Argentina destroys Bolivia and finishes top of the group stage

Yesterday, Argentina beat Bolivia 4-1 with two goals from Messi, an assist from Messi to Agüero and a goal from Lautaro Martínez. Messi's stats were: 2 goals, 1 assist, 4 SoT (5 in total), 1.3 xG (FBref), 4/5 dribbles, 1 key pass, 2 chances created, 1GCA, 7 SCA, 9 long balls, 1 cross, 59/74 passes, 7/11 duels won, 2 fouls won, 1 tackle, 1 interception, 5 pressures (2 successful), 2 recoveries, and 94 touches.

These were his ratings:

SofaScore: 9.9

Fotmob: 9.4

FootballCritic: 9.4

AiScore: 8.88

Tigo Sports: 10

This was his heatmap:

This was his performance on video:

And this was his performance with an exclusive cam:

This was obviously enough to win him the official MoTM:

Here are some fun facts after the game:

• This was Messi's 148th match, breaking the record for most games played for the Albiceleste.
• With this game, Messi equaled his record of 3 MoTM awards in a single Copa América, which he did in 2015 and 2016.
• This was Messi's 590th goal in open play.
• It marked Messi's goal Nº 50 in neutral games.
• Messi's 10th brace in 2021.
• It was Messi's 1st match at the Pantanal Arena and in the city of Cuiabá.
• Messi played his 31st match in Copa América, leaving him as the only 3rd place in the historical table. He is 2 games behind 2nd place and 3 games behind 3rd place (if Messi reaches the final/match for 3rd and 4th place he would equal the record then).
• Messi now has 12 goals in the Copa América, leaving him in 12th place in the all-time table along with Angel Romano and Roberto Porta.
• Messi scored his 100th penalty.
• 50th game where Messi has scored 1+ left foot goals in group stage games.
• Messi now has 20 wins against teams ranked 85 and lower at the FIFA ranking in group stage games.
• 10th game where Messi scored against a team ranked 85 and lower at the FIFA ranking in group stage games.
• 140th game against teams ranked 90 and lower.
• 10th game where Messi has scored a brace against a team ranked 85 and lower at the FIFA ranking.
• 50th game where Messi has scored a left-foot goal against a team ranked 110 and lower.
• 10th game where Messi has scored two left-foot goals against a team ranked 110 and lower.

After the game, Messi was seen alongside Lampe (Bolivia's goalkeeper). This is how it went. Lampe later made a post on social media about the encounter, showing admiration and respect for Messi.

Argentina's rival in the quarter-finals will be Ecuador, 4th place in group B. The game will be on July 3rd at Goiãnia, the first time Messi will play in that city. Hopefully, Argentina get a good result and can advance through to the semi-finals. As always, I hope you liked this entry, and I'll see you in the next blog.

Argentina beats Paraguay and qualifies through to the quarter-finals

Yesterday, Argentina got the win against Paraguay with a goal from 'Papu' Gómez and secured their spot in the quarter-finals. Messi's stats were: 2 SoT (3 in total), 5 dribbles, 1 key pass, 34/42 passes, 12/16 duels won, 5 fouls won, 1 interception, 2 tackles, 2 recoveries, and 73 touches.

These were his ratings:

SofaScore: 7.5

Fotmob: 7.9

FootballCritic: 7.1

AiScore: 6.35

Tigo Sports: 7.9

This was his performance on video:

This was his heatmap:

Some fun facts after the game:

• Messi is now 3rd in the table of most games in Copa América history, along with Víctor Ugarte (30). He is 3 behind 2nd place and 4 behind 1st place.
• This was Messi's 40th victory with Argentina in neutral stadium matches.
• Messi is now tied with Mascherano for the most games played with Argentina (147).
• This was his 20th game played against a team ranked 50 or lower in FIFA's ranking in a group stage game.
• This was his 10th game played against a team ranked 54 or lower in FIFA's ranking in a group stage game at Copa América.

Continuing with the fact that Messi now has the joint-most games played with the Argentine national team, both Messi and Mascherano made posts about it.

