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A look back at Messi’s latest masterpiece

In the wake of the recently signed MLS labor deal, and in the midst of our series of MLS team previews, we actually missed out on bringing you Lionel Messi's latest masterpiece.

The Barcelona striker is on fire, having scored his second hat-trick in a week to help Barcelona post a 4-2 win vs. Real Zaragoza. Messi not only delivered a hat-trick, one of the three goals was a jaw-dropper and he helped set up the fourth goal by drawing a penalty after another set of ridiculous moves.

Now, for those of you who may have missed it, or for those of you who just want to see it again, here is Messi's latest magic:

Comments

  1. I like his strength on the ball as well. Most players think it is easier to take a dive and get the free kick. If the refs were harsher on dives then maybe more players would have the courage to fight it out. For a spectator some of the most beautiful plays come from that, as Messi shows regularly.

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  2. That’s funny, you search “wikipedia maradona” and Messi’s page comes up before Maradona’s!

    Anyway, I wonder if the Real Madrid supporters complained that Maradona was getting too much attention in his two seasons at Barcelona.

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  3. As amazing as Messi’s second goal was….he should have passed the ball. Ibra and another Barca player were wide open after Messi drew three defenders to him… My guess is that could have irked Ibra a bit.

    Umm…if you’re a Zaragoza fan you have to be wondering why all three defenders collapsed on Messi. I know its Messi…but all 3???!!!

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  4. As much as I love to hate marquez….it looked to me like Puyol got beat for the second. I didn’t see the build up prior to the pass though.

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  5. To be clear – my comment was not meant as a dig at your posting these video clips. I like them! It was just amazement at how often Messi is scoring goals worthy of these posts.

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  6. To me that is what it really is. He rolls/leans left and right ever so quickly and efficiently. He doesn’t do a lot of step overs or really much deception. It seems he mostly does change of direction so effortlessly.

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  7. Agreed, as much as i have been a fan of Marquez this has been his worst so far. He would be more suited as a defensive midfielder at this point in his career with the Mexican national team.

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  8. Every defense has pretty much proven that they are all incompetent against Messi. The kid is just too good. The best center of gravity a footballer has ever had I would say.

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  9. Marquez has truly been a liability this season. He is one of the best passing defenders in the world which obviously fits Barca’s style brilliantly, but his lack of pace and shoddy decisions this season have really hurt.

    As much as I dream about Messi running at Sol Campbell, I’m equally horrified of Arshavin running at Marquez.

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  10. It’s head to head goal differential in La Liga, so if they finished tied on points, only the goal differential between them will matter, so hopefully they’ll be tied for the next Classico which will truly make it a FINAL. Can’t wait.

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  11. To your point Ives, even Mardid fans wouldn’t mind according to Marca, where 75% of readers recently voted Messi the “greatest ever”

    (SBI-I know, the comment was more a dig at the people on here who complain about me posting too many Messi/Barcelona videos. And yes, they’re almost always Real Madrid fans.)

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  12. Marquez gets beaten once again on Zaragoza’s the first goal. I don’t know how much longer the team is going to keep him.

    This games was the perfect opportunity for Barcelona to make up the goal differential with Real Madrid, but those goals against are not going to help. Ibra should have buried at least one of the opportunities he had before the penalty.

    Cheers

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  13. Messi is indeed magnificent, but to be truly regarded on a par with Maradona he must deliver in the World Cup. I really hope Argentina can get their stuff together in South Africa. If not, Messi probably has another 2 WCs left in him, provided he steers clear of injury.

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  14. I would say that the ball sticks to his feet, but that’s not quite right. The ball seems to magnetically glide with his feet. I love to see him play with strength and not take a foul.

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  15. Messi v. Maradona at 22 years of age:

    Messi is at least allowed to play and we are seeing the results. Maradona was getting abused,…literally having his legs broken by thug defenders. Does anyone remember the Claudio Gentile quote after the Italy v. Argentina match in Spain 1982 WC – reflecting on a brutal fowl Gentile delivered on Maradona in the first five minutes of the match, Gentile said, I paraphrase – What is the referee going to do? Give me a red card in the first five minutes?

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  16. Dear God. another Messi post. I watched this match live and can say that he looked like 22 year old vs. 8th graders. That may be that he is that great or they are that bad. I don’t know.
    He is good though.

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  17. So, Ives, is “Messi’s Latest Masterpiece” a new weekly SBI feature, like “Americans Abroad” or “MMCB”?

    (SBI-If he keeps scoring amazing goals then yes, I suppose it will be. Who, aside from Real Madrid fans, would object to that?)

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  18. It’s amazing how he keeps his feet following contact. Most professionals (I’m looking at you, Cristiano) would be flopping around like a salmon. His runs on the 2nd and 4th goals just made people look silly.

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  19. Messi’s is a magician, non-parallel. Just think 4 years ago in the youth world cup Messi and Adu were rated the top prospects, both had same size and similar skills. Now, one’s at the top and one’s at the bottom.

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  20. I think it is a privilege to be able to watch Messi play. Kind of like in the mid-90s when we had the chance to watch Jordan play basketball.

    It’s funny to watch the Zaragoza players protest the penalty. You can almost translate what they were saying: “What else do you want us to do??? The only way we can stop him is to FOUL HIM.”

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  21. dude stop hating, $50 says that if you replaced Messi with Andrew Wiedeman or Zach Schilawski, you’d get the exact same result.

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  22. So what is this kid..already extremely close to maradona’s level, club wise at 22? If you look at what he has done so far he seems to be already be top 15 All-time at 22, when sadly American players on average are just leaving college ready to go pro.

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  23. Is Messi available for the USMNT? I think we should get him, he’d probably start and I think he might make the team better.

    It’s a joke…don’t go crazy on me.

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  24. Valdes left a lot of space open at the back post on Zaragoza’s first goal. I know you’re not supposed to give up the near post, but was he a little out of position?

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