Lionel Messi hits 500 in style for Barcelona

MADRID: Lionel Messi scored on his 500th Barcelona appearance as the European champions moved back to the top of the table with a 4-0 win over Real Betis as La Liga returned from a curtailed winter break on Wednesday.

 

Atletico Madrid remain level on points with Barca thanks to two goals in the final two minutes from Angel Correa and Antoine Griezmann to emerge 2-0 victors at Rayo Vallecano.

 

And Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and missed a penalty as Real Madrid eased the pressure on under-fire coach Rafael Benitez with a 3-1 win over Real Sociedad to stay two points behind the leaders.

 

Barca celebrated their fifth trophy of 2015 before kick-off after adding the Club World Cup to their haul last time out with Messi captaining the side in the absence of Andres Iniesta.

 

"It has been a spectacular year and we wanted to finish it this way," said Messi.

"It will be difficult to improve on what we have done, but we always try. We have a great squad that are desperate to continue winning."

 

Yet, on a day dominated by controversial refereeing decisions, they were handed a gift to open the scoring after a decent start by Betis.

 

Antonio Adan clearly played the ball before catching Messi as he punched the ball to safety, but referee Inaki Vicando Garrido surprised everyone by pointing to the spot.

Neymar hit the bar with the resulting penalty, but Heiko Westermann could only turn the rebound into his own net under pressure from Ivan Rakitic.

 

From Betis' misfortune the floodgates opened as a lovely one-two between Neymar and Messi allowed the later to tap home his 425th goal for the club.

 

Luis Suarez added a third with a cool finish from Sergio Busquets's pass inside the first minute of the second-half.

 

And the Uruguayan rounded off the scoring seven minutes from time as Barca set a new record tally for the calendar year of 180 goals.

 

At the Santiago Bernabeu, Ronaldo recovered from a terrible start after blasting his first penalty of the day over the bar to put Madrid in front from another spot-kick just before half-time.

 

Bruma levelled for an injury-hit Sociedad minutes after the break, but Ronaldo delivered when his side needed a goal once more to restore the lead 23 minutes from time before Lucas Vasquez added a late third.

 

"We controlled the game and had a lot of chances, which, if we had taken them, would have made the second-half more comfortable," said Benitez.

 

"I congratulate the players for their attitude from start to finish. We worked hard, reacted well and got the three points."

 

Rumours over Benitez's future refuse to go away after a disappointing first six months in charge at the Bernabeu with the former Liverpool boss even claiming there is a media conspiracy against him on Tuesday.

 

But his side had luck on their side in the first-half as Sociedad's lost top-scorer Imanol Agirretxe and playmaker Sergio Canales to injury and saw referee Jose Luis Gonzalez award Madrid two controversial penalties.

 

The first spot-kick was given for an apparent push by Yuri Beriche on Benzema at the back post. Yet, for the first time in his Madrid career, Ronaldo failed to even hit the target from the spot as he blasted wildly over.

 

The World Player of the Year made amends three minutes before half-time when he converted his second penalty after Yuri was again penalised for blocking Gareth Bale's cross with an outstretched hand.

 

Despite the adversity they faced, Sociedad kept the ball off Madrid for long spells and hauled themselves level in spectacular style four minutes after the break when Bruma curled home his first league goal for the club into the top corner.

 

Yet, despite all their troubles, Ronaldo remains ever reliable source of goals and he delivered once more with a sweetly struck volley from Marcelo's corner for his 25th goal of the season.

 

And Vazquez ensured all three points when he coolly controlled and finished Bale's fine cross to make it 3-1 three minutes from time.

Atletico looked to be heading for a second consecutive disappointing result after losing 1-0 at Malaga before the 10-day winter break as Rayo's defence - fresh from conceding 10 to Real Madrid last time out - stood firm for 88 minutes at Vallecas.

However, Diego Simeone's substitutions swung the game in Atletico's favour as Thomas Partey teed up Correa to smash home his first goal in three months.

And another substitute Jackson Martinez then played in Griezmann to register his 13th goal of the season with a lovely dinked finish two minutes later.

Nadal confident of being 'very competitive' in 2016

Rafael Nadal is confident he will be "very competitive" in 2016 after a difficult 2015 during which the world number five struggled with his early form.

 

The Spaniard made a strong push at the end of last season to finish inside the top-five but his results in 2015 were the worst he has recorded in more than a decade as he admitted he was struggling with confidence.

