Messi sinks Madrid, Juventus and Monaco triumph
Sunday, April 23, 2017
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Real Madrid were left licking their wounds after Lionel Messi buried his 500th Barcelona goal late on to clinch a thrilling Clásico win, on a day when Juventus and Monaco both prevailed.
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Real Madrid 2-3 Barcelona (Casemiro 28, James Rodríguez 85; Messi 33 90+2, Rakitić 73)
There was a grandstand finish to the Clásico as Lionel Messi's last-gasp winner settled a breath-taking contest and took him on to 500 goals for Barcelona, the Argentina forward having earlier cancelled out Casemiro's close-range opener. James Rodríguez had seemingly clinched a draw for Madrid, who lost Sergio Ramos to a red card, but Messi had the final say to move Barcelona level with their hosts, though the Merengues boast a game in hand.
Espanyol 0-1 Atlético (Griezmann 73)
Antoine Griezmann scored his 16th Liga goal of the season to maintain his side's push for third place in the Liga, pouncing on a team-mate's deflected shot to arrow in an angled drive from ten metres out. Diego Simeone's side are now unbeaten in 12 games in all competitions (W8 D4), conceding just four times in the course of that run.
Lyon 1-2 Monaco (Tousart 51; Falcao 36, Mbappé 44)
Monaco's remarkable season continued with another eye-catching success as Leonardo Jardim's side posted a sixth straight win in all competitions to sidle back up alongside Paris Saint-Germain at the Ligue 1 summit, having played one game fewer. Radamel Falcao led the way with his 19th strike in the league this term, and there was another goal for 18-year-old Kylian Mbappé, who registered his 17th effort in his last 17 games for the club.
Juventus 4-0 Genoa (Muñoz 17og, Dybala 18, Mandžukić 41, Bonucci 64)
Juventus made light work of Genoa to continue their march towards a sixth consecutive Serie A title. Centre-back Leonardo Bonucci surged forward and unleashed a thunderous effort to cap the win, which moved Juve 11 points clear of closest rivals Roma, who visit Pescara on Monday.