“That defied logic. That’s not normal” - When Thierry Henry named his favorite Lionel Messi goal at Barcelona
Lionel Messi has scored 672 goals for Barcelona and it is hard to pick his best goal from the lot. However, when pushed, most fans would pick the solo dribble against Getafe but not Thierry Henry.
Henry believes a forgotten goal against Malaga is the best one he has seen from the Barcelona legend. The Arsenal legend claims that the Argentine defied logic with close control inside the box after picking up full speed and scoring with his right foot.
Speaking during the 2018 film 'Take The Ball, Pass The Ball', Henry said:
"The best goal I've seen him score was against Malaga at home because that defied logic what he did. Diagonal ball, he controls it on his chest, runs at full speed. First player goes, second player is just behind. He takes another step, that player can clear the ball. If he's got the ball on his left foot here, how do you go back with that same leg and touch the ball in the air, in between the two to make sure that guy doesn't touch it – and then almost fail but smash it into the top corner. That's not normal."
Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi played 89 matches together at Barcelona before the Frenchman left. They combined for 17 goals, with the Argentine assisting 9 times.
Lionel Messi's special treatment left Thierry Henry stunned at Barcelona
Yaya Toure was talking to GOAL earlier this year when he revealed that the special treatment to Lionel Messi left him stunned at Barcelona. He added that Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o were also surprised at the Argentine getting to skip post-match training.
Toure said:
"Actually, in my first year at Barcelona, Messi was a bit like that. We'd finish a game, we'd train. He's resting [having] massage. I was like 'What' and I said to Samuel [Eto'o] 'What is this guy doing there?' Even Thierry [Henry] comes and goes 'How is he doing that?' But actually, it was Messi. We wanted to keep him fresh and ready for the next game because he was getting a lot of injuries as well. Because when he plays, he has a lot of kicks. People were jumping on him, just kicking him. Just stop him!"
Lionel Messi left Barcelona in 2021 for PSG after the LaLiga side failed to renew his contract. He has now moved to Inter Miami in MLS after two seasons in France.