 

But the 29-year-old revealed he had a strong off season where he practised hard in Mallorca and is ready to step on the court at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition event in Abu Dhabi on Friday before heading to Doha for his official season-opener.

 

"The off season has been great. In Mallorca we had unbelievable weather and we were able to practise as much as we wanted," he told reporters in the UAE capital on Thursday.

 

"I had the chance to enjoy it. I'm happy for everything. I feel that I worked well enough, I finished the 2015 season with good feelings and I just keep practising with these positive feelings. I'm excited to start another new season. I feel myself well and I hope to be ready for what's coming.

 

"I don't know if I'll start well from the beginning but I feel ready. Then the results you never know what's going on. But I feel that I'm doing the right things, I'm playing well and I hope to start with good feelings.

 

"I'm going to be passionate. I'm confident that I'm going to be very competitive."

 

Having already successfully launched numerous comebacks throughout a career that has been marred with injury, Nadal is not viewing his current situation in similar light.

 

"Not a big comeback, I am number five in the world actually," he said of what he expected of himself in 2016.

 

"It seems like I'm number 50 or something like this. I didn't have the best season possible last year. But without having the best season possible, to be able to finish number five is actually not bad news.

 

"I'm happy the way I finished the season. I don't expect an amazing comeback, I expect an improvement of my level of tennis and my level of competition and if I made that happen I hope to be competing for the good things."

World number one Novak Djokovic will also commence his season in Doha next week and the Serb, whose tremendous 2015 saw him win three more Grand Slams and put together one of the most impressive 11 months of tennis in history, will be looking to pick up where he left off.

Asked if he expects another dominant display from Djokovic, Nadal said: "What Novak has been doing the last couple of years is just amazing and we have to congratulate him for that.

 

"If he is able to maintain that kind of level then only thing that you can say is applaud him. That's it. The rest of the players, we work hard and I hope to be competitive enough to compete against everybody this year, including Novak, and we'll see if I can make that happen."

Benteke winner boosts Liverpool's hopes at Sunderland

SUNDERLAND: Liverpool obeyed the pragmatic instructions of manager Jurgen Klopp in a 1-0 win at Sunderland where quality football was at a premium and there was an element of good fortune in a decisive goal scored by Christian Benteke.

 

As Liverpool ended the first half of the Premier League season, the result was all that mattered to Klopp, who ordered his team to go toe-to-toe with a Sunderland team fighting to avoid relegation.

 

"The manager has tried to drum into us that sometimes we've got to be dirtier, fight a bit more and play teams at their own game," said Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana, who admitted there was luck involved in the goal.

 

Lallana diverted Nathaniel Clyne's pass towards Benteke after only 22 seconds of the second-half and the Belgian striker scored for the second successive match.

 

"I don't think I meant the flick to go directly into Christian's path but sometimes you need the rub of the green, especially at tough places like this," Lallana said.

 

Liverpool should have scored more in a game when Sunderland lacked an attacking edge, yet Klopp was still satisfied with a victory that lifted them into seventh place in the Premier League, five points from a Champions League place.

 

He has seen his side draw level with Manchester United, but believe Liverpool still have a crucial psychological advantage.

 

He said: "Both of us are on 30 points and at this moment Liverpool don't feel too bad, but at Manchester United the atmosphere is not the best.

 

"You can see how football is sometimes. We wanted 30 points and we got them - perfect. This is not the best we can do, we know this, but we had to fight. We knew about Sunderland's situation."

 

Benteke, who scored the winner against Leicester on Boxing Day, has made a timely return to form and Klopp insists there is more to come.

 

"I'm sure that he can play better," said the Liverpool manager. "But at this moment he needs goals more than anything else."

 

Sunderland, who are poised to sign the Lorient defender Lamine Kone, need goals from absolutely any source after a fifth straight defeat that left them seven points from safety ahead of Saturday's crucial game against the only team below them, Aston Villa.

 

Manager Sam Allardyce said: "It was some encouragement to see the lads battling and fighting for themselves and trying to get a win or at least a point but a bit of misfortune just after half-time took it away from us.

 

"We need to try and strengthen the squad. That work has already started but it is very, very difficult. Hopefully we will be successful sooner rather than later in January."

Klopp was angry that Sunderland's Jeremain Lens did not receive a red card for a foul on Mamadou Sakho and became involved in an argument with Allardyce and his staff on the touchline.

"He's a soft German if that's a red card," Allardyce said.

"There was some foul and abusive language towards my staff, which I didn't like. But at the end we all shook hands and that's how it should be.