Messi bingo

In football terms, a 'bingo' would be the minutes in which a player has scored. When it comes to Messi and his 748 goals, he is no stranger to this phenomenon and has scored in nearly every minute except the 1st and 2nd (he's also scored in extra time).

This can be found in the MessiStats website as messi.starplayerstats.com/en/bingo.

It can also be filtered by season, team, ground he played, and competition. Here are some examples:

Argentina

2020/21 season for club and country

It is quite an interesting stat to look at, and there is much more to look at thanks to those filters. That is all for today, so I hope you liked this entry and I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi in June: Good performances with the national team

With another month gone, it's time to review Messi's performance in it. After ending the 2020/21 season with Barcelona, Messi has played his first games with Argentina this year starting at the World Cup qualifiers and then the current Copa America tournament.

He played 6 games, scored 4 goals, and gave 2 assists. Other stats include: 17 SoT (27 in total), 30 dribbles, 2 big chances created, 15 key passes, 59/94 duels won, 20 fouls won, 8 tackles, 2 interceptions, 17 recoveries, and 461 touches. Amazing stats.

These were his best moments in June:

If you want to see my entries game by game, here they are: Chile (qualifiers), Colombia, Chile (Copa America), Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia.

The goal for next month is to win the Copa America once and for all, after close calls in previous tournaments. There is a realistic chance of reaching the final, but we have to work step by step. Hopefully, the dream finally comes true for Messi and Argentina. That is all for today, so as always I hope you liked this entry and I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi's stats in knockout matches

Continuing with the argument that Messi is a big game player, and with the upcoming Copa America KO matches he'll be playing against Ecuador, it's a good time to look at Messi's stats in all knockout matches in his career.

In total, he has played 202 knockout matches, winning 120, tying 41, and losing 41. He has 131 goals and 65 assists in those games, which is a 0.97 G/A per game ratio, unimaginable for most players considering not only that these are knockout matches but also the sheer amount of these types of games he's played.

Going into more specifics, in 107 games he has the following stats: 488 shots, 207 on target, 563 dribbles, 243 key passes, 63 through-balls, 51 MoTM, and an average rating of 8.35, which further proves the point that Messi not only appears more often than not in these games but that he has a great performance on average. As a side note, he's created 30 big chances in 55 games.

And now I'll go stage for stage:

Round of 64: 1 game (against Gramenet in the 2004/05 Copa del Rey).

Round of 32: 3 games, 3 goals.

Round of 16: 56 games and 51 goals, and 20 assists - In ~29 games: 137 shots, 64 on target, 156 dribbles, 69 key passes, 18 through-balls, 19 MoTM, 8.75 average rating - 10 big chances created in 18 games.

Quarter-finals: 54 games, 25 goals, and 16 assists - In ~30 games: 147 shots, 59 on target, 149 dribbles, 64 key passes, 15 through-balls, 11 MoTM, and an 8.03 average rating - 6 big chances created in 16 games.

Semi-finals: 45 games, 21 goals, and 16 assists - In 28 games: 119 shots, 50 on target, 161 dribbles, 63 key passes, 17 through-balls, 12 MoTM, and 8.31 average rating - 6 big chances created in 11 games.

Finals: 43 games, 31 goals, and 13 assists - In 20 games: 85 shots, 34 on target, 97 dribbles, 47 key passes, 13 through-balls, 9 MoTM, and 8.3 average rating - 8 big chances created in 10 games.

Hopefully, Messi can further strengthen these numbers against Ecuador. That's all for today, so I hope you liked this entry and I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi vs the referees part 8

As I've said numerous times before, Messi has been hurt by refereeing decisions a vast amount of times, so this series will be very long, as you can see by the fact we're now in part 8. So without further ado, let's look at more refereeing decisions against Messi.

The first one we'll be seeing happened against Real Madrid in the 2017 Spanish Super Cup, where Ramos fouled Messi inside the box but no foul was given.

Going forward to the second leg against Sevilla in the 2020/21 Copa del Rey, there was a penalty not given after Messi shot on target and Ocampos blocked it with his hands.

In the 2019/20 La Liga season, in an away game against Real Betis, there was a penalty from Bartra to Messi not given.

In the 2012/13 La Liga season, playing against Real Betis away, Messi had a 1v1 chance but it was wrongfully canceled because of a non-existent offside.

And last but not least, playing against Athletic Bilbao away in the 2018/19 La Liga season, there was this brutal stomp on Messi's leg by Yeray which wasn't given a red card for.

That is all for part 8 of this series. I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

The king of panenkas

A 'Panenka' penalty or free kick is basically a chip shot, which takes courage as it is a bit, which risks the keeper saving it even if he chooses a side (in case of a penalty) or easily falls to the keeper's hands (in case of a free-kick). But for Messi, this isn't even a risk, as he has performed numerous panenka penalties and even free-kicks. So without further ado, let's look at those examples.