As previously mentioned, thanks to this win Argentina qualified through to the quarter-finals of the tournament. Their rival is still unknown since the positions of both groups are not yet known, with a round to go in each group. Argentina's next rival will be Bolivia, who's last in the group with no points won yet in three games. Hopefully, Argentina get the win and consolidate their 1st place position in the group. I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Argentina gets the win against Uruguay with an assist from Messi

Yesterday, Argentina beat Uruguay 1-0 after Messi made a cross to Rodríguez and scored. It's their first victory since the return of international football this year (4 consecutive games tied). It was also Argentina's 1000th game in their history. Messi's stats were: 1 assist, 1 SoT (2 in total), 4 key passes, 9 dribbles, 1 cross, 40/47 passes, 15/24 duels won, 5 fouls won, 1 tackle, 2 recoveries, 11 pressures (4 successful), and 78 touches. This won him the official MoTM, his 2nd in the tournament.

This was his heatmap:

This was his performance on video:

And this was his exclusive cam (also detailing his performance):

Here are some fun facts after the game:

• Messi is now in sole 4th place in the Copa America's most games played table, with 29. He is 1 game behind 3rd place, 4 behind 2nd place, and 5 behind 1st place.
• Messi gave his 10th assist this year.
• Messi got his 40th goal contribution this year.
• With today's assist, Messi has 30 assists in neutral game matches.
• Yesterday was Messi's 10th match against Uruguay.
• It is Messi's 20th victory in 2021.
• Argentina reached 1000 games played (the stats are in the link).

Another thing to note about the game were Messi's runs and Messi's ball control, which was phenomenal all throughout the match, even in the last minutes of the game, gaining precious time.

After the game, Messi posted on his Instagram: "Let's go !!! It was important to win today. This will give us peace of mind for what is to come, which will continue to be tough 💪💪🇦🇷🇦🇷"

Argentina is now placed 1st in the group alongside Chile (though Paraguay has 1 point less with 1 fewer game). Argentina's next opponent will be Paraguay on the 21st, so hopefully Argentina can get a decisive victory to secure a spot for the KO stage. But until then, I hope you liked this entry, and I'll see you in the next blog.

Argentina and Chile tie in the Copa América debut

Yesterday, Argentina tied 1-1 to Chile at the Olímpico Nilton Santos stadium, the first time Messi has played there. Messi opened the score with a fantastic free-kick to the top left corner, but Vargas equalized after a rebound from a penalty. Messi's stats were: 1 goal, 3 SoT (7 in total), 3 dribbles, 4 key passes, 3 crosses, 2 long balls, 6 SCA, 29/36 passes, 6/12 duels won, 2 fouls won, 1 tackle, 5 recoveries, 10 pressures (1 successful) and 66 touches. Winning him the official MoTM of the game.

His ratings were:

SofaScore: 8.4

Fotmob: 8.5

FootballCritic: 8.1

Infogol: 10

Tigo Sports: 9.5

This was his heat map:

This was his performance on video:

Here are some fun facts after the game:

• With this goal, he has become the top scorer of free kicks in the national team, with 7 goals, surpassing Riquelme who had 6.
• Messi has surpassed Ronaldo in free-kick goals (57).
• Messi has surpassed Batistuta in the most official goals with the national team (39).
• Messi is now in 4th place for most games played in the Copa America (28), tied with Máximo Mosquera.
• Messi has reached 10 goals in the Copa América, leaving him in 15th place (tied with 9 more).
• Messi has played his 6th Copa América, tying Tesoriere's record with 6 as well.
• Messi played his first game and scored his 1st goal at the Olímpico Nilton Santos stadium.
• Messi received his 10th official MoTM award for the Copa América (awarded since 2011).
• Messi has scored his 30th goal with Argentina in neutral games.
• Messi has reached 30 goals this year.

Argentina's next game will be against Uruguay, a tough challenge for the albiceleste. Messi will also face Suárez once again. I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi vs South American countries

Having detailed Messi's performances against teams from the top 5 leagues, it's now time to look at Messi's performances against teams from certain continents/subcontinents, which is a good time considering Messi will return to the national team in a few days.

Overall, Messi has the following stats against South American countries: 79 games, 29 goals and 19 assists (22 counting non-Opta), which means that Messi has 48 (or 51) G/A, an average of 0.61 (0.65) per game, which is not bad.

Going country for country here are his stats:

Bolivia: 9 games, 3 goals, 1 assist. With U-20: 1 game, 2 goals.

Brazil: 11 games, 5 goals. With U-20: 2 games, 2 goals.

