Saturday 14 / December / 2024
Barcelona: Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman praised "decisive" player Lionel Messi after the Argentine guided the club to a 1-0 victory over Levante in LaLiga here on Monday.
"You have to realise they don't make it easy for him. He's marked by lots [of players]. But he's shown he's decisive," Goal.com quoted Koeman as saying. Levante and Barcelona gave each other a tough competition in the match, restricting one another from taking a lead. However, Messi's strike in the 76th minute ensured Barcelona's victory in the match.
Also, with this goal, the Argentine star has now scored 600 goals whilst wearing the Barca No.10 shirt. 600 goals since the 2008/09 season, when Messi inherited the number that Ronaldinho had worn for five years.
Messi had previously worn the No.30 and No.19 shirts, from his official debut in 2004 until the beginning of the 2008/09 season. In total, Messi has 642 goals as a Barca player, of which 449 have come in LaLiga, 118 in the Champions League, 53 in the Copa del Rey, 14 in the Spanish Super Cup, three in the European Super Cup and five in the Club World Cup
Barcelona is currently placed in the eighth spot on the LaLiga table with 17 points but Koeman is confident that his team can lift the title if they continue to improve their game.
"Of course we can win [the title]. If we improve and we have more confidence and we improve our effectiveness [in front of goal], there's a chance! There are still lots of games remaining," he said.
