FC Player of the Day, 29 Oct: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Barcelona had the weekend off after their Clasico match against Real Madrid was postponed, and they looked fresh after their break as they defeated Valladolid 5-1 at the Camp Nou.
Messi, was spectacular.
With the Blaugrana toiling, slightly, with the scoreline at 1-1, the Argentina burst into life with an assist and a goal within five minutes after the half-hour mark. To make it 2-1 Barca, he clipped a quite glorious cross into the centre of the area for Arturo Vidal to stretch and prod a strike into the bottom corner. Then, he left the goalkeeper with no chance after curling free-kick into the top corner from around 30 yards.
While after the break we saw plenty of lovely touches and skills, including a superb nutmeg on Oscar Plano, it took him until the 75th minute to score his second after slamming an emphatic half-volley beyond the goalkeeper after receiving a through-pass from Ivan Rakitic.
Then, to round off his match, he recorded another assist with a pass through the eye-of-the-needle for Luis Suarez to slot home.
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