Lionel Messi: Top 5 performances of 2018/2019 (so far)
Genius. King. Alien. God. These are the words used to describe the Argentine, Lionel Messi; the best player of this generation and also one of the greatest players if not the greatest to grace the game. And why not? This season, Messi is playing on an extraterrestrial level. The man has scored 39 goals and provided 21 assists in all competitions i.e. he has been involved in 60 goals in 37 games. The closest to this number is the French boy wonder, Kylian Mbappe who has been involved in 42 goals. Mind the gap.
This season, Messi has provided us with some jaw-dropping, scintillating performances. Every football fan with a sane mind knows that there is very little that Lionel Messi can't do on a football field. He is the player with most goals, assists, freekicks, key-passes, outside the box goals in Europe.
Lionel Messi had promised the fans of Blaugrana that he will do everything possible to bring the Champions League trophy to Camp Nou. From his performances, it's clear that he is hell-bent on fulfilling his promise. Be it in the Champions League, La Liga or Copa del Rey, his performance has always been a notch above the rest.
So without much further ado, these are the top 5 performances (so far) from Lionel Messi this season:
#5 Tottenham Hotspurs vs FC Barcelona (Agg 2-4)
The second match of Barcelona in the group stage of Champions League was played at Wembley stadium. This stadium has a special place in the hearts of the players and supporters of Barcelona. This was the place where they triumphed over Manchester United to win the Champions League.
One little man was the difference between the two teams and it was Lionel Messi, the best player of that night. So obviously, fans did hope that another masterclass was going to happen and what they witnessed was beyond genius.
The diminutive Argentine was almost unplayable that night as he was above every other player on the field. Tottenham looked clueless on how to defend against Messi and that is where they lost the match. In the second minute of the match, Messi provided a pin-point long ball to Jordi Alba from the mid-line. Alba cut it back to Philippe Coutinho, who scored a scorcher. Once again, it was Messi's pass that made the difference. Pochettino's men struggled to keep up with the sheer brilliance of Messi as he scored two goals. He could have scored two more if he wasn't denied by the post twice.
Speaking about the star of the night, Pochettino said, "Messi in every game, shows why he is Messi. His average performance is this type of game, he is above everything."