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.

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.

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 vs the referees part 6

It's time for part 6 of the series. There is still much more to cover about refereeing errors against Messi, so let's go straight to them.

The first one we'll be seeing is a poorly canceled 1v1 for Messi in the 2017-18 Copa del Rey final. It could have easily been a goal for him but the linesman called a non-existent offside.

The next error we'll be seeing happened in the recent El Clásico loss in April. Nacho made a bad tackle towards Messi inside the box but nothing happened.

And continuing with that game, there was a foul from Lucas Vázquez to Messi previous to Real Madrid's first goal.

Going way back to the 1st leg of the 2005/06 UCL R16, there's this brutal foul from Del Horno to Messi, but no card was given (not even a foul was called). He later received a red card for another attack on Messi.

And to end this part, there's this awful challenge from Pennant to Messi in the 2006/07 UCL season (2nd leg), which should have been punished with a red card.

That's all for the 6th part of this series. I hope you liked this entry, and as always I'll see you in the next blog.

When Messi destroyed Real Madrid in the Champions League

April 27th, 2011. Real Madrid and Barça faced each other in the 2010/11 UCL semifinal. Barcelona wanted revenge from the recent Copa del Rey final loss against them, and all eyes were on Messi to deliver.

The rest, as they say, is history. Messi scored one of the greatest goals of all times at the Bernabéu dribbling past half of Real Madrid's team starting a little over the halfway line, as well as scoring with his right foot. Diarra, Ramos, Arbeloa, Marcelo and Casillas were no match for Messi's brilliant play that consolidated Barcelona's win 2-0. The previous goal came from himself after he tapped in a good cross from Afellay.

His stats from the game were the following: 2 goals, 3 key passes, 2 SoT (4 in total), 9 dribbles out of 12, 2 fouls won, 2 shots blocked, 2 through-balls, 53 passes out of 58, and 87 touches. A 10/10 performance from the GOAT. This was his performance on video:

This ended up being crucial since they tied 1-1 in the second leg at the Camp Nou, qualifying them for the final. And on the final itself... everyone knows what happened. This remains one of Messi's best games ever, with one of the best goals ever, and perhaps the best UCL goal ever, being scored coincidentally by the best player ever. I hoped you liked this entry and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi goals that would have been part 1

Even though Messi has over 700 goals in his career, with numerous of those goals being wonderful, there are still dozens of amazing goals that would have been for Messi. This is what this series will be about, so without further ado, let's look at them.

The 1st "would have been" goal we'll be seeing in this series happened at Camp Nou against Atlético Madrid in the 2008/09 season. He made a great run from the halfway line, going all the way to the box and chipping the goalkeeper, but the shot went just wide.

Next up is his recent game against Real Madrid at the Di Stéfano stadium. He shot straight from the corner and it almost went in, but as everyone looked in shock, the ball went to the crossbar and bounced off what would have been Messi's first Olympic goal.

Continuing with almost Olympics goals, Messi once again came close against Sevilla at home in the 2015-16 La Liga season. His shot went to the near post, but it hit the post and it bounced off to Suárez, who hit the bar and couldn't convert the chance either.

Now we go forward to the 2016-17 season, specifically in the Copa del Rey semi-finals against Atlético Madrid at home, where he shot a great free-kick but once again the crossbar denied his chance. That would have certainly been one of Messi's best free-kick goals.

And last but not least, there's his solo goal attempt against Athletic Club in the 2011-12 seasons, starting his run from behind the halfway line and going all the way to the box, but Iraizoz saved his shot, unfortunately.

That's all for the first part of this new series. I hope you liked this, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Barcelona lose El Clásico and hurt their title chances

Yesterday, Barça unfortunately lost 2-1 against Real Madrid at the Di Stéfano stadium. Benzema and Kroos scored for Real Madrid, while Mingueza scored Barcelona's discount (which came from a good Messi pre-assist) which in the end wasn't enough to change the result of the game even after Messi hit the post trying an Olympic goal. Messi's stats were: 1 pre-assist, 2 SoT, 1 woodwork (7 in total), 0.62 xG, 7 dribbles, 2 key passes, 9 SCA, 0.83 xA, 10 ground duels won, 1 aerial duel won, 3 fouls won, 1 tackle, 1 interception, 5 ball recoveries, 7 pressures (1 successful), 2 crosses, 2 long balls, 59 passes, 99 touches. This won him the MoTM according to WhoScored and got him as high as a 9.86 rating from Infogol.

This game was crucial for Barça's title chances, and they blew the opportunity away. Still, the race is very contended between Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, and Barcelona, with only 1 point between all 3 of them.

Messi still leads as the Pichichi and he hopefully wins the MVP as well (as he should). But now, the priority shifts to the Copa del Rey final which will be played next Saturday against Athletic Bilbao, hoping to get revenge from the Supercopa de España loss from January.

With this game, he also broke the record for most appearances in El Clásico, beating Ramos' 44 with a 45. Hopefully, Barça can put themselves together before the end of the season, but until then, I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi in El Clásico

Despite being the biggest club in Span alongside Barcelona, Mesi has had a history of dominating against Real Madrid multiple times, which we will detail in this entry. Without further ado, let's get into the topic.

Even in his first Clásico, he made an amazing run followed by an assist to Eto'o, which would be Barça's first of three goals in that 3-0 win against Real Madrid all the way back in 2005. Since then, he has made 26 goals and 14 assists in 44 games against them, almost a 1 G/A per game ratio. He also has 19 wins, 11 draws and 14 losses, meaning that he also beats them on head-to-head.

He also has numerous iconic moments against them, like his solo goal at the Bernabeu in the 2010/11 UCL semi-finals, or his winner once again in the Bernabeu in the 2016/17 La Liga season where he celebrated his 500th goal with Barcelona by showing his jersey to the crowds. There's also his hat-trick and assist in the Bernabeu once again in the 2013/14 La Liga season, his memorable first hat-trick in a 3-3 draw, this time at Camp Nou, and his false 9 debut in the 2008/09 season, winning 6-2 with two goals and an assist from him.

Since the 2009/10 season (excluding some Supercopa de España and Copa del Rey games), he has an average rating of 7.87 (incredible considering that he gets almost an 8/10 per game against one of the strongest teams in Europe regularly), 12 MoTM out of 30, and 4 dribbles per game, showing more of his superiority.

So, as we can see, Messi doesn't hold back against Real Madrid and seems to have quite a paternity over them as well. I hope you liked this entry and I'll see you next time.