Had Barca won the tie 4-3, he would be the one receiving the praise. He is a grown up, and defending him all the time is not necessary (and wrong in my view).
Lionel Messi - Performances
- Thread starter Rado_N
- Start date
Useless in that tie as he is in most of the tie's Barca are knocked out in. I'm astonished anyone thinks he could somehow someday become some midfielder.
He's got a perfectly suited role for him now. Being a midfielder requires legs that he doesn't have.
true, some however believe he'll be prime iniesta in a couple of years time despite him being the laziest footballer in the world
He and his mates played like cuckolds last night, letting Ter Stegen get fecked by Roma.
About as effective as Rooney in midfield
Probably blinded by his great passing skills but it does take more than that to be a proper midfielder indeed
Wonder how he does next season.
His past 2 seasons after the world cup were probably the 2 best in his career to date(2010-2011 - his peak imo, and then 2014-2015).
If Valverde's the manager though, I doubt it's different from this season.
His past 2 seasons after the world cup were probably the 2 best in his career to date(2010-2011 - his peak imo, and then 2014-2015).
If Valverde's the manager though, I doubt it's different from this season.
Mum's spaghetti.
He needs to be rested looked totally gassed and Barca's midfield got bullied.
Barca have been overly dependent on him esp with Dembele's injury issues they are forced to play him almost every game.
Barca need to start to plan ahead, new midfield required and Suarez needs to be phased out.
Barca have been overly dependent on him esp with Dembele's injury issues they are forced to play him almost every game.
Barca need to start to plan ahead, new midfield required and Suarez needs to be phased out.
This is good news for us, hope he tries to keep as fit as possible.
He was nowhere to be seen, and what happened is the proof that Messi's the only reason Barcelona was a candidate to win something. If he goes missing or is not in shape, they're like anyother mid-table team.
He was nowhere to be seen, and what happened is the proof that Messi's the only reason Barcelona was a candidate to win something. If he goes missing or is not in shape, they're like anyother mid-table team.
Well, they have by far a better squad than Leganes even without Messi so they should. Even so, he could have easily played 60 minutes instead of 90 for example.
There goes gravity.
Leganes beat Real Madrid if I'm not wrong, they are not a bad team and these teams play with their lives against the big teams since they have nothing to lose.
Tap ins eh
What a player. Decisive in the last four CDR finals... and obviously the 2012 edition and 2009 one too. 48 goals in CDR overall.
I could talk about Messi's qualities and performances once more after the Sevilla game, but those are quite obvious by now. Something else has occurred to me recently.
When Messi made his debut for Barcelona, Real Madrid had won 30 La Liga titles and Barcelona had 16; almost double. There was no doubt that Real had been absolutely the dominant force in Spanish football. Messi's ultimate legacy may be that he almost single-handedly changes the entire history of Spanish football.
Because in a couple of weeks it's going to be 33-25 to Real. If Messi can keep going and Barcelona can keep winning then by the time he's finished it could be that Barcelona are somewhere around 2-4 behind. Considering that they have also dominated the Copa del Rey in the Messi era, and have now won 11 more than Real Madrid in total (30-19), you could argue that Barcelona had become the most successful club in Spanish domestic football.
That would be an incredible achievement; to be the absolute catalyst and driving force that changed football history. Not that long ago, Real were absolutely miles ahead of Barcelona historically, but the gap has already been closed quite significantly. Barcelona have also quintupled their CL winning record in the Messi era, strong though Real have been in this competition in recent years.
When Barca win the league this season, Messi will have won 32 trophies with them.
La Liga: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017-18
Copa del Rey: 2008–09, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016
UEFA Champions League: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15
UEFA Super Cup: 2009, 2011, 2015
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009, 2011, 2015
And he has been the constant. It used to be thrown in his face that he was only successful because of Xavi and Iniesta. That was always laughable, but Xavi has been gone for a while and Iniesta is by no means the force that he was. Then it was only because he was playing in the MSN forward line. Now Xavi and Neymar are gone, Iniesta is on his way out, the Barca midfield in particular, and team in general, is nowhere near as good as it was, they were stuffed by Real in the Supercopa and Pique said he felt inferior to them...and still Messi has inspired them to dominate the league and cup, win both, and barely lose a game all season.
And still today, as we saw against Sevilla, absolutely everything goes through him, he just completely dominates the game, and is still playmaker, inspirational winger, and lethal poacher rolled into one. He exhibited each of these parts of his game in the final, making some fantastic passes that no-one else could have made, leaving defenders for dead on more than one occasion, emphatically converting his only clear-cut chance, and nearly scoring an incredible free-kick as well.
What this guy can do and has done on a football field is simply phenomenal.
