was beaten on the first shot into overtime. And the Canadiens - without Eller, Price

BARCELONA, Spain -- Three touches of the ball were all Lionel Messi needed to score for Barcelona on Saturday, showing that he is ready to take on his former coach Pep Guardiola in the Champions League.Messi displayed no signs of rust after more than three weeks out of action with a right groin strain and scored inside of four minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute. The Argentine added to Barcelonas 4-0 rout of Deportivo La Coruna, firing in a well-placed pass by Neymar in the Spanish league match.Barcelonas convincing win comes shortly before former Barcelona coach Guardiola comes home to Camp Nou at the helm of new club Manchester City for a highly anticipated European clash on Wednesday.We played a great game. This is the perfect way to arrive at the match against City, said Barcelona coach Luis Enrique, who calls Guardiola a friend.I havent spoken to Pep, Luis Enrique said. (But) City will be a very attractive rival. Its a team in continuous progression, and even more so now with its coach.It was a night of big wins for all the top teams in La Liga, as Atletico Madrid winger Yannick Carrasco scored a hat trick to keep Diego Simeones side at the top of the table by destroying Granada 7-1.Real Madrid stayed second on goal difference to Atletico after outclassing Real Betis 6-1 to end its run of four consecutive draws. Sevilla ended its long wait for an away victory to remain a point behind in third, and a point ahead of fourth-placed Barcelona.Rafinha put Barcelona in control with a brace of goals after Neymar, who excelled as Barcelonas playmaker, hit the crossbar early. The Brazil midfielder won possession of the ball near Deportivos area before opening the score in the 21st and added a second in the 36th.Luis Suarez tied Atletico Madrids Antoine Griezmann as the leagues leading scorer -- with six goals -- just before halftime after Neymar threaded a pass into the area for the striker.Messi went on in the 55th to play for the first time since Sept. 21. He scored on his third touch of the ball in the 58th.Deportivo, which had earned draws in its last two league visits to Camp Nou, lost Laureano Laure Sanabria to a direct red card for elbowing Neymar in the face in the 65th.---ATLETICO MADRID 7, GRANADA 1In Carrasco, Atletico looks like it has found the ideal attack partner for Griezmann that it will need to sustain a run at the title.Carrasco cancelled out Isaac Cuencas stunning opener for Granada with an equalizer in the 34th. The Belgian international struck twice more for the hosts after passes by Angel Correa and Antoine Griezmann to complete his first career treble.I am very happy for him, its a daily struggle for him to be what he was in this game, Simeone said about the 23-year-old Carrasco. He is a complete player, who has grown a lot, wants to keep growing and listens.Substitute Nicolas Gaitan netted two more goals before Correa and Tiago Cardoso completed the demolition of bottom-side Granada in the demoralizing debut of coach Lucas Alcaraz.---REAL BETIS 1, REAL MADRID 6Zinedine Zidane got the performance he needed following a run of four draws that had sparked doubts regarding his management of Madrids underachieving team.Madrid rolled from the start at Benito Villamarin Stadium, with Raphael Varane heading in the fourth-minute opener. Karim Benzema, Marcelo and Francisco Isco Alarcon all followed with goals before halftime.Isco curled in a beautiful second strike after Alvaro Cejudo pulled one back for Betis.Cristiano Ronaldo polished off the win with the sixth goal after he missed earlier opportunities.My players are intelligent, they knew they needed to start the game like they did, Zidane said. If we play with the same intensity like we did from the start today, it (the four draws) wont happen again.---LEGANES 2, SEVILLA 3It took 511 days and 23 matches but Sevilla finally ended its winless streak away from home in the Spanish league.Pablo Sarabia curled the ball just inside the post to secure Sevillas 3-2 win at Leganes with five minutes remaining.Predators Jerseys China . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors. Wholesale Custom Predators Shirts . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. http://www.custompredatorsjersey.com/ . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. Custom Predators T-shirts . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. Cheap Predators Jerseys . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week.The Montreal Canadiens 2012-13 season came to an end Thursday night with a lopsided 6-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. The loss completed Ottawas opening round series victory and sent the Northeast Division-winning Habs to the dressing room to pack after just five games. But short playoffs aside, the Canadiens performed well above expectations this year, going from worst to first in the division and second overall in the Eastern Conference. The team now transitions into an off-season much different from last spring - which saw a front office overhaul, several contract resolutions and a massive Draft Day haul. But before any works gets done to prepare for next season, the team and its fans are left to determine what the true identity of the 2012-13 Canadiens was. The Canadiens stormed out of the gate once the lockout ended, posting a 13-4-3 record through the first two months of the season and all but monopolizing first place in the Northeast. That torrid pace would continue up until the April 3 trade deadline, with the team sitting at 23-7-5, aided largely by a 19-game stretch that saw the Habs drop just one game in regulation. The Canadiens were also enjoying eye-opening campaigns from rookie sensation Alex Galchenyuk, eventual Calder nominee Brendan Gallagher and soon-to-be Norris nominee P.K. Subban. Carey Price was enjoying another quality season up until April with a .914 save percentage and a 2.30 goals against average, while Brandon Prust was giving the team long-needed toughness and edge and Andrei Markov stayed healthy for the entire 48-game season. Once April began, however, the teams limp towards the postseason would begin. The team doubled its loss total for the season, dropping seven of its last 13 games (including losses to underperforming clubs like Philadelphia and New Jersey). The Canadiens also turned to Peter Buddaj down the stretch to help to pick things up for a struggling Price, including a start in the teams final tilt against the Toronto Maple Leafs with the division title hanging in the balance.dddddddddddd Still, the Habs overall performance was good enough to earn them the second seed in the Eastern Conference and avoid a potentially worse first-round matchup with the Leafs or Boston Bruins. But once the postseason started, more problems emerged. The Habs threw 50 shots at Craig Anderson in Game 1, but fell to the Senators 4-2 in a game that saw them lose Lars Eller after a hit from Sens defenceman Eric Gryba. They would rebound to win an emotional Game 2 by a score of 3-1. But after that, things got messy. A 6-1 beating in Game 3 saw the head coach Michel Therrien and his team angrier at a Paul MacLean time-out than at the series deficit. Price went down at the end of regulation in Game 4 and Budaj was beaten on the first shot into overtime. And the Canadiens - without Eller, Price, Prust, captain Brian Gionta, fourth line agitator Ryan White and a banged up Max Pacioretty (who played with a separated shoulder suffered in Game 1) were put down for good with another 6-1 loss on Thursday in front of a home crowd. The Habs were beaten by another team with low expectations in 2013, with many having written off the Senators after losing Erik Karlsson, Jason Spezza and Anderson to long-term injuries earlier in the year. The Canadiens could have been playing over their heads in the early going. It could have only been a matter of time before the teams hot start leveled off into a disappointing finish. Or the 2012-13 squad could simply have run into a more determined opponent in the first round and just couldnt cope with their rash of injuries. So which team is the true identity of this seasons Habs? As always, its Your! Call. ' ' '