Tag: Lionel Messi

The five stand-out stats of Lionel Messi’s Barcelona career

The surreal statistics behind Lionel Messi’s Barca career are well known. Here are our five stand-out figures.

Lionel Messi has officially left Barcelona following the end of his contract and the financial issues which left them unable to sign-off on an extended stay.

Having seen his previous deal expire on 30 June, news came out last week that a contract was provisionally agreed and only awaiting La Liga’s go ahead. However, Barca have now admitted defeat and made no effort to hide the fact that they’re blaming La Liga – as well as the previous calamitous leadership of Josep Bartomeu – and looking towards protecting the club’s future.

“I can’t make a decision that will affect the club for 50 years,” said president Joan Laporta.

“The club is over 100 years old and it’s above everyone and everything, even above the best player of the world. We will always thank him for everything he’s done for us.

“In order to have fair play, we need to do this or make an effort which would put the club at risk. We couldn’t keep going with this and we needed to make a decision, which we have.”

Whilst a massive hole remains in Barca’s finances, an even bigger one has just developed at the heart of the team. The surreal statistics behind Messi’s Barca career are well known. Here are five stand-out figures.

672

Lionel Messi has scored 672 goals in a Barcelona shirt across all competitive competitions. These have come in 778 matches – of which have also seen a remarkable 305 assists.

42,142

Messi has played a total of 42,142 minutes across all La Liga matches. The last of which came in a 2-1 home defeat to Celta Vigo on 16 May. Messi scored Barca’s only goal that day.

1

One red card. Lionel Messi received just the one dismissal across his Barca career. This came as they were beaten 3-2 by Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup final in January 2021.

35

Messi’s 35 trophy honours with Barcelona includes 10 league titles, four Champions League winners medals, seven Copas del Rey, three Club World Cups, three European Super Cups and eight Spanish Super Cups.

6

Lionel Messi has won six Ballon d’Or titles during his time at Barcelona. He is out on his own as the only player to have won it six times – leading Cristiano Ronaldo on five.

Here is our most memorable Messi match in a Barca shirt 👇 What’s yours? 👀

Image Courtesy: 2 TOP (www.flickr.com/photos/2top/8729191435), Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic | Flickr

Advertisement

Is Lionel Messi being treated unfairly by UEFA?

Many fans, especially Barcelona fans, believe UEFA lost credibility by excluding Lionel Messi from the Ballon d’Or top three. Marco Gerges takes a look at the Argentine’s situation…

Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest footballer of all time. He has won a total of 33 trophies with FC Barcelona and has become the best ever to play in the blue and red stripes. Even though he is recognised as one of the best players in the world, he is also criticised, mostly because of his performances with his national team.

UEFA have decided to exclude him from the top three of their Best Player award. Some agree with the decision, whilst some think the decision was very wrong and disrespectful towards Messi. Many think the four-time Champions League winner is being treated unfairly by UEFA.

Although a great player, Messi has recently been falling short of rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who has tied the Argentine on Ballon Dor’s. This year’s UEFA Best Player award went to Luka Modric, and Messi wasn’t even included in the top three.

Many fans feel that UEFA is being unfair towards Messi, they could have a case. Let’s compare statistics. Mohamed Salah had the best season of his career, catching the eye of fans and clubs from all around the world. The Egyptian scored 32 goals and gave 11 assists in 36 Premier League appearances. Salah was nominated in the top three for the award.

Salah’s amazing season just fell short of one of Messi’s ordinary seasons. Leo scored 34 goals and gave 12 assists in 36 LaLiga appearances. He achieved top goalscorer status and most assists, he finished the season with the league title, domestic cup, and the Super Cup.

Even after a great season, why didn’t UEFA bat an eye? Many believe UEFA are trying to pick the winner of the Best Player award based on a player’s performance in the Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric won the competition, while Salah made it to the final and played very well. Modric had an advantage because of the World Cup, that’s why he won the prize.

Many fans, especially Barcelona fans think that UEFA lost their credibility after excluding Lionel Messi from the top three. The other candidates also had amazing seasons, but excluding the 5-time Ballon Dor winner from the top 3 wasn’t the correct decision.

The majority of the football community aren’t telling UEFA to give him the prize but to at least show respect to the player by ranking him in the top three for the prize. He had as good a season, or an even better season, than most of the players.

Messi has started the 2018/19 season on fire, scoring four goals and giving two assists in three LaLiga appearances. Now we have to wait until the new season ends to decide if UEFA have truly put Messi down, or if he will prove to them that they have made a mistake.

%d bloggers like this: