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:
well yeah i mean that’s pretty obvious right lol?
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.
I hate comparisons to other sports, generally, but he’s like the Barry Sanders of futbol.
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.
Actually in La Liga, points earned head to head result is the first tiebreaker. goal differential in head to head is second. Overall GD is 3rd.
The quick little touch to control the ball again after the cut actually impressed me the most.
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???!!!
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.
not live as in person but on the tv
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.
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.
On the second goal he committed before the shot too. I thought he could’ve done a little better.
I watched that over an over again. He makes professionals look amateurish.
I believe this will be Rafa’s last season at Barcelona. They would need to keep ball 95 to 5% to make him look good.
I watched this game and he was just amazing.
I thank God for family, friends and Lionel Messi.
That, too, impressed me the most.
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.
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.
the best part of this video is seeing marquez responsible for both of Zaragoza’s goals!
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.
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.
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.)
lmao hahaha
i thought the same thing dude
messi (like he often is) was clearly the star of this game, but the two zaragoza goals were pretty sweet too.
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
It was the first shot on target, at the end of the game, winning 3-0, he just lost concentration.
If it isn’t I’d be happy for the addition
Amen…totally agree
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.
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.
Yes, Messi was once again masterful, I just wish it wasn’t against my team at La Romareda 🙁
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?
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.
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?)
Cap him!
🙂
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.
Of course Zlatan doesn’t look happy. Then again, when has he EVER looked happy?
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.
Is it me or does Zlatan Ibrahimovic not look so happy, because Messi scoring all the goals.
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.”
dude stop hating, $50 says that if you replaced Messi with Andrew Wiedeman or Zach Schilawski, you’d get the exact same result.
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.
Messi is as talented as the other team’s defense is incompetent.
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.
Messi is a masterpiece.
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?
that little cut with the outside of his foot, after the defender tries to tackles him, pops over the oncoming slide tackle. unbelievable.
Remember when EJ scored consecutive hat-tricks back in the day… was it 2007??