5 reasons why Lionel Messi will be effective for 5 more years

Lionel Messi is to football, what David Blaine is to magic; the gold standard by which all others are gauged. There were spells during Barcelona's recent match against Sevilla where Messi just decided that the ball belongs to him and everyone else just seemed to agree. They did nothing because they could have done nothing.

This might be just my opinion but Barcelona have been pretty prodigal with their riches and have reduced from being the wildebeests of Catalonia to asylum seekers on Leo's ark. It is as much their prerogative as it is our desire to see Leo Messi breaking legs and twisting ankles sans any actual physical contact for at least a half a decade more.

The way he is going even at 30, this qualifies as more than just wishful thinking. Now Messi has put pen to paper on a deal that ties him to the club till 2021.

Also read: 6 interesting things you didn't know about Lionel Messi

On that note, let me try to make my case as to why Leo Messi will be effective for at least 5 more years:

#5 Athleticism - There is still no catching him

Sure, every once in a blue moon, Messi does get marked out of the game and makes a young fella's career in one night. But isn't that compliment enough? That people cry foul on the one night he fails to dictate terms or govern attacking realms is a reminder of just how consistently good he has been and he still is.

While a lot has been said about Cristiano Ronaldo's athleticism, Messi has been upending defences with pace, agility and guile to fuel and hardly ever reveals signs of slowing down.

Just last week against Sevilla, Messi was tormenting the Sevilla defence and he even kept the ball to himself for a good minute in the final third. There are few players who can do that other than Messi and even when he's on the decline, he'll still prove to be more than a burr in the saddle for all oppositions.