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Messi, Barcelona Remember Maradona in Winning Style

Barcelona followed coach Ronald Koeman's advice on Sunday and paid tribute to former player Diego Maradona with an emphatic return to form in La Liga and a 4-0 win over Osasuna.

Maradona, who played for Barca for two seasons, died on Wednesday at the age of 60.

The club played The Song of the Birds' by Catalan cellist Pablo Casals before the match, as the teams were standing around the center circle where a Maradona shirt was put in the center position, reports AFP.

Lionel Messi, who has inherited Maradona’s legendary Argentina number 10 shirt, bowed his head.

Flags at the Camp Nou flew at half mast, Maradona’s image was displayed on every screen and digital advertising hoardings while a club official held a framed Maradona Barcelona shirt.

The Catalans have been struggling in La Liga and started the game 14th.

On Friday, Koeman said the best tribute his team could pay Maradona was to “show what we can do on the pitch”.

He recalled Messi and Frenkie de Jong, who were not in the squad for Dynamo Kiev's 4-0 Champions League win on Tuesday, and Antoine Griezmann, who was on the bench in Ukraine, also started.

After 29 minutes, Barcelona took the lead as the ball lobbed off Martin Braithwaite's knee into the net following a scramble in front of goal.

Messi seemed to be attempting a tribute to Maradona’s famous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in 1986 as he leapt after the floating ball stretching his left arm toward it but the referee deemed he did not make contact.

It was Braithwaite’s first goal at the Camp Nou and followed the Denmark forward’s midweek strike in Kiev.

Griezmann scored with a powerful left-foot volley from outside the box in the 42nd minute.

The France World Cup winner then passed up a shooting chance in the 56th minute to roll a pass across the goal and set up a tap-in for Philippe Coutinho.

As Barcelona rediscovered their cutting edge, Ousmane Dembele had a strike ruled out for offside.

– Vintage Messi –

Messi got his goal in the 74th minute with a dazzling strike.

In the midfield, he picked up the ball, danced past two of the defenders, and smashed a rising left-foot shot into the far top corner.

By taking off his Barcelona shirt to reveal a vintage Newell's Old Boys jersey from Maradona's one-season club in Rosario, Argentina, he celebrated.

“It was a great moment,” said Koeman. “Leo’s goal, his gesture dedicated to Maradona.

“It was something very big. We Europeans don’t realise how big Maradona is in Argentina.”

Earlier this week, Newell’s tweeted a photograph from Maradona’s debut showing a six-year-old local prodigy, in the same black and red shirt, doing ball tricks for the crowd at half-time. That boy was Messi.

Barcelona climbed to seventh, still 10 points behind leaders Real Sociedad, who drew 1-1 at home to third-placed Villarreal.

Gerard Moreno scored a penalty after just six minutes for Villarreal at Anoeta but Mikel Oyarzabal replied with a spot-kick on the half-hour to earn the hosts a point.

La Real pulled a point ahead of Atletico Madrid despite the end of their six-match winning run in the league. However, Diego Simeone’s unbeaten side have two games in hand.

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