Football
Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent 7y

Barcelona's Jordi Alba: Lionel Messi can see passes like nobody else

Jordi Alba created two of Barcelona's goals in the 3-0 win at Osasuna on Saturday -- but teammate Lionel Messi again took the plaudits.

Messi scored twice, his 21st and 22nd goals of the campaign, and was involved in the buildup to the opening goal as his pass found Alba, whose low cross was turned home by Luis Suarez.

"Since I've been here, Leo sees passes like no-one else," Alba told reporters after the match.

"He always tries to look for me. The two assists I gave were important -- the first was thanks to Leo, though, and the second was down to Denis [Suarez], who waited for me on the left wing."

Prior to Barca's win, which took them to within three points of Real Madrid before the leaders' game later on Saturday, Jorge Messi arrived to begin talks over his son's new contract.

Barca coach Luis Enrique welcomed the news, but Alba said the players were in the dark about what the future holds for Messi.

"That's question for Leo," the Spain defender said. "I hope he does [renew]. It will be good for us and also for him. We're better with him."

Alba also hit back after it was revealed that he had insulted Real Madrid's Mateo Kovacic during last Saturday's Clasico .

Video footage showed him calling the Croatian midfielder an "idiot" and telling him to "learn Spanish."

"They're things that are said during a game," Alba said. "They always get reported in the same way. People say things to me, too. It's been a while now with just reports about what I say.

"And I know where they [the reports] come from. It does damage for no reason. They always go after me. I hope that everyone who has spoken ill of me speaks well of me after this [the Osasuna] game."

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