Messi's ability to make panenka penalties is excellent, and he has done so multiple times. In fact, after a panenka penalty against Getafe in 2015, Antonin Panenka, the inventor of the panenka penalty, said it was the best he had ever seen. Below is a video showing most of Messi's panenka penalties.

The next and last thing to see are Messi's panenka free-kicks. For some, this shot is simply too difficult to score, but for someone like Messi, no free-kick is out of his panenka range, even long ones. Below is a video showing a number of panenka free-kicks from Messi.

As we can see, Messi's chip shot ability expands to penalties and even free-kicks, and on an unprecedented amount. This shows how well he can control the power of his shot depending on the situation, an important finishing ability. I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Barcelona announces Depay as their new signing

Yesterday, Barcelona announced Memphis Depay as their new signing for the club. Rumors were spreading for months about Depay's arrival to Barcelona, with an agreement supposedly made weeks ago, but since Depay was playing at the Euros, they had to send medicals for his examination. After passing it, everything was set for Depay to join Barcelona, which will happen after his contract at Lyon expires. His new contract with Barcelona will run until the end of the 2022-23 season.

In relation to Messi, Depay played twice against him, which were the 1st and 2nd legs of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League R16 between Barcelona and Lyon. In the tie, Messi scored 2 goals and made 2 assists (out of Barcelona's 5 goals). Here are some pictures featuring both of them:

That is all for today, so as always, I hope you liked this entry and I'll see you in the next blog.

Most dates for the 2021-22 season are set

Yesterday, Barcelona announced the official dates for most tournaments in the 2021-22 season after confirmation from the RFEF and UEFA. All details aren't exactly known, but there's information about some important games, so without further ado, let's look at them.

The league will start on August 14th, though the rival is unknown. The dates for El Clásico and the Catalan derby are yet to be known. There are no details for the end of the season either, though it probably will be in May as it's been on other occasions. For holidays, there won't be any games on December 24th/2th/26th, but there will be on New Year's Eve (December 31st).

For the Copa del Rey, the final will be played on April 23rd of 2022. And for the Supercopa de España, there hasn't been a date, but it's speculated that it will be on January like the previous tournaments. The rival in the semi-finals will be Real Madrid, while Atlético Madrid and Athletic battle in the other semifinal matchup.

For the Champions League, the draw for the group stage will be made on August 26th. These will be the dates for the group stage games:

First game: September 14th/15h

Second game: September 28th/29th

Third game: October 19th/20th

Fourth game: November 2nd/3rd

Fifth game: Novmber 23rd/24th

Sixth game: December 7th/8th

Then for the knockout stage games, the dates will be the following:

R16 (1st leg): February 15th/16th/22nd/23rd, 2022

R16 (2nd leg): March 8th/9th/15th/16th, 2022

QF (1st leg): April 5th/6th, 2022

QF (2nd leg): April 12th/13th, 2022

Semifinals (1st leg): April 26th/27th, 2022

Semifinals (2nd leg): May 3rd/4th, 2022

Final: May 28th, at Saint Petersburg Stadium.

And finally, for international breaks in 2021, the dates will be September 1st-8th, October 8th-12th, and November 11th-16th. For Conmebol qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, the remaining dates are January 27th through February 1st and March 24-29th. The Inter-confederation play-offs will be June 2nd-7th.

That is all for today, so I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Barça launches the 2021-22 home kit and Messi's one is available

A few hours ago, Messi's Barça home jersey for the 2021-22 season got revealed. Before the revelation, Barcelona launched the new home kit yesterday, showing the entire team wearing the new shirt.

As always, it has the iconic Nº 10 with 'MESSI' above and 'unicef' below the number. These are written in white color. There appears to be numerous in stock too. The picture is this one:

This also confirms Messi's stay in Barcelona, which is important. Messi is yet to actually wear the shirt since he's currently playing the Copa América with Argentina, but after he returns to Barcelona, there will probably be a picture of him wearing the shirt not long after. That is all for today, so I hope you liked this entry and I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi and football tennis

One interesting variant to tennis is football tennis, where instead of using a racket, the object used is your body (except the arms, just like in football), while the rest remains relatively the same. Messi is no stranger to this sport, as we'll see in this entry.

Going back to 2005, there's footage of him playing football tennis with Tévez and then with Maradona himself. This was in the show 'Noche del 10'.

And continuing in 2005, he had played football tennis in the show Sin Cassette. He played with Pablo González at Plaza Rosario.

Now we go forward to 2007. This was once again in the show Sin Cassette. As we can see, Messi could easily do keepie-uppies and easily won the friendly match.

