Messi is the first player in history to officially record a 1000 goals and assists in top level football. 703 goals, 298 assists for 1001 goal contributions in only 867 games. Let that sink in. Also, the first player ever to record 25 goals-20 assists double-double in European Top 5 leagues.
He also reached at least 30 goals in all competition with that brace for the 12th concecutive season.
Insane ... ~ 1.2 goals scored / created per game over 15 + seasons ... not just prolific but CONSISTENT... amazing
Kicker surveyed Bundesliga professionals and 270 responded, the results are pretty crazy, even in a season where Lewa outscored Messi (see Best Player in the World, lower down on right column, most of the others are BL specific:
With his 2 goals last night, Messi became the first player in @LaLigaEN to be top scorer (25 goals) 7 times, beating Zarra’s record. His 21st assist of the season beat Xavi’s record of most assists in a season. It’s a struggling Barça side and he’s 33. He is the record book.— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 20, 2020
Any chance La Liga will strip that assist away from Messi? I mean his pass was deflected by an Alaves player (although the pass was headed in the same general area before the deflection, so not sure how the rule is supposed to be applied here).
Oh ffs... France Football announce they will NOT be awarding the Ballon d'Or this year. https://www.francefootball.fr/news/Il-n-y-aura-pas-de-ballon-d-or-france-football-en-2020/1153942 A cynic may think that if Juventus win the Champions League they'll do an about face. He won't say it, he'll only think it.
Honestly no ballon dor in future maybe a good thing. So many great players can not win it and it makes them worse compare to other players win it.
I very much doubt messi would have won it this year. Unless Barca made the cl final or won it. Cl matters a lot nowadays
https://sports.yahoo.com/ve-seen-pele-maradona-cruyff-150019152.html Lionel Messi is the finest talent to have ever graced a football field, says Humberto Maschio, with the Argentine ranking the Barcelona superstar above Pele, Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff and Alfredo Di Stefano. Maschio told Clarin: “I've seen Di Stefano, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff - I've seen them all. But Messi is the best. “I've faced some of those myself but I repeat, again, Messi is the best.” He added: “They were great players in their time but the pace of the modern game is so different. Just look at the goals Messi has scored. “Leo doesn't run around much on the pitch but when he needs to, it's as if the ball is stuck to his feet. “I've seen players with unbelievable pace but when they have the ball, they slow down. Yet with Leo it's the opposite and he does it in such a fantastic way.”
Lionel Messi is by far the best I’ve ever seen when it comes to walking around the pitch and analyzing opponents . Most forward when they walk prejudice their team with lack of defensive work, even cr7 has been guilty of this in the past. with Messi, when he walks you can see he is assessing and analyzing everything and then explodes in the second half, often being involved in the killer blow. His football intelligence is out of this world. With the youth team I was coaching last year , I had an intelligent striker and coached him to walk in the first 20 minutes and study the opposition tactics .
“Every trainer talks about movement, about running a lot. I say don't run so much. Football is a game you play with your brain. You have to be in the right place at the right moment, not too early, not too late.” This is what Messi embodies. Messi’s football IQ is on different level
🍿 Every single one of Leo #Messi's goals 🆚 German teams. pic.twitter.com/3dbSY4mmP3— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 12, 2020 5 goal game vs Leverkusen, never forget it.