La Liga review: Messi’s hat-trick and a few contract renewals

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April 19 2024, 07:30 PM

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Bengaluru, December 11: From Lionel Messi's busy few days to some contract renewals, the week that went by saw plenty of action and drama in La Liga.

The 2019 Ballon d'Or, an award given out each year by France Football magazine to the best player of the calendar year, was awarded and it went to Barcelona's Messi.

This was the sixth time he has won the prestigious award and he followed up this honour by scoring a hat-trick in front of the fans at the Camp Nou during Barcelona's 5-2 win over Real Mallorca.

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The Argentinian also won La Liga's Player of the Month award, for his performances in the month of November.

With MSL Media inputs, myKhel.com looks at some of the other highlights of the La Liga weekend 16.

New deals

Real Valladolid have decided to extend the contract of their coach Sergio Gonzzlez. The tactician arrived at the club in the 2017-18 season and helped the club win promotion. After another good start to the current campaign, he has been rewarded with a new deal that runs to 2022.

Ansu Fati, the 17-year-old who has been starring with Barcelona, penned a new deal that runs to 2022, while Real Betis' 33-year-old midfielder Andres Guardado has also signed a new deal that will also run to 2022.

Age no bar

Real Betis captain Joaquin may now be 38 years of age, but he can still perform miracles on the pitch.

Joaquin scored a 20-minute hat-trick at the Estadio Benito Villamarín to help his side defeat Athletic Club 3-2.

Climate change

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as COP 25, is taking place in Madrid right now and Real Madrid demonstrated their support for this conference by wearing a green kit in their match against Espanyol.

Even though they were at home, they wore green instead of white for a one-off and raised awareness of the issues being discussed at the summit.

Oblak on song

The Zamora Trophy is the award given out each season to the goalkeeper in La Liga with the fewest average goals conceded and Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak has won it in each of the past four seasons.

Following the results of matchday 16, he is in position to win it again as Atletico have the best defensive record in the league with just 10 goals conceded.