Barcelona extended their winning run to maintain a four-point lead at the top of the table with a 2-1 win over Sevilla at Camp Nou on Saturday.
Barcelona were made to work hard to maintain their four-point lead atop the La Liga table as a resilient Sevilla side ran them close at Camp Nou. But, Paco Alcacer turned out to be the unlikely hero for the hosts as he struck a goal either side of Guido Pizarro’s headed strike to earn all three points for his side.
With the beleaguered Spaniard overshadowing his partners in attack, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, with his contribution, Twitter was abuzz following the double-goal hero’s exploits on Saturday.
In La Liga this season:
Paco Alcácer: 2 goals
“The Best” Ronaldo: 1 Goal pic.twitter.com/lXcpUIiE8B— Leo Messi (@messi10stats) November 4, 2017
Playing Alcácer properly as centre forward and supplying him with good passes brings goals, something that wasn’t done last season.
— Rafael Hernández (@RafaelH117) November 4, 2017
Paco Alcácer: 5 shots, 2 goals.
“The Best”: 40 shots, 1 goal. pic.twitter.com/586nMgOgJI
— Arnáiz (@Arnaizismo_) November 4, 2017
Not many people can have the incredible goal scoring record that Paco Alcacer has. 65 minutes to out score Cristiano in La Liga, incredible. pic.twitter.com/813BtMELNW
— ? (@BaguetteFC) November 4, 2017
? [LaLiga] |
Paco Alcácer has now scored 9 goals in his last 9 starts for Barcelona. pic.twitter.com/LpCmdGpctK
— FCBdaily (@FCBdailyy) November 4, 2017
Always felt Paco Alcacer should’ve been given more opportunities. Was terrific in this role when Neymar was out in the 3-2 Clasico last year
— EiF (@EiFsoccer) November 4, 2017
Paco Alcacer working so, so hard. In terms of mentality & physical attributes he’s Barca’s best fit for this hybrid winger/forward role. Technically, not so much. But adds a lot to the team shape.
— Andy West (@andywest01) November 4, 2017
There were also congratulatory messages for Lionel Messi, who made his 600th appearance for Barcelona on Sunday night.
Lionel Messi: 600 games, outlandish numbers, one club, one legend. ?#Messi600 pic.twitter.com/3CatEBdkua
— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 4, 2017
Messi 600 games:
✅426 wins
↔️105 draws
❌69 defeats
⚽️523 goals
?198 assists
?30 trophies
?39 hat-tricks pic.twitter.com/D4pqYbEhSw— Football Stuff (@FootbalIStuff) November 4, 2017
Lionel Messi for @FCBarcelona:
? Games: 600
⚽️ Goals: 523
? Assists: 234
? Hattricks: 39
? Trophies: 30
? Ballon D’Ors: 5— SPORF (@Sporf) November 4, 2017
Lionel Messi is football
— Messi World (@MessiWorId) November 4, 2017
What a legend! #Messi600 https://t.co/sEJSAWXvq5 pic.twitter.com/45L4OV1jfK
— Goal (@goal) November 4, 2017
600 games, 523 games, 30 trophies, 1 club, 1 legend. pic.twitter.com/uQHldsuTmk
— Leo Messi (@messi10stats) November 4, 2017
Messi marks his 600th Appearance with Barcelona. ? #Messi600 pic.twitter.com/yZx7Oz6tHs
— ™ (@MESSIscored) November 4, 2017
Meanwhile, there are increasing concerns surrounding Luis Suarez’s continued slump in form, with fans asking for Alcacer to replace the struggling Uruguayan up front.
Paco simply has to start ahead of Suarez now. There’s no other excuse. We’ve been waiting for Suarez to hit form since beginning of season
— Steve M. Barca (@Stevecaresx) November 4, 2017
Why does Suarez think he is the Brazilian Ronaldo?
— BarcaGame (@JustBarca45) November 4, 2017
Suárez looks out of his depth, what happened?! It wasn’t a decline, but endless free fall. Bizarre.
— Rafael Hernández (@RafaelH117) November 4, 2017
Suarez gets worse with every passing match. Dont know if he just needs a proper rest or he’s declining rapidly, been like this for a year!!
— El Máestro (@ElMaestrofcb) November 4, 2017
I still won’t understand why Suarez is starting over Paco. Can’t be any worse than this.
— Darious Kincaid (@Scofield_Barca) November 4, 2017
What happened to Suarez?Man really went from the undisputed number 1 striker in the world to a 31 year old has been. Massive massive decline
— Medo (@Mediostability) November 4, 2017