Chile: 9 games, 3 goals, 2 assists, 1 red card. With U-20: 1 game, no goals.

Colombia: 9 games, 3 goals, 2 assists. With U-20: 3 games, 1 goal.

Ecuador: 6 games, 5 goals, 1 assist.

Paraguay: 10 games, 5 goals, 5 assists. With U-20: 1 game, 1 goal, 2 assists.

Peru: 7 games, 1 goal. In U-20: 1 game, 1 goal.

Uruguay: 9 games, 5 goals, 2 assists. With U-20: 2 games, 2 goals, 1 assist.

Venezuela: 9 games, 4 goals, 6 assists. With U-20: In U-20: 2 games, 1 goal, 1 assist.

With this, he became the first Argentine player to score against all other Conmebol nations, and the 4th player ever to do it, which is quite an impressive achievement.

Clearly, despite the physicality that South American countries play with, Messi still performs well against them. Now with the upcoming 2022 World Cup qualifiers and the Copa America, Messi will hopefully further increase these numbers. That is all for today, so I hope you liked this entry and I'll see you in the next blog.

Barcelona win against Eibar their last game of the season and Messi wins his 8th Pichichi

Yesterday, a Messi-less Barcelona beat Eibar 1-0 away, securing their 3rd place spot. They didn't have a single shot in the first half, showing that Messidependencia is a very real issue within the team, but fortunately, Griemzann managed to score the winner in the second half. Atlético Madrid was crowned champion of La Liga after beating Real Valladolid 2-1.

This also confirms what had been expected since the last matchdays: Messi has won his 8th Pichichi. With 30 goals in 30 games, Messi has won the Pichichi by a clear margin, though not close to the Golden Boot race as he was 11 goals behind him, but still in 2nd spot. This Pichichi win means the following things:

• Messi won his 5th Pichichi, setting a record for the most Pichichis won in a row, beating Di Stéfano's and Hugo Sanchez's 4-peat.
• Messi equals Jean Pierre Papin's record of 5 consecutive league top scorer awards, set in the 1990/91 season.

Now, the team must focus on who stays and who goes, with many rumors going around this topic, including Koeman, the manager.

As I previously said, I will do an entry detailing Messi's performance in La Liga this season and overall. I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Barcelona lose yet another game and the charge for the title is over

Yesterday, Barcelona lost 2-1 at home to Celta Vigo. Messi gave Barça the lead with a header, but Santi Mina equalized for Celta. In the second half, Lenglet got sent off due to a 2nd yellow, and near the end of the game, a cross from Solari went to the post and Santi Mina scored on the rebound to give Celta the win. Messi's stats were: 1 goal, 1 big chance created, 2 SoT (8 in total), 0.8 xG, 2 key passes, 10 SCA, 0.5 xA, 15 dribbles out of 15, 18 duels won out of 24, 1 foul won, 1 interception, 2 tackles, 10 pressures (6 successful), 3 ball recoveries, 6 long balls, 1 cross, 60 passes out of 69, and 111 touches, which got him a perfect 10/10 rating according to WhoScored.

This was his performance on video:

Here are some fun facts after the game:

• Messi has scored 30+ league goals for the 9th season (non-consecutive), a record in the top 5 European leagues.
• Messi has given 50 G/A at club level for the 13th season in a row.
• Messi surpassed Esnaola for the most minutes played in La Liga (42150 minutes played). He's now in 8th place.
• Messi is now level with Arconada and Diego Fernández for the most completed games in La Liga (411 completed games each). He is now in 16th position alongside them.
• Messi made 15 dribbles for the first time since the 2009/10 season (Opta data).
• Messi played his 400th game at the city of Barcelona. He's also surpassed the 400-goal mark, now with 401.
• Messi scored in a La Liga game for the 300th time.
• Messi scored in a game against Celta Vigo for the 10th time.

With this loss, Barcelona is mathematically out of the race for the La Liga title, as was expected by the recent tie with Levante. Hopefully Barça can secure 3rd spot since that's all that's left for Barcelona in this season. The Pichichi, as stated numerous times before, is sealed for Messi, with 30 goals this season, 7 ahead of Gerard Moreno. I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi reaches 200 million followers on Instagram

A few days ago, Messi reached 200 million followers on Instagram, a big milestone for Messi in social media terms. And despite having so many followers, he's only made 706 posts (705 when he reached 200M), which is a Follower per Post ratio of 283.688, the highest on Instagram's history, which proves how massive he is.

