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Barcelona 3 Boca Juniors 0: Messi, Malcom net as Barca win Joan Gamper Trophy

Barcelona won the Joan Gamper Trophy for a sixth year in a row, beating Boca Juniors of Argentina 3-0 thanks to goals from Lionel Messi, Malcom and Rafinha.

By Opta
Lionel Messi (left) celebrates with team-mates after scoring Barcelonas second goal

Barcelona, August 16: Lionel Messi and new boy Malcom were among the goals as Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 win over Boca Juniors to win the Joan Gamper Trophy.

Having lifted the Supercopa de Espana thanks to a slender 2-1 win over Sevilla on Sunday (August 12), Barca again looked in good shape ahead of their title defence in LaLiga, which begins on Saturday (August 18) against Deportivo Alaves, sweeping a feisty Boca aside with minimal fuss.

Barca gradually found their stride and went close for the first time in the 16th minute – Philippe Coutinho tricking his way past one opponent before forcing Esteban Andrada into flying save with a stinging effort.

Andrada made a mess of things shortly after, however, allowing Malcom's low drive to squirm under him after the Brazilian had squeezed a shot past Boca right-back Julio Buffarini.

The hosts deservedly doubled their lead six minutes before the break – Messi delicately chipping a fine finish over Andrada after his attempted pass to Coutinho came back off Buffarini and fell perfectly into his path.

But they were fortunate to not concede on the stroke of half-time when Sebastian Villa broke into the area and fired against the left-hand post.

Barca were a little less fluid after eight half-time changes, but Malcom did at least test Andrada from long range in the 55th minute following a clever bit of play by Riqui Puig.

They eventually added a third 23 minutes from time – Rafinha playing a one-two with Luis Suarez, before flicking the ball over Andrada and knocking in from close range.

Paco Alcacer had a late goal disallowed for offside, but Barca eased to victory nevertheless.

Story first published: Thursday, August 16, 2018, 8:05 [IST]
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