Lionel Messi is taking the p*ss so much he can hit the bar twice while scoring

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For lengthy durations this season, it’s appeared as if Lionel Messi‘s time at Barcelona was setting as much as finish with a whimper.

After explicitly stating he’d quite be someplace else final summer time, a sullen-looking Messi caught round, watching his old mate Luis Suarez fire Atletico Madrid to a big lead on the high of the La Liga desk.

That is the best one-club footballer within the historical past of the sport, wanting as if it might all come to an finish with a second successive trophyless season, turning out at a disquietingly empty Camp Nou.

By early December, 12 video games into the marketing campaign, Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona had misplaced as many La Liga video games as they’d gained, together with defeats to their title rivals Actual Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

On December 5, Barcelona had registered 82% possession at Cadiz, 21 pictures and eight on the right track, however in some way contrived to lose 2-1, leaving them seventh, 12 factors behind leaders Atletico. Even Cadiz sat two locations and 4 factors forward.

Following Roma, Liverpool and Bayern, there was their now-annual Champions League humiliation, dropping 4-1 within the first leg of their spherical of 16 first-leg conflict with PSG, as Kylian Mbappe prompted a thousand ‘altering of the guard’ headlines – and at least one about Air Jordans – with a hat-trick on his first go to to the Camp Nou.

The Copa del Rey appeared in extreme doubt, too, with a 2-0 defeat to Sevilla within the first leg of the semi-final.

There wasn’t even the Supercopa. Having edged previous Actual Sociedad on penalties within the semi-final of the January mini-tournament, Athletic Bilbao got here from behind to beat them 3-2 within the closing.

An institutional disaster. A former president arrested. It wasn’t supposed to finish like this.

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READ: How Barcelona’s €97m loss compares to other major European clubs

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Even Messi himself was misfiring. He’d scored properly over 600 objectives for the membership and 20+ objectives in 12 consecutive La Liga seasons however fired a clean in eight of his first 12 La Liga appearances of 2020-21.

The Argentinian’s radar appeared off. There was a interval during which he was approach out in entrance by way of pictures in Europe’s high 5 leagues, however nowhere to be discovered within the high scorers charts.

In January, Tottenham’s Son Heung-min had registered 72 fewer attempts at goal than Messi however had scored extra objectives.

Whereby final time period Messi broke the file for La Liga assists in a season (21), this season it took him till the fifteenth sport, a 3-0 win at Actual Valladolid simply earlier than Christmas, for him to arrange a team-mate within the league.

However because the flip of the 12 months, the 33-year-old properly and really has his mojo again, producing among the finest soccer of his profession, with 17 objectives and 6 assists in his final 18 appearances in all competitions.

Barcelona are unbeaten in 17 in La Liga, taking 45 factors from the final 51 on supply, with 11 wins within the final 12. The one sport during which they’ve dropped factors in 2021 was one other freak, smash-and-grab 1-1 draw with Cadiz during which they conceded a late penalty after creating sufficient possibilities to have gained by three or 4.

The place Atletico are faltering – three wins of their final eight – Messi is firing La Blaugrana again into the race, now simply 4 factors off the tempo and with all of the momentum behind them.

Koeman’s males are additionally on monitor for the Copa del Rey, organising a rematch with Athletic after coming from behind to beat Sevilla 3-0 in the second leg of the semis.

They’re out of the Champions League on the earliest stage since 2007, however they made some extent in Paris, outplaying the French champions, leaving them sweating on the prospect of one other well-known remontada. It was solely 1-1 in the long run, however solely within the superb margins was it not a sizeable win.

The numbers are spectacular in and of themselves for Messi and Barcelona, however they solely inform half the story. Watch him play, and also you see one of many sport’s greats taking part in with starvation, having fun with his soccer and embracing the problem of serving to carry by the subsequent technology.

When he struck the ball with total ferocity at PSG, and once more with the opening objective in a 4-1 victory over Huesca, it’s as if he’s hitting it with all of the power of the final 18 months of frustration.

As he wallops it, you think about he’s nonetheless pondering how the membership allowed Neymar to depart and spunked the world record €222million fee up the wall.

A MAGICAL end from Lionel Messi! 🙌

The strike bounces in off the underside of the bar for his twentieth league objective of the season, and Barca have an early lead 🔥 pic.twitter.com/H0zyw4ZeAu

— Premier Sports activities 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) March 15, 2021

On Premier Sports activities within the UK, co-commentator Graham Hunter may solely chuckle on the brilliance of the strike towards Huesca, which struck the crossbar twice because the ball made its approach over the road.

It’s simply the most recent event whereby the one cheap response is to snicker on the unparalleled artistry of his sport. There are a whole bunch of profession highlights identical to it. Pep Guardiola knows.

On the US feed, Ray Hudson went with a special tack, as he so typically does, dropping all composure and simply screaming as Messi turned his man and rifled the ball in.

Should you reside in that area of the world, the Geordie commentator’s yelps and ever-more-ridiculous metaphors have been the soundtrack to Messi masterclasses for years.

The commentary LOOOOOL 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/WZOMPT3Bm5

— Yahya (@CFCYahya) March 15, 2021

If these are to be the Barcelona ahead’s closing months on the membership, he appears decided to offer Hudson a coronary. Such shows can’t be good for the person’s well being.

Towards Huesca, Messi scored a second, one other strike from exterior the field – albeit with assist from a deflection – and obtained an help, organising the primary objective of 21-year-old centre-back Oscar Mingueza’s profession with an ideal cross, simply days after he teed up 18-year-old Ilaix Moriba for his first.

It stays to be seen whether or not Messi lifts any silverware this summer time, and whether or not he’ll nonetheless be with the membership at the beginning of subsequent season.

But when he’s to go, it will likely be with a bang, not a whimper.