Moving forward to 2011, he played football tennis with some friends in Rosario on December 27th while he was on vacation.

In August 9th of 2014, Messi was making pre-season training with Barcelona and decided to play football tennis with his teammates. He even managed to do a bicycle kick and nail it.

Earlier in the year, he was doing some training with the national team previous to the 2014 World Cup, and he teamed up with Di María and Gago to play a 3-a-side football tennis match against Biglia, Agüero, and Lavezzi.

Later in the World Cup, specifically on June 20th prior to playing against Iran, Messi played a particular game of football tennis against Agüero. What separated both players was a fence, which separated the field from the tribune.

In June of 2015, preparing for the game against Jamaica, Messi played football-tennis alongside Di María.

In October of 2017, in a training with the national team prior to a World Cup qualifier against Peru, Messi did some football tennis with his teammates being Mascherano and Di María.

In May of 2018, preparing for the 2018 World Cup (with a friendly against Haiti beforehand), Messi played some football tennis and even did a bicycle kick, just like in 2014.

Then in June, Messi once again played football tennis with Argentina in preparation for the World Cup, playing alongside Di María and Mascherano.

In February of 2020, prior to a La Liga game against Eibar, Messi played football tennis alongside Vidal and once again did a bicycle kick.

As a side note, although not tennis, he played teqball with his son Thiago Messi. Antonella made a 4-second clip out of the match and Messi sent it on his Instagram account.

As we can see, football tennis can be a fun practice for Messi, and he has no problem with this variation, even taking some liberties and doing bicycle kicks from time to time, which he doesn't tend to do in football matches. That is all for today, so I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi vs the referees part 7

We've now reached part 7 of this series, with many more errors ready to be seen here, so let's get down to business and continue.

The first error we'll be seeing happened against Sevilla at home in the 2020/21 La Liga season, where Diego Carlos clearly fouled Messi inside the box but didn't get punished for it.

In the same season, against Real Madrid at home, Casemiro clearly fouled him inside the box, but once again no punishment was given for it.

Going back to the 2019/20 La Liga season, playing away against Sevilla, Diego Carlos made a tough tackle on Messi but wasn't given a red card.

In the same season, playing at home against Celta, the referee made up a non-existent foul from Messi and gave him a yellow card. From that free-kick, Celta got the equalizer, but Barcelona fortunately won the game 4-1 afterward.

And last but not least, there's this clear penalty from Wakaso to Messi, when Barcelona faced Alavés at home in the 2017/18 La Liga season.

That is all for this part of the series, so I hope you liked this entry and I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi's possible new 10-year contract with Barcelona

Yesterday, rumors spread about an agreement between Messi and Barcelona for a 10-year contract with the Argentine. According to Sport, the project involves 2 more seasons at Barcelona, then 2 seasons at Inter Miami to end his career + Barcelona's ambassador, and the remaining seasons would be spent solely as Barça's ambassador. In his 4 remaining seasons as a player, he would earn € 60M per season, a total of € 240M, which is much lower than what he earns nowadays.

According to other sources (like Sport), the negotiations are still open as Messi wants to higher his fixed salary for his last 6 seasons as an ambassador.

He could meet up with Gonzalo Higuaín at Inter Miami, as well as 5 other Argentine players. The club is also partially owned by David Beckham, who's their president as well. It would be an interesting experience to see someone as important as Messi playing in the MLS, similar to what Pelé did in his last years with the New York Cosmos.

According to Laporta, for Messi, it's a matter of the future and the project, not the money. He also said that he's in good talks with his agents. Everything seems to point towards Messi signing a new contract with Barcelona, after making his decision to stay at the club. But only time will tell what happens next. I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Barcelona presents two new signings

Yesterday and today, Barcelona presented both Eric García and Emerson Royal as their new signings. Both are young defenders, so hopefully these signings can reach their potential here.

Continuing with Emerson Royal, Messi has played against him on four occasions, which were all Barcelona vs Real Betis encounters since 2019. Messi won all four of those games, with both players playing 190 minutes together (when both were on the pitch). Messi scored 4 goals and gave 3 assists while Emerson was on the pitch, which means 1.9 goals per 90 and 3.3 G/A per 90 while they both played at the same time.

As a bonus, here are some pics with Messi and Emerson:

The defense has had some problems in the last season, so hopefully this can ease the situation. Umtiti is transferable so he may go out in exchange for these two signings, and if a good enough offer comes, Lenglet may go too.

In other news, Barcelona is still in talks with Depay, and since he'll play today with De Jong in a friendly, he could get a little more convinced to join the club. And according to some sources, Wijnaldum is a 'done deal' so he may be announced at some point as well.

Those are all the signings and rumors so far, so I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.