played like this for years. I’m not going to change my style just because other people get angry.”
The only negative from the triumph was a calf strain to midfielder Andres Iniesta, who is rated as touch and go for the final.
Barca are said to be in the market for a new midfielder and Borussia Dortmund star Ilkay Gundogan has hinted he could seal a move to either the Nou Camp or Bayern Munich in the near future.
A transfer ban means the La Liga giants would not be able to complete a deal until January 2016. But when asked if he was learning Catalan or Bavarian, Gundogan replied: ‘We are holding talks yes, but no decision has been made.
“I can’t say more than that on this. I’ll leave it [Dortmund future] open as to whether they continue with or without me.”