Instead of a usual "thank you" post, Messi made an awareness post about online abuse, with the hashtags #BastaYa #StopOnlineAbuse and #EnoughIsEnough. He got congratulated by people like Di María, Marc Bartra, Jeison Murillo, Pep Morata, Nicolás Vázquez, Patrick Kluivert, and his own wife Antonella Roccuzzo. The entire post can be found here.

Messi's influence on social media grows more and more by the day. The next milestone to be reached is Team Messi reaching 3 million followers on Twitter, being only 16K followers away. But until then, I'll see you in the next blog.

A great performance by Messi is overshadowed by Granada's win

Messi scored to give Barça the lead, but unfortunately, Granada made a comeback in the second half and won 2-1 in the Camp Nou. Despite dominating the entire game, Granada took their chances while Barcelona couldn't materialize more than 1 goal. Messi's stats were: 1 goal, 2 SoT (6 in total), 0.77 xG, 3 dribbles out of 5, 2 key passes, 6 SCA, 0.4 xA, 9 duels won out of 15, 6 fouls won, 2 ball recoveries, 1 successful pressure out of 3, 1 long ball, 2 crosses, 72 passes out of 88, and 109 touches, which was a MoTM performance and even a 10/10 according to Infogol. This was his performance on video:

Here are some fun facts after the game: 

• Granada became the 17th team to concede 15+ goals from Messi, the 20th team to concede 19 G/A from him, and the 16th team Messi has played 15+ games against.
• Messi scored his 470th La Liga goal.
• Messi surpassed Raúl García and he's now the 7th player with most games played in La Liga.
• Messi surpassed Joaquín and he's now the 9th player with the most minutes played in La Liga.
• Messi is now tied with Carmelo Cedrún in 19th place for the most games completed in La Liga.

This loss has hurt Barça's title chances, but there is still hope with some games left in the league. The Pichichi seems to be sealed, though, but the main priority is La Liga. Hopefully, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid drop points, while Barça wins all of their remaining games left. But until then, I'll see you in the next blog.

Barcelona get a comfortable win against Getafe with a brace and assist from Messi

With every game left in La Liga being taken as a final, winning is always vital for the La Liga race. Messi shook the crossbar early on and it hit the line, but a few minutes later he scored after making a run and shooting the top opposite angle. Lenglet scored an own goal to tie the scoreline 1-1, but Chakla then scored an own goal to give Barça the lead. Messi then made a good volley with his right foot which hit the post, then scored on the rebound. In the second half, Getafe got closer thanks to a penalty from Ünal, but a goal from Araújo assisted via corner by Messi and a penalty in the last minute from Griezmann (which Messi gifted him despite the fact he's in the Pichichi race and would've meant a hat-trick) sealed things up and gave Barça the 5-2 win.

Messi's stats were the following: 2 goals, 1 assist, 1 penalty gifted, 4 SoT, 2 woodworks, 7 shots in total, 0.59 xG, 2 dribbles out of 4, 1 key pass, 4 SCA, 0.5 xA, 7 duels won out of 10, 4 fouls received, 1 tackle, 3 ball recoveries, 4 successful pressures out of 9, 2 long balls, 1 cross, 47 passes and 73 touches, which was a 10/10 performance that won him the King of the Match. This was his performance on video:

Another 3 important points in the last competition left to play for. If Barcelona win every single La Liga game they have left, they will win the league, so Barça depend on themselves. Though of course it would be great if Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid dropped points to make the process easier.

There were also some fun facts about this game in terms of Messi's stats, which are:

• Messi is the first player in the history of the top5 leagues to scores 25+ goals in 12 seasons in a row.
• Getafe became the 12th team to concede 20+ goals from Messi.
• Araujo became the 51st Barça player to receive an assist from Messi.
• Araujo became the 16th Barça defender to receive an assist from Messi.
• Messi's 9 assists in La Liga this season went to 9 different teammates: Lenglet De Jong Trincao Dembélé Ilaix Alba Mingueza Dest Araujo
• It was the 150th game in Messi's career in which he scored AND assisted.
• For the first time in his career, Messi gave assists to 5 different defenders in a single Liga season: Lenglet Alba Dest Mingueza Araujo.
• Messi has given at least 9 assists in each of the last 14 Liga seasons.
• With his 2 goals and 1 assist, Messi has now been directly involved in 150+ goals against teams from the community of Madrid. 108 goals and 44 assists.
• For the first time in his career, Messi has scored 2+ goals in 7 of his first 15 Liga games of the calendar  year.
• The game was Messi's 100th Liga game against teams from the Community of Madrid. He's scored 85 goals and given 37 assists.