When Messi made his debut for Barcelona, Real Madrid had won 30 La Liga titles and Barcelona had 16; almost double. There was no doubt that Real had been absolutely the dominant force in Spanish football. Messi's ultimate legacy may be that he almost single-handedly changes the entire history of Spanish football.
Because in a couple of weeks it's going to be 33-25 to Real. If Messi can keep going and Barcelona can keep winning then by the time he's finished it could be that Barcelona are somewhere around 2-4 behind. Considering that they have also dominated the Copa del Rey in the Messi era, and have now won 11 more than Real Madrid in total (30-19), you could argue that Barcelona had become the most successful club in Spanish domestic football.
That would be an incredible achievement; to be the absolute catalyst and driving force that changed football history. Not that long ago, Real were absolutely miles ahead of Barcelona historically, but the gap has already been closed quite significantly. Barcelona have also quintupled their CL winning record in the Messi era, strong though Real have been in this competition in recent years.
When Barca win the league this season, Messi will have won 32 trophies with them.
La Liga: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017-18
Copa del Rey: 2008–09, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016
UEFA Champions League: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15
UEFA Super Cup: 2009, 2011, 2015
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009, 2011, 2015
And he has been the constant. It used to be thrown in his face that he was only successful because of Xavi and Iniesta. That was always laughable, but Xavi has been gone for a while and Iniesta is by no means the force that he was. Then it was only because he was playing in the MSN forward line. Now Xavi and Neymar are gone, Iniesta is on his way out, the Barca midfield in particular, and team in general, is nowhere near as good as it was, they were stuffed by Real in the Supercopa and Pique said he felt inferior to them...and still Messi has inspired them to dominate the league and cup, win both, and barely lose a game all season.
And still today, as we saw against Sevilla, absolutely everything goes through him, he just completely dominates the game, and is still playmaker, inspirational winger, and lethal poacher rolled into one. He exhibited each of these parts of his game in the final, making some fantastic passes that no-one else could have made, leaving defenders for dead on more than one occasion, emphatically converting his only clear-cut chance, and nearly scoring an incredible free-kick as well.
What this guy can do and has done on a football field is simply phenomenal.
Fantastic post and I agree with you, but while obviously Messi is in fact changing football history and closing that gap in league titles to Madrid, we must remember that the change in Barcelona started really with Ronaldinho, but yeah, what Messi has done since the start is incredible. By the time he leaves barcelona or if he finishes his career there, he will have all the records under the sun, lacking only the UCL goalscoring one which I think C.Ronaldo will manage to keep.
Basically, Messi has the work-ethic that George Best didn't had. I do believe that George at his absolute prime was slightly better than Messi but too little footage to be sure... 2009-2010 Messi was a monster.
I think you forgot Ronaldinho existed in that post. Messi barely played for his first 2 league titles and for his first Champions League. Counting this year, since he’s actually been a regular starter, they’ve won 7 league titles to Madrid’s 4 and the same number of Champions Leagues... so how can you say something like this?
Saying Messi was the catalyst in changing the history of Spanish football by counting league titles where he played a grand total of 7 games coming off the bench is not really the best way to go about it.
In 2004-05 he played 71 minutes and won the league. He got a medal for it, but come on... counting that title as an example of him changing the history of spanish football is ridiculous and an insult to Ronaldinho. For Messi's first 2 league titles he had a total of 12 starts.
The story of this Messi era has been that Barcelona have had their golden generation, got an immense amount of talent straight from the academy like we’ll never see again, had arguably the best player and the best team ever and their trophy cabinet has barely caught up with Madrid at all. Which isn't to take anything away from Messi, it was pretty much impossible to do otherwise given how big the gap was.
^^ zzZzZzz
Anyway, after the Iniesta sub last night it made me realise Messi is also nearing the end of his career, gonna be one sad day when he hangs up his boots. He's the sole reason I tune in to watch Barcelona and Argentina matches, best player i've seen by a country mile, makes the extraordinary look so simple.
I hope he wins the World Cup with Argentina this summer (clearly isn't going to be us), it'd make him the unquestionable GOAT.
Anyway, after the Iniesta sub last night it made me realise Messi is also nearing the end of his career, gonna be one sad day when he hangs up his boots. He's the sole reason I tune in to watch Barcelona and Argentina matches, best player i've seen by a country mile, makes the extraordinary look so simple.
I hope he wins the World Cup with Argentina this summer (clearly isn't going to be us), it'd make him the unquestionable GOAT.
Yes, better to go back to dreamland again
Not nearing it yet IMO. I mean, each season he plays at least 50 games. What we do know is he has a contract until 2021 and let's say for argument's sake he retires instead of signing a new one, you should be able to see him playing at least 150 more games. If you is counting by years yeah, he could have only four or five years left, but by games...it's still a long way ahead.
