Barcelona warmed up for El Clasico with a 4-0 victory at home over Deportivo La Coruna, in which Lionel Messi somehow both starred and flopped. The Argentine was at the heart of everything good about Barcelona on the day, but missed several chances to score.
He was denied by the woodwork on more than one occasion, and also lacked his customary finishing touch in front of goal, missing one good chance and then seeing a penalty saved. Real Madrid will be hoping this sort of form continues next weekend.
Here’s a look at Messi’s performance.
BASIC STATS
Goals – 0
Assists – 2
Shots – 11
Shots on target – 4
Pass Accuracy – 88%
Key Passes – 2
Dribbles – 3
Touches – 87
EFFECTIVENESS
How do you judge a performance like this? In many ways, Messi was brilliant. As he always does, he skipped away from defenders with his dribbling ability and speed. His passing and vision were up to the usual high standard. He was involved in just about every Barcelona attack that possessed any threat. And yet, he missed a sitter and a penalty, and hit the woodwork three times. He genuinely could have scored six goals on Sunday – one of which he passed up by choosing instead to set-up Luis Suarez. Instead, this was a run-of-the-mill, zero-goal, one-assist performance with excellence in every department bar the finishing.
The missed penalty summed up Messi’s day.
KEY MOMENTS
3rd min, CHANCE: By Messi’s standards, this was a tap-in. A flowing Barcelona move saw the ball come to Andres Iniesta inside the box, and the captain’s cutback was deflected into Messi’s path. It was a slightly difficult chance because of that deflection, but he should have scored.
29th min, ASSIST: Two pieces of brilliance followed by a moