 |
| IG@CIRCLETALKSLIVE |
The Argentine superstar continues to make history with his sublime goalscoring ability.
Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Eibar at the weekend maintained their five-point gap over Atletico Madrid, but the main talking point was Lionel Messi’s goal as it was his 400th in La Liga. No other player has been able to achieve this and Cristiano Ronaldo is the only other player to reach 300, so it shows how far ahead he is of everyone else. What makes it even more remarkable is that he has achieved this in just 435 matches.
He is showing no sign of slowing down either with 17 goals as well as 10 assists in 17 matches this season. His consistency is remarkable and practically unheard of at the top level of football. Five seasons as top scorer in Spain as well as five European Golden Shoes during a time when him and Cristiano Ronaldo were taking goalscoring to the next level backs this up. Luis Suarez is the only other player who has been able to break up that duopoly since the Portuguese star moved to Real Madrid in 2009.
Focusing purely on his goalscoring is unfair on Messi because he is so much more than that. His role now is essentially that of a playmaker but he also contributes a ridiculous amount of goals. There is also his role in build-up play to consider and his creativity isn’t just limited to his sublime passing range either because he can also destabilise opposition defensive shapes through his dribbling.
The 31-year-old is spearheading Barcelona’s attack this season which has seen them score 53 goals in 19 league games. Altogether Messi and Suarez have scored 31 of those goals which is the same as Sevilla and Celta Vigo who are joint second highest scorers in the league, so they are outscoring the majority of the rest of the teams in the division including Real Madrid by themselves.
Messi’s importance to the team is practically indescribable and having him in the team gives Barcelona a realistic chance of achieving their aim of a European double. Three consecutive quarter-final exits in the Champions League isn’t good enough for a team of Barcelona’s calibre and they look well placed to end that this season.
Comments