Tuesday evening was an eventful one in Argentine football. First of all, in Spain, Lionel Messi scored another hat trick for Barcelona. His second goal made him Barcelona’s all-time highest goalscorer in competitive matches, and his third meant he became the first player in the history of Spanish football to score 54 goals in all competitions in a single season. Later, Lanús beat Emelec 2-0 away in the Copa Libertadores, with goals five minutes in and five minutes from the end, to keep their hopes of qualification alive. And even later than that, Tigre drew 1-1 with Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata in the Copa Argentina, going on to beat them on penalties thanks in no small part to goalkeeper Daniel Islas stepping a good yard off his line for all of Gimnasia’s penalties. Videos of all three games are right here.
Spanish Primera División: Barcelona 5 – 3 Granada
Messi still has a way to go to catch Paulino Alcántara, who scored 369 goals, with many of them coming in Catalán First Division games that are now counted as ‘friendlies’ by the Spanish association. Exactly how many of Alcántara’s total were scored in friendlies is as a result unknown, but including friendly matches Messi currently has 250 for Barcelona, and is fifth in the all-time standings.
Copa Libertadores Group 2: Emelec 0 – 2 Lanús
This win, Lanús’ second over Emelec in a week, means they top Group 2 having played a game more than Flamengo and Olimpia, those two having a game in hand (they play each other in Asunción next week). It keeps alive Lanús’ hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages, and keeps Gabriel Schürrer in a job.
Copa Argentina: Tigre 1 – 1 Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata
Tigre played with a largely reserve lineup – they can’t really afford to put too many eggs in their Copa Argentina basket, since they’re fighting tooth and nail to stay in the top flight in the league. They equalised close to the end of the match, before Islas’ villainy in the penalty shootout saw them through the last sixteen.
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Hasta El Gol Siempre 