It also appears he gave his shirt to Chakla, the Getafe player who scored an own goal, after the end of the game. Hopefully Messi's great form continues in the following games so Barça can win the title. But until then, I'll see you in the next blog.

Barcelona get an easy win against Huesca and close in on Atlético Madrid

Yesterday, Barcelona beat Huesca at home 4-1 in what was Messi's 767th game for Barcelona, equalling Xavi's tally for most games played with Barça. He first scored with a good touch and then a rocket that hit the crossbar and entered the goal, then Griezmann scored a very similar goal to his 22 minutes later. A penalty conceded by Ter-Stegen got converted by Rafa Mir, but a great assist from Messi to Mingueza and a nice goal from Messi at the end of the game made it clear who the best team was. Messi's stats were: 2 goals, 1 assist, 1 big chance created, 2 SOT (6 in total), 6 dribbles, 3 key passes, 9 ground duels won, 4 fouls won, 1 tackle, 12 pressures (6 successful), 1 block, 2 crosses, 81 passes and 125 touches which was enough for yet another 10/10 from the GOAT.

Now, Barcelona is only 4 points behind Atlético Madrid in the league with the same amount of points, which is good news, although Real Madrid are only 2 points behind so we're not too safe.

Other than the (dubious) penalty there was not much to criticize from the team, and they were clearly the dominant side for most of the game. Next up will be Real Sociedad away, so a pretty important game awaits us. Until then, see you in the next blog.

100 entries on this blog!

Since December 5th, 2020, the day I opened this blog, I have done 100 entries (including this one). It has been a pleasure to do daily entries on this blog until today, although no one is currently watching this blog.

Hopefully in the future, when more people watch this blog, you'll see this, and I want to thank you for viewing this as well.

I genuinely like posting on this blog daily with information from Messi, and I hope it is of value for the readers of this blog.

That is all, so until then, I'll see you in the next entry.

Barça gets a crucial win over Sevilla in La Liga

Yesterday, Barcelona won one of their most important games this season in La Liga. With amazing vision, Messi assisted Dembélé's first goal, and later secured the win near the end of the game with a fantastic solo play that ended with a rebound and a weak foot goal. His stats were the following: 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 big chance created, 3 SOT (4 in total), 7 dribbles, 1 key pass, 13 ground duels won, 4 fouls received, 1 interception, 2 tackles, 14 pressures, 2 long balls, 56 passes and 94 touches, which all combined made for yet another 10/10 performance from him. He also leads the Pichichi race by 3 goals over Suárez, and last but not least, he's scored his 30th goal against Sevilla, the first rival he has scored 30+ goals against.

This was his performance on video:

Although doubtful at first of Barça's capacity to actually win the game, they gave me a good surprise as they not only beat them 2-0 away but also had a few chances to increase the lead. Hopefully, this match can narrow down Barcelona's lowest position this season to 3rd rather than 4th.

In the following days, Barça will meet Sevilla again, this time for the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals, looking to comeback a difficult 0-2 aggregate and get a ticket for the final at Sevilla. Until then, see you in the next entry.

Still alive in the race

Yesterday, Barcelona beat Elche with a comfortable 3-0, with 2 goals from Messi and then the third goal from Alba helped by a beautiful pre-assist from Messi. Messi's stats were the following: 2 goals, 1 pre-assist, 1 big chance created, 2 SOT (3 in total), 4 dribbles, 2 key passes, 6 ground duels won, 1 foul received, 1 tackle, 7 pressures, 57 passes and 90 touches, another 10/10 performance from the GOAT. Also, according to some sources, he has equalled Romário's 728 goal tally, another step forward.

