News » goal numbers -- then the rest of the league should bewar

BARCELONA, Spain -- There are three reasons why Barcelona is favoured to keep its Spanish league title. They are as concise as they are convincing: Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Neymar. Known for its passing, Barcelona can now field three of soccers most confounding and creative dribblers in the same starting 11 after Neymar joined the champions this off-season for $76 million, the eighth most expensive transfer in history. Looks perfect on paper. So what could go wrong? The soft-spoken Iniesta has always been happy to relinquish the leading role to Messi. But will Neymar, the bright and shining star of Brazil, be able to do likewise after being idolized as the next coming of Pele at Santos? The 21-year-old Neymar insisted repeatedly the day of his introduction that he had "come to add my part so that Lionel Messi continues to be the best player in the world." Weeks later, after his first game in Barcelonas burgundy and blue, he repeated his mantra of being happy in a secondary role. "(Messi) is a marvelous person. We talk every day. There wont be any problems," Neymar said. "The atmosphere on the team is better than I even hoped for. I knew that they were good, but when I arrived here I realized they were much better than I had thought." "Im fulfilling a dream of my childhood by playing beside Messi, Xavi (Hernandez), Iniesta, (Carles) Puyol," he added. "Im trying to adapt as quickly as I can." Yet Neymar, who Pele said could surpass the almighty Messi one day, will have to learn Barcelonas style, which until now has let only Messi and Iniesta freelance one-on-one against backpedaling defenders. And if Neymar does stay true to his word, Messi will still need to share enough of the ball -- and shots -- with Neymar to let him reach his full potential. Messi is the engine of the Barcelona juggernaut that won 14 of 19 possible titles under Pep Guardiola from 2008-12 and then tied a Spanish-league record of 100 points en route to the title last season under Tito Vilanova. Messi turned 26 in June and already is Barcelonas all-time goal scorer. Last season, he scored 46 goals in the league and was well on pace to break his own record of 50 goals from the previous campaign when he injured his right hamstring. The four-time world player of the year has outlasted a list of strike partners including Samuel Etoo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and now David Villa, with whom he openly argued on the field before the Spain striker was sold this summer to Atletico Madrid. Neymar, however, is different. For the first time since Messi became its centerpiece, Barcelona has brought in a player who could represent its future in a distant post-Messi era. For that reason, the two standouts will need to understand one another. Otherwise, it could be a real problem for Barcelona after it invested major money in bringing the two together with Iniesta, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas. The task of making sure the two stars -- one firmly established as among the best in history, the other striving to join him -- get along will ultimately fall to new coach Gerardo Martino. The Argentine replaced Vilanova after Guardiolas former assistant unexpectedly stepped down in late July to focus on treatment for his recurrent throat cancer. "I cant imagine (Messi and Neymar) not being able to play together," Martino said at his presentation. "And if they cant play together it wont be their fault but rather a defect of the coach." The bottom line: If Martino can keep Messi and Neymar happy -- and that means piling up impressive goal numbers -- then the rest of the league should beware. 18:11ET 15-08-13 LONDON - Roger Federer blew away Andy Murray 6-0, 6-1 to finish the ATP Finals round-robin unbeaten, and hand Murray his worst defeat in seven years in front of his home crowd on Thursday.Federer, the most successful player at the year-end championship with six titles, equaled Ivan Lendls record of 12 semifinal appearances in winning his group ahead of Japanese debutant Kei Nishikori.I knew I was qualified, so maybe I went in a bit more relaxed, Federer said. Its not the way I thought it was going to go, but theres always next year for Andy.It was a ruthless win for Federer, and humiliation for Murray, who last won only one game in 2007 at Miami, against Novak Djokovic.It was a tough night. Ive lost slam finals and stuff, which has been very tough, Murray said. But in terms of the way the match went, it was not ideal from my side of the court, far from it.In the other group, Djokovic will be guaranteed the year-end No. 1 ranking for the third time in four years if he beats Tomas Berdych on Friday. Going into the last round-robin matches, all four players can still make it to the semis; U.S. Open champ Marin Cilic takes on Australian Open champ Stan Wawrinka.Before playing Murray, the second-seeded Federer had already secured a semis berth after Nishikori defeated David Ferrer 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the afternoon. That left Murray needing to defeat the 17-Grand Slam champion in straight sets to make it to the last four at the O2 Arena and thwart Nishikori.But Federer, yet to drop a set, made a perfect start, losing only eight points in a 23-minute first set without even serving well.Murray, who fought hard this autumn to qualify for the season finale, continued to struggle in the second set. Federer opened a 5-0 lead and moved 30-0 up on Murrays service but missed ann easy volley before the Scot managed to hold to salvage some pride, and give British fans a cheer.ddddddddddddf I played well, he probably still would have won anyway, the fifth-seeded Murray said. He was striking the ball very, very clean. After the first few games of the match, he played exceptionally well. Made very few mistakes. Was hitting the ball off the middle of the racket on serve, returns. He maybe didnt hit his first serve as well as he can, but apart from that, everything else was very clean.Nishikori, the U.S. Open runner-up, is one of the three debutants at the tournament. He was rapt to advance at Ferrers expense.The final set was almost perfect, said Nishikori, who hit 41 winners and won 80 per cent of his first-service points.The Spaniard, who replaced the injured Milos Raonic at the last minute, took advantage of Nishikoris 18 unforced errors in the first set and made the decisive break in the 10th game when the Japanese player netted an easy smash.But Nishikori recovered to break at the start of the second set and served out to even the set score, making it the first match at the tournament to go to three sets following eight one-sided encounters.The fourth-seeded Nishikori won four consecutive games to start the third, and saved five break points in the sixth game before winning it with a drop shot.Ferrer missed out on qualifying for the ATP Finals after his loss to Nishikori in the Paris Masters quarterfinals last month. He said stepping in for Raonic at the last minute did not pose a problem despite articular problems in his back.My condition was perfect today, Kei was just better, said Ferrer, the 2007 runner-up.The seventh-seeded Raonic withdrew with a muscle injury after losing his two group matches in straight sets. 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