By DAN KARELL
Thanks to goals from Neymar and Messi inside eight minutes, Barcelona kept their 100 percent record as they cruised to their sixth straight La Liga victory, defeating Real Sociedad, 4-1, at the Camp Nou on Tuesday evening.
Defensive errors and miscommunication allowed Neymar to stroll through the box and end up at the end of a cross, walking the ball into the net for his first league goal in a Barcelona shirt in the 5th minute. Three minutes later, the Brazilian star turned provider to Messi, sending a cross in the air to the far post that Messi headed home on the counter attack.
Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets scored the team’s third in the 23rd minute with a left footed strike, but it came just seconds after a cheeky back-heel attempt on goal by Messi as well as a close range rebound from him that clattered the crossbar. Real Sociedad’s Alberto de la Bella put the visitors on the scoreboard with a 63rd minute goal but young Barcelona defender Marc Bartra finished the game off in the 76th minute with an easy goal.
Despite the victory, the win came at a cost, as Javier Mascherano limped off in the first half, and has now been ruled out by the Barcelona medical staff for 10-15 days with a hamstring strain.
Here are some more stories to start your Wednesday:
LEWANDOWSKI CONFIRMS INTENT TO JOIN BAYERN NEXT SEASON
After Gareth Bale’s move to Real Madrid, the world’s worst kept secret is Robert Lewandowski’s move south from Borussia Dortmund to UEFA Champions League winner Bayern Munich.
On Tuesday, the Polish international forward finally publicly admitted in an interview with Sport1 TV in Germany that he’ll be moving to Bayern at the end of this season, signing a pre-contract deal on January 2, when the next transfer window opens in Germany. Borussia Dortmund could have sold him this summer for €24 million or more, but they decided to hang on to him, knowing that they had already lost Mario Götze to Bayern in the same window.
Borussia will have to hope that they make another deep run in Europe to bring in some more money to the club, considering that they’ll lose Lewandowski for free in July.
Last season, the 25-year-old scored 36 goals in all competitions, including a stunning four-goal performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals. This season, Lewandowski already has four goals in six Bundesliga games.
BENFICA COACH CHARGED BY GUIMARAES AUTHORITIES
Benfica won their third consecutive match in all competitions on Sunday, but all of the news coming from the game is what happened after the final whistle.
Following their 1-0 victory at Vitoria Guimaraes, a number of away fans stormed the field to celebrate with the Benfica players, and ask for a jersey to take home to remember the impressive road win by. While the police became involved to try and keep the fans off the field, Benfica head coach Jorge Jesus began to tussle with the police, trying to free one of the fans so he could receive a jersey.
Though Jesus was eventually separated from the police, reports in Portugal state that the Benfica boss has been charged by the local authorities, while the Portuguese League could fine and suspend Jesus for becoming involved in an incident with police after a game.
To his credit, in an interview with Benfica TV, Jesus apologized and said that he was only trying to calm tempers and celebrate the win with the fans who traveled to Guimaraes to the match.
QUICK KICKS
Galatasaray have sacked manager Fatih Terim after a poor start to the season, leaving the manager to solely be able to concentrate on the Turkey National Team. (REPORT)
Paris Saint-Germain forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s new contract extension will pay him €15 million per season, an increase of €1.2 million per year from his first PSG contract. (REPORT)
Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp has been banned for one match in the UEFA Champions League following his outburst at the officials in his side’s 2-1 defeat to Napoli. (REPORT)
The official diagnosis is worse than expected for Theo Walcott, ruling the Arsenal winger out of England’s next World Cup qualifiers due to needing an operation on his stomach injury. (REPORT)
Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke has been ruled out for four to six weeks due to a hip injury, though manager Paul Lambert says it’s better than originally feared. (REPORT)
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What do you think of these reports? Impressed with Barcelona’s start? Do you see Lewandowski moving in January or July? What do you think of Jesus’ actions?
Share your thoughts below.