Here is a video compiling his excellent performance:

Although the first half could have been better, the second half would prove to be the wake-up call for Barça, especially after Messi's first goal. And speaking of Messi's goals, he is currently leading the Pichichi race with 18 goals, 2 ahead of Suárez, and the odds are looking good to reach his 8th Pichichi, which would be wonderful.

Barça's next game will be certainly tough, as they'll be facing Sevilla. It will be a crucial game not only because of the opponent they're facing, but also because they're only 2 points ahead with 1 more game. But until then, see you in the next entry!

Messi's milestone goals

With over 700 goals to his name, Messi has not only had the privilege to hit the 100-goal milestone, but reached it 6 more times as well afterward, an unbelievable achievement. In this entry, I'll analyze all of his milestone goals (and a bonus one) from 1st to 700th. Without further ado, let's look at the goals.

His first goal in his professional career was against Albacete in the 2004/05 La Liga season. After getting a goal wrongfully canceled for a non-existent offside, Messi received a good pass from Ronaldinho which he converted with a great chip. A marvelous start for his goalscoring reputation.

His 100th goal came more than 4 years later in the 2009/10 Champions League season against Dynamo Kyiv, where he hit a shot to the near post with a difficult angle but nailing it nonetheless. He was able to reach 100 goals before the end of the 2000s.

Less than 2 years later, he scored his 200th goal against Real Madrid in the 2011 Spanish Super Cup. After scoring a memorable goal in the first half (his 199th), his 200th goal came near the end of the game when he passed the ball to Adriano, received a cross from him and volleyed the ball inside the net, sealing the tie 5-4 as well and winning Barcelona the trophy.

A little over a year later, in October 2012, Messi scored his 300th goal against Rayo Vallecano with a powerful strike to the top angle. He later scored his 301st goal too.

His 400th goal was against Granada on September 2014, receiving a good cross which he converted with a header close to the goal. He would later score his 401st goal that same game too.

His 500th goal came against Valencia on April 2016, with a great pass to Jordi Alba being received back in the penalty spot and converting the shot.

Almost two years later, he scored his best milestone goal yet with an amazing free kick against Atlético Madrid in La Liga. Also, Atlético Madrid was just 5 points behind them in the league title charge, and with that 1-0 win Barcelona practically consolidated their league title.

Finally, he scored his 700th goal against Atlético Madrid once again two years later, this time with a panenka penalty. This has been his last 100 goal milestone so far.

As a bonus, there's his 1000 goal milestone that he technically reached against Levante in January of 2018 (counting his goals at Newell's, Barcelona's academy, friendlies, etc), where he made a great pass to Alba, who gave it back to Messi, and he made a great volley that ended in the far bottom corner of the goal.

Clearly, we're witnessing the best and greatest goalscorer of all times, and perhaps he'll even reach the 800-goal milestone as well. But until then, see you in the next blog.

Messi's first professional game

On October 16th, 2004, Messi made his professional debut with Barcelona against Espanyol in the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. He entered in for Deco 82 minutes in while Barcelona was leading 1-0. In his previous season, he scored in 40 goals in 44 games between Juvenil B and Barcelona B, and he even played 2 friendlies with the 1st team. Another thing to note was his recent masterclass against Espanyol B which Rijkaard got noticed of, which with all the factors combined made him decide to sub him on in this game.

Only 2 minutes into the game, pressure from him caused David García to concede a throw-in. Later, Van Bronckhorst tried to cross him a ball but he was being marked and the ball went over his head. Afterwards came perhaps his best moment of the game, as Xavi passed him the ball from behind the halfwayline, held the ball, dribbled past David García, later got past Àlex and Ito (using Ito's body for a self-pass), and passed the ball to Iniesta.

From then, he didn't touch the ball until 6 minutes later. When he finally received another pass from Xavi, he completed another dribble, yet again against David García, then got rid of Àlex and left the ball for Iniesta. Half a minute later, he tried to dribble again but this time he wasn't able to. Larsson decided to pass him a good ball but it went too high for Messi and Kameni catched it. Finally, for the last play of the game he tried to dribble past Ito but wasn't able to, and that's where the game ended.

In total, he made 8 carries, 1 pass, 2/4 dribbles and 1 pressure, overall a good game from him, and he would play a couple more games in the season, even having his Champions League debut less than 2 months later.

That would be the beginning of not only Messi's prosperous career in Barcelona, but his professional career as a whole. And the rest, as they say, is history.

