Messi/Suarez penalty stuns fans and wins praise from coach

Leo Messi and Luis Suarez did it again on Sunday night when they invented a goal from the penalty spot which left fans in the Nou Camp stadium and everyone watching their 6-1 win at home to Celta Vigo open-mouthed.

With the game won and Barca leading 4-1 thanks to an inspired second half display, the Catalan side were awarded a penalty. However rather than try and score himself, Messi passed the ball sideways and slightly forward for Suarez, who timed his run into the box to perfection, to score as the Celta keeper had already dived in anticipation of a shot from his companion.

The penalty was totally legal as Suarez was outside of the penalty area when Messi took it and all the rules say is that the ball has to roll forward.

It was a piece of audacity which has been seen before and which was once done by Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff when he played for Dutch club, Ajax.

Indeed many saw it as homage to the former Barca coach, who on Saturday said in an interview he felt he was winning his battle against lung cancer "2-0".

Asked after the game about the penalty, Celta coach Eduardo Berrizo said he had not felt offended by the tactic.

"It is a different way of taking a penalty, nothing more, I don't think it showed a lack of respect," he said, while Barca coach Luis Enrique, tried to play down and question that the goal could have been insulting to the Celta players.

"You can take a penalty that was. It is legal and we all know Cruyff' s famous penalty," he said, admitting he wouldn' t have tried what Messi did because "I would have tripped over the ball and fallen over. We all try to not just win, but to play well and enjoy ourselves," he added.

And for anyone who saw Sunday's goal, it was a moment they will never forget. Endi