Lionel Messi has wasted no time in taking centre-stage in La Liga again, whilst nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo must sit twiddling his thumbs for a little while yet.
The Argentinian’s hat-trick against Espanyol gave him five goals for the season already and saw him become the all-time top scorer in the fixture with 18 goals. That will sit neatly alongside his all-time La Liga and El Clasico top scorer records… not bad for a player that’s not ostensibly a ‘striker’ in the literal sense.
Ronaldo, like it or not, is now 102 goals behind his contemporary, and whilst everyone continues to talk up the Portuguese as the best striker in the world, the facts speak for themselves. Oh yes, and Messi also boasts the most assists in La Liga too. Try as media and certain sections of support – Argentina particularly – might, you just can’t keep a good man down. He continues to answer the naysayers in the best possible manner, affecting play time and again.
Even taking into account the fortuitous manner in which his first two goals were scored on Saturday night, the fixture still had his name written right across it in big 10 foot high letters. Ernesto Valverde would appear to prefer Messi in the ‘false nine’ role that he played so expertly before the arrival of Luis Suarez and to the latter’s credit, any change of circumstance for himself has been taken on board for the greater good of the team.
53 passes
8 shots
7 take-ons
4 chances created
4 crosses
3 goals
His 38th Barça hat-trick. 🎩
It allows Messi to create havoc centrally and draw in opponents from the wider areas, before dispatching those slide-rule passes in behind the defence for others to take advantage of. Though the focal point of Barca’s attacking play will change, it will allow the likes of Ousmane Dembele acres of green to run into down the channels. In fact, Neymar’s move might well have opened a whole new area of attacking possibilities for the Catalans.
Fortunately for them, in Valverde they have exactly the right man for the job. Experienced, sensible and with strong ideas, his tenure bodes well for Barcelona and for Messi if he can stay fit throughout. The coach has clearly enthused the talisman and that renewed purpose spells danger for La Liga and the rest of Europe.
Whilst everyone else lauds Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid, their eternal rivals are already putting the pressure on at the Santiago Bernabeu, and in a season where everyone expects Los Blancos to sweep the board, nothing would give Lionel Messi greater pleasure than to put Barcelona back where they belong again.
