By Michael John Oliver
Welcome in to 3News.co.nz’s video live update of tonight’s La Liga match between Barcelona and Granada from Camp Nou.
We’ll keep you up to speed with the latest action from the match, including rolling video highlights as the match progresses.
Keep an eye out for the VIDEO UP tag, that’ll let you know that we’ve updated the updated the video with the latest highlights.
And join in with the discussion on our Facebook page.
LIVE COMMENTARY: Barcelona 5 - 3 Granada
All video up. A great day in Barcelona history.
Full time - And that's the match over, and what a goal-fest. Lionel Messi makes history, Granada had a sniff of an upset, but the class of the team from Camp Nou shone through. They're five points shy of Real Madrid now.
91 mins - VIDEO UP of Messi's hat-trick goal. Barcelona winding down the clock now, only a couple of minutes left.
88 mins - GOAL GRANADA! Siqueira makes good from the Alves hand ball, and it's 5-3 Barcelona.
87 mins - Dani Alves gets his second yellow card, and that's his night over. He'll miss Barcelona's next game. Silly hand ball too.
85 mins - GOAL BARCELONA! Messi gets a hat trick! Alves spots Messi open; he breaks, controls the ball, and just lobs it in like he always does. Outstanding from the man. Barcelona 5 - 2 Granada.
81 mins - GOAL BARCELONA! Messi takes a shot and it's just wide, the keeper knocks it out to Tello, who slots it into the back of the net. No upset tonight. Barcelona 4-2 up.
78 mins - Messi's gone down clutching his ankle... but it doesn't look too serious. He's reaching down and stretching it, but will continue.
75 mins - Barcelona continue to push Granada for their fourth. It looks a lot like the first half now - Barcelona with the ball, Granada shellshocked.
71 mins - Tello comes on from Alexis for Barcelona. The home side have reasserted themselves here, as a firing header goes wide.
66 mins - GOAL MESSI! And that's the record! Lionel Messi has overtaken Cesar as Barcelona's most prolific goal scorer, and just in the nick of time. 3-2 Barcelona. VIDEO UP.
64 mins - Barcelona feel that Mainz has committed a hand ball in the box, but the referee disagrees. Granada have their tails up and are firing everything at the Barca defence.
62 mins - GOAL GRANADA! Barcelona can't believe it, but Siqueira has put Granada on equal terms. 2-2.
60 mins - PENALTY GRANADA! Benitez milks a penalty out of tight piece of defence from Alves.
57 mins - Cuenca crosses, and Pique's header is collected.
57 mins - David Cortes gets a yellow for a hand ball, and Barcelona have a free kick with goal in sight.
54 mins - GOAL GRANADA! The most unlikeliest of goals given the possession Barcelona has had. But from a gorgeous cross, Mainz heads it in. Outstanding goal. Barcelona 2 - 1 Granada. VIDEO UP.
52 mins - Cuenca puts it across goal for Messi, Messi tries to tap it again, but this time he's just right.
50 mins - It's a windy night at Camp Nou, so much so hat one of the advertising hoardings has blown onto the pitch.
48 mins - Gerard Pique gets a yellow card for a dangerous tackle.
46 mins - The second half is underway. Barcelona kicks off.
Half-time - 45 minutes ticks by. And for all of Barcelona's dominance, there is only one man who will be making headlines tomorrow: Lionel Messi. Will he break the record in the second half? We're betting he will.
42 mins - You can hear the Camp Nou crowd lift every time Messi gets the ball - even more so than usual. Barcelona are giving him every opportunity to break the record, with Granada offering absolutely nothing on defence.
39 mins - You can't over-emphasize just how much time Barcelona have spent by the Granada goal. But they enjoy a brief foray into Barcelona territory with a nice cross from Benitez. Nobody there to make anything of it.
36 mins - Same old, same old. Barcelona pressing forward, but for the grace of the offside rule have they been denied. Messi has the scent of the Barcelona record, and is playing like it.
28 mins - Sanchez smelt another goal, after a beautiful cross from Alves just misses the connection.
24 mins - Alex Sanchez gets the ball on a volley and very nearly fires one in.
22 mins - Barcelona on the prowl again, Alves the latest to have a shot. Granada has got nothing.
20 mins - Granada has its best attacking moment of the game, but even then it's snuffed out by the Barca defence. Get the feeling it's gonna be a long night for the visitors.
16 mins - GOAL BARCELONA! LIONEL MESSI EQUALS CESAR'S RECORD! Cuenca dances his way through the defence, and flicks it to Messi in the middle off a deflection, and he deftly pushes it in. Outstanding. 2-0 Barcelona. VIDEO UP.
15 mins - The home side has so much time to move. You get the feeling there are more goals right around the corner.
13 mins - Barcelona are just dancing through Granada's defence at will. A nice little one-two pass from Alves and Messi, but it goes awry with Messi pulled up for a hand ball.
10 mins - Barcelona pressing deep into Granada's half again. Some very timid defence from the visitors. Sanchez passes it to Messi in the middle who shoots on goal... bu it's well collected by the keeper Julio Cesar.
6 mins - Weird moment there - Messi feels as though he was fouled, and was asking the ref to hand out a yellow. Lionel, mate, you're playing Granada. You're 1-0 up. Let's not go all El Classico here.
4 mins - GOAL BARCELONA! Very easy for Xavi. Barca work it into the middle, Messi heads it gently to Xavi, who taps it in. 1-0 to the home side. VIDEO UP.
2 mins - Very quiet atmosphere at Camp Nou, not a capacity crowd. Barcelona cautiously working the ball into the Granada half.
Kick off - Granada kick off, and we're underway. Wow, early chance for Granada. Carlos Martins slips through the Barca defence, and his shot is just wide.
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Teams:
Barcelona: Victor Valdes, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Adriano, Dani Alves, Xavi, Seydou Keita, Thiago, Isaac Cuenca, Lionel Messi, Alex Sanchez
Granada: Julio Cesar, Borja Gomez, Mainz, Guillherme Siqueira, David Cortes, Moreno Miel Rico, Moises Hurtado, Daniel Gonzalez Benitez, Franco Jara, Odon Ighalo, Carlos Martins
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Preview: Messi just one away:
Barcelona conducted a review of Cesar Rodriguez's club record goal tally and determined that Lionel Messi is just one shy of matching the 57-year-old mark.
Barcelona collaborated with La Vanguardia newspaper to verify the exact number of official goals scored by Cesar and turned up 232, three goals less than previously believed.
The 24-year-old Messi has 231 goals and can match or break the mark in Wednesday’s Spanish league game against Granada.
Barcelona said Tuesday on its website that the study analysed and compared all match reports from Cesar's Barcelona career with La Vanguardia's historical database.
Barcelona's Centre of Documentation and Studies and La Vanguardia cross-checked club records with match reports to determine Cesar did not score goals attributed to him during the 1947-48, 1948-49, 1949-50 and 1952-53 seasons. He was credited with an extra goal scored during the 1945-46 season.
Cesar won five league titles in 13 years at Barcelona, and was the league's leading scorer in 1948-49.
"It's worth noting that Cesar Rodriguez is the club's all-time top goalscorer in official matches, but the absolute record belongs to Paulino Alcantara, who scored 369 goals in 357 official and friendly matches," Barcelona added.
Messi, the three-time world player of the year, has 51 goals in all competitions this season.
3News / AP
source: newshub archive
