In Barcelona’s 1-0 win over Valladolid on Monday, a few different things were accomplished. The most important was that Barcelona closed the gap with first-place Atletico Madrid to a mere point with nine matches left.
The second most important aspect of the match was Lionel Messi escaping without receiving a booking. If the captain was booked, he would be out for El Clasico this weekend.
Messi, chatting it up with Carlos Naval, mentioned at halftime he thought the referee may have been intentionally looking to get him booked.
“He’s desperate to show me a car.