Lionel Messi says FC Barcelona team-mate Pedro deserves his UEFA Super Cup winning goal against Sevilla for the contribution he has made to the side over the years with Mascherano hailing the Spain winger as a ‘magician’.
In an encounter strewn with defensive lapses, Barcelona raced into a 4-1 lead courtesy of a brace from Lionel Messi and goals from Luis Suarez and Rafinha.
However, Sevilla made a quite remarkable comeback in the second half as they leveled things up at 4-4 through goals from Jose Antonio Reyes, Kevin Gameiro and Yevhen Konoplyanka, taking match into extra time.
Barcelona eventually edged their Spanish rivals 5-4 as winger Pedro Rodriguez scored a dramatic 115th minute winner, sending the Blaugrana fans into utter delirium.
Messi: Pedro deserves Super Cup winner
Messi was happy to see the Spain international fire in the winning goal against Sevilla, and was quoted saying by Goal.com: a He deserved it for everything he has given and continues to give to the club. I dona t know what will happen with him – ita s a decision he has to take – but whatever he does, he deserves it.”
However, Messi was not pleased with the performance of his side as a whole in the Super Cup win. Having led 4-1, the Blaugrana were pegged back and required additional 30 minutes of extra time to seal the first major honour of the season.
“We started very well and we took a significant lead but then we relaxed and a game that we had practically won became more difficult. We did everything to see the game out but we relaxed and ended up suffering in a game that we had all-but won,” he said.
“The important thing was to win the Super Cup and to start the season well. Now we have another important title to go for against Athletic [in the Spanish Super Cup].”
Mascherano hails Pedro as ‘magician’
Giving his take on the winner struck by Pedro, Mascherano hailed the Spanish winger and hoped that he might yet remain with the Catalans as he is capable of such decisive contributions.
a Hopefully he can stay here,a the Argentine was quoted saying by Goal.com. a Hea s one of those players whoa s great on big occasions. Hea s been a magician since he joined us. He plays for special moments like this.a
Much like Messi, Mascherano was not too pleased with the FC Barcelona performance.
a Neutral fans wona t have seen such a spectacle before,a he stated. a But from our side, we feel some frustration. We had things in our hands but let go of it. We must improve things because we made mistakes that complicated life.
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a We fell away and let them into the game. We didna t control the game when we had to, but we had individual talent that let us win another title.a