Best in the world? Stats reveal astonishing extent of Barcelona icon Lionel Messi's free-kick prowess
Barcelona skipper Lionel Messi is a once-in-a-lifetime player. Mere words can do his ability no justice as his career has been well-documented right from the game that he made a name for himself. The Argentina veteran is simply a phenomenal player who will retire as arguably the best player to have played the game. There are things that he is capable of on the football pitch that not many can think of pulling off.
Lionel Messi has a variety of abilities ranging from his unbelievable accuracy while shooting the ball to his elegance while beating players on the dribble.
One particular aspect of his game that seems to improve with every passing year is striking a dead ball. Lionel Messi has scored free-kicks for fun in his Barcelona and Argentina career and has scored them in important moments as well. Left, right, dead straight, it doesn't matter — Lionel Messi has scored them from the most excruciating angles.
In total, the Barcelona skipper has scored a whopping 46 direct free-kick goals. In addition to these, Lionel Messi has scored a further six goals for Argentina from direct free-kicks. Thirty of those goals have come in the last five years. In that period, no player has scored more direct free-kicks than Lionel Messi.
His highest tally for Barcelona came in the 2018/19 season when he scored eight of those 46 goals. Overall, though, his best tally came in the 2015/16 season, during which he scored a total of nine direct free-kicks — seven for Barcelona and two for Argentina.
In terms of the victims of his sublimely accurate set-pieces, Barcelona's cross-town rivals Espanyol lead the list having conceded from six direct Lionel Messi free-kicks. Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla come in second, having conceded five goals each. Atlético Madrid and Celta Vigo have suffered three each. Real Madrid, Deportivo, Almeria, Real Betis, Villarreal and Alavés round off the list with two apiece.
Also check out: Messi vs Ronaldo complete stats
Lionel Messi is, however, yet to score his first hat-trick of free-kicks despite coming close to achieving it on several different occasions. The Barcelona captain is already at four free-kick goals this year. Astonishingly, he's maintained a free-kick conversion rate of 11 percent over the last five years. For context, Cristiano Ronaldo — one of the greatest goalscorers the game has seen — recorded a figure for the same standing at five percent.
He has scored a grand total of 627 goals for Barcelona in what has been an incredibly illustrious career so far.
Lionel Messi injury a worry for Barcelona
The Barcelona forward, however, now faces a race against time to be fit for the LaLiga Santander restart. The 33-year-old has reportedly suffered an injury in training. In a club statement released on their website, Barcelona confirmed,
"Barca captain Leo Messi has a minor right quadriceps injury and trained in isolation, doing specific exercises to avoid unnecessary risks with just eight days remaining before Barca finally get back to playing matches. He should be able to rejoin his team-mates in a few days’ time."
Lionel Messi has been in incredible form this season, having scored 19 goals and registered 12 assists in LaLiga Santander. The Argentine has picked up right where he left off last season after he won the Pichichi after a whopping 35 goals and 12 assists in the league last season.