Barcelona coach Guardiola: Messi just like Michael Jordan
Lionel Messi struck twice as Barcelona thumped Champions League opponents Stuttgart 4-0 at the Nou Camp.
Messi struck a brilliant opener after just 12 minutes to put Barca on track, and then played a key role as Pedro Rodriguez made it 2-0 soon after as the Catalan giants built a 3-1 aggregate lead.
Messi, who was a constant menace, added a third on the hour mark to take his tally to eight goals in the last four games before Bojan Krkic completed the romp late on as Barca became Spain's only representative to make it into the last eight.
He was so decisive," Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said of Messi. "Every great has a tendency to influence his team, like (Michael) Jordan with the Bulls. He's the best. We wouldn't trade him for anybody."
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Results & Fixtures
Matches
| Home | Away | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat Feb 18th | |||
| Getafe | Espanyol | - | 17:00 |
| Real Madrid | Racing Santander | - | 19:00 |
| Sevilla | Osasuna | - | 21:00 |
| Real Zaragoza | Real Betis | - | 23:00 |
| Sporting Gijón | Atlético Madrid | - | 23:00 |
| Levante | Rayo Vallecano | - | 23:00 |
| Granada | Real Sociedad | - | 23:00 |
| Barcelona | Valencia | - | 23:00 |
| Athletic Club | Málaga | - | 23:00 |
| Sun Feb 19th | |||
| Getafe | Espanyol | - | 00:00 |
| Real Madrid | Racing Santander | - | 00:00 |
| Sevilla | Osasuna | - | 00:00 |
| Real Zaragoza | Real Betis | - | 00:00 |
| Granada | Real Sociedad | - | 11:00 |
| Athletic Club | Málaga | - | 15:00 |
| Sporting Gijón | Atlético Madrid | - | 17:00 |
| Mallorca | Villarreal | - | 17:00 |
| Levante | Rayo Vallecano | - | 18:45 |
| Barcelona | Valencia | - | 20:30 |
| Mon Feb 20th | |||
| Real Zaragoza | Real Betis | - | 20:00 |
Tables
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid | 22 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 54 | 58 |
| Barcelona | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 47 | 48 |
| Valencia | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 40 |
| Levante | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 32 |
| Espanyol | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | -1 | 32 |
| Atletico Madrid | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 31 |
| Malaga | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | -4 | 31 |
| Osasuna | 22 | 7 | 10 | 5 | -9 | 31 |
| Athletic Club | 22 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 30 |
| Rayo Vallecano | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | -5 | 28 |
| Real Sociedad | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | -5 | 27 |
| Getafe | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | -7 | 27 |
| Sevilla | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | -4 | 26 |
| Real Betis | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | -6 | 26 |
| Villarreal | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | -7 | 26 |
| Mallorca | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | -9 | 25 |
| Granada | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | -14 | 25 |
| Racing Santander | 22 | 4 | 11 | 7 | -8 | 23 |
| Sporting Gijon | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | -23 | 19 |
| Real Zaragoza | 22 | 3 | 6 | 13 | -20 | 15 |
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Comments (4)
***** all barca fans!! tell them 2 bewere of unstopable manutd,tell messi 2 bewere of unstopable wayne rooney.up united!
messi jst like a programd robot. Barca playing like PLAYSTATION. This is incredible. Be it manu ass-anal... The list goes thus. LOOKIN OUT FOR THE DRAWS
definately a scary team to face, but the team isn't so different to the one man utd beat in the 2008 semis. very beatable.
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