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BARCELONA (Reuters) – Lionel Messi scored twice in Barcelona’s 3-1 win over Girona in his second preseason friendly with Ronald Koeman on Wednesday.
Philippe Coutinho hit the crossbar early on before giving Barça the lead midway through the first half, taking advantage of an empty net after a brilliant liaison game between Messi and new signing Francisco Trincao.
Messi then doubled Barca’s lead later in the half, walking away from a defender to hit a shot off the post and score for the first time since he threatened to leave the club last month.
Samu Saiz scored for Girona at the start of the second half, but the Barça captain scored again in the 50th minute, also cutting inside to shoot from outside the area, but this time benefiting from a strong deflection.
Koeman made four changes to the line-up that had beaten Gimnastic de Tarragona 3-1 in their first game on Saturday and made nine substitutions midway through the second half, only remaining in defender Ronald Araujo and goalkeeper Neto.
This was a more fluid and exciting display than against Gimnastic, with Messi looking sharper and Portugal’s Trincao showing confidence and style every time he stepped on the ball.
Teenager Pedri was Barça’s most spirited substitute and had three attempts at goal after coming in, forcing Girona goalkeeper José Suárez to make two smart saves, while American forward Konrad de la Fuente also impressed.
Barça’s play promoted Elche from La Liga in their final preseason game on Saturday before kicking off their league campaign the following weekend at home to Villarreal.
(Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Toby Davis)
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