Messi misses penalty, Barca lost

Lionel Messi missed a penalty as Barcelona’s 29-coordinate unbeaten record went to a shivering stop at rivals Espanyol.

Messi saw his spot-kick spared by Diego Lopez before Espanyol sub Oscar Melendo scored a critical winner two minutes from time in the 1st leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal. Barcelona went into the show on the back of a great rebound triumph over Real Sociedad in La Liga and anxious to stretch out their undefeated raced to 30 matches.

Be that as it may, Melendo’s late heroics secured a noteworthy 1-0 win for the hosts, their first finished Barca since 2009. Of course there was no Philippe Coutinho in Barca’s lineup yet mounting damage list, which has represented France forward Ousmane Dembele, implied Messi started.