2 more points dropped in the last minute

Yesterday, Barcelona almost won the game to remain in the race for the title, but a last-minute penalty conceded by Lenglet slashed those hopes. Messi scored the opening goal with a penalty but it wasn't enough. His stats were the following: 1 goal, 3 SOT (8 in total), 3 dribbles, 2 key passes, 3 ground duels won, 1 aerial duel won, 1 interception, 2 pressures, 76 passes and 114 touches, which earned him yet another MoTM and also a 10/10 according to Infogol. He also reached 38 La Liga opponents scored against, quite a milestone.

If you want to see it on video, here it is:

This time, the problem was poor defending, which costed a penalty conceded at the last minute. Now they are 1 point behind Sevilla and much more away from Real Madrid, let alone Atlético Madrid.

Elche follows, and hopefully we can take the 3 points against them. Until then, see you in the next entry.

Another day in the office

Messi's performance yesterday against Alavés was crucial in Barcelona's victory, earning another vital 3 points. Trincão was the first to score, which was followed by a weak foot goal from Messi which was wrongfully disallowed for a non-existent offside. That wasn't enough to deter him so he scored an amazing goal near the end of the first half. In the second half, Messi assisted a goal to Trincão, scored an even better goal with a banger to the top bin, and he finally pre-assisted Firpo's final goal of the game. These were his stats: 2 goals, 1 assist, 1 pre-assist, 1 big chance created, 5 SOT (7 in total), 1 dribble, 3 key passes, 4 ground duels won, 3 fouls received, 5 pressures, 1 long ball, 1 cross, 58 passes, and 96 touches, worthy of not only a MoTM but also a 10/10 performance.

If you want to look at what Messi did, here it is:

Barcelona keep their good form in La Liga, crucial to achieving a second-place finish, and the clinical attribute was clearly seen in this game. But it's calm before the storm, because our next game will be against PSG in the UEFA Champions League R16 first leg at the Camp Nou, a tough challenge.

Hopefully, we can get a good result against them, but we'll have to see. Until then, see you in the next entry.

Worth every single penny

Yesterday, Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao and continued their unbeaten streak in the league. Messi, showing his worth, was the first to score with an amazing free-kick, and although Alba scored an own goal, Griezmann gave Barcelona the winner. In Messi's 800th game as a starter, his stats were the following: 1 goal, 2 SOT and 2 to the woodwork (5 in total), 11 dribbles, 4 key passes, 16 ground duels won, 5 fouls received, 1 tackle, 5 long balls, 1 cross, 45 passes, 8 pressures, and 88 touches, leading to yet another MoTM performance from the GOAT. Here was his performance put on video:

Even after El Mundo leaked his contract details with Barcelona (illegal), claiming that they were "ruining Barça" (even though Messi generates much more than what he earns both inside and outside the pitch), Messi silenced all his haters with an amazing performance, which is quite remarkable.

Like always, Barcelona missed a few big chances, and in a game as crucial as this one, they really couldn't have the luxury of failing them. Now, it's time to focus on the Copa del Rey, with the upcoming game against Granada for the quarter-finals. So until next time, see you!

Barcelona advance to the Copa del Rey quarter-finals

After a rough start where they could have easily made a lead, Rayo Vallecano was the first to score in the second half. Fortunately, Barcelona had the Messi factor, and he scored Barcelona's equalizer, then not long after De Jong made the comeback, with a pre-assist from Messi. This was his 650th goal for Barcelona, quite a milestone. Messi's stats were: 1 goal, 1 pre-assist, 2 SOT, 2 shots to the woodwork (4 in total), 9 dribbles, 2 key passes, 14 ground duels won, 5 fouls received, 33 passes, and 82 touches, which equated to an undisputed MoTM performance from him. Here is a comp of him in the game:

With a Messi hungry for more goals, hopefully 2021 becomes the year of Messi and goes back to his usual form (and even then, 2020 wasn't even that bad of a year, easily top 2 behind Lewandowski).

Going through to the quarter-finals, Barça now appears as a clear candidate for the trophy, but more is yet to come, and we can't waste chances, but to be fair, Barça hit the woodwork 4 times, extremely unlucky, but still, finishing must be on point. They can't risk dropping points in La Liga either, so Koeman will have to make some choices about that. Until then, see you on the next blog!