Football: Messi keeps Barca 11 points clear

MADRID: Barcelona set a new record for the best-ever start to a La Liga season on Sunday when a 3-1 win at Malaga allowed them to remain 11 points clear of Atletico Madrid and 18 in front of Real Madrid. Lionel Messi scored for a ninth successive league game and then supplied Cesc Fabregas and Thiago Alcantara for the second and third goals. Barcelona have 55 points from 19 games with 18 wins and a draw, breaking the previous mark for the halfway stage which they set at 52 points in the 2010-2011 season. “We’re very happy to get 55 out of 57 points, but logically it will be difficult to repeat that with the Champions League and the Spanish Cup to think about as well,” said Barca coach Tito Vilanova. “There’s a long way to go so we can’t just stop now, we have to keep going.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2013.