How much do you get paid for being a 'Professional Ronaldo PR Guy', or do you just do it for fun?
Just to let you know in an official capacity, since Ronaldo signed for Madrid they have won 6 domestic trophies, and Barcelona have won 16 (La Liga 6-2, Copa Del Rey 5-2, Spanish Super Copa 5-2). Messi has also been Spanish Player of the Year 5 times to Ronaldo's 1 (almost certain to be 6 after this year). And Barcelona have also dominated El Clasico, winning 11 times, drawing 4 and losing 4 in the league and Champions League, with Messi outscoring Ronaldo 13-8. Messi also has more goals and almost exactly 50% more assists than Ronaldo during this time.
Should I credit Ronaldinho for those statistics too? Or is there some other reason that Messi doesn't deserve any credit for this? Was this all due to players other than Messi? Did he, in fact, not deserve to win the Spanish Player of the Year virtually every season?
Perhaps, Cristiano really built a solid lead there but Messi is two and a half years younger and should be able to still be very effective for some time. I wouldn't be surprised if he manages to catch up and ultimately own the record, but that's definitely going to be the toughest one for him to beat. Every other record Cristiano has, he will surpass unless he gets a major career-ending injury.
Yet I wouldn't be surprised if Cristiano plays 2.5 years longer than Messi. Can hardly imagine that he retires while Messi is still playing, honestly. Messi on the other hand.. Could at least think of a scenario in which he calls it a day although he could still cut it on the highest level because he's had enough. I think these records are less important to him than for Ronaldo.
I think it will ultimately depend on wheather Barca manages to get their sh*t together und become a contester for the CL title again. If so then Messi will again be scoring for fun in the CL. At least if they give him a proper midfield so that he can play higher up front again.
It would also probably need Real Madrid declining again. In their current state, Ronaldo will keep scoring and scoring for them because he's brillant at it while his team is equally talented in creating chances for him.
If he decided to play as a pure striker his chances would improve. But he just likes to have the ball and influence the game all the time. Ronaldo could be the first player ever to score 20 goals in a UCL this season which is crazy... I remember when it was normal for players to score 6,7,8 goals throught the tournament!
There isn't an argument though, is there?
Including this season 17/18 as a Barcelona win; in the last 20 years (back to 1998) Madrid have won 6 titles. Barcelona have won 11.
Including in that feat is two treble winning seasons. To be honest if it wasn't for Madrid's 3 CLs in the past 4 years, they would be considered failures given the players they've bought.
And that was considered a hell of a return from a player in one season before those two came about.
I mean in the entirety of Spanish football history. Obviously Barca have been the most successful European club of the 21st century. But they were absolutely miles behind Real in historical terms, in fact not that long ago Real had double the number of La Liga titles. Barcelona have seriously closed the gap now, Messi will have 9 La Liga medals by the end of this season. Barcelona now have more La Liga and Copa Del Rey titles combined than Real. It is still right to put Real ahead historically, as the league is obviously worth more, but Barcelona have massively closed the gap, and may even overtake them domestically before Messi retires.
Folks this is the Lionel Messi performances thread. Take the ronaldo and barca v real chat elsewhere
Obviously not, surely?
The century begins in 2000, that means 5 CL titles for Madrid against 4 for Barcelona. And Madrid may even add another one this season while Messi can only watch from the sidelines.
What makes Best better? (I've not seen much of him)
What does literally any of that have to do with what I said? Jesus Christ...
I just pointed out he barely played in the first league titles he won. Hence claiming Messi was the catalyst of winning titles he barely had no part in is either very stupid or blatantly trying to deceive. He played 71 minutes in La Liga in 2004-2005 and there are people pretending he's the reason they won, you think that's normal?
Messi deserves credit for the titles he actually won and for the achievements he got out of it, obviously. No shit.
I'd like you to actually read my comment again and tell me specifically what do you disagree with instead of going on a random rant about Ronaldo, because nothing of what you said opposed my comments
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Great post
Six different teams have scored 5 against Sevilla this season, so yeah, they're not exactly the benchmark ATM.
And in Spain, CDR is usually the place to rest your players and test your bench. In terms of importance, the trophy is Super Copa tier.
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His combination of pace agility and dribbling at the same time was breathtaking, I would put Best ahead just because during the time he played the defenders were allowed to kick the hell out of him and the pitches were of terrible quality but he still managed to keep dribbling the same way game after game. Of course, if Messi played during that time he would be just as good as he is now, but I keep wondering what Best would be able to do with today's referees protection and fantastic pitches.
Only in the early rounds, certainly not the later ones.
Real Madrid threw a parade last time they won the CDR
Oh, come on! They probably conceded 3+ about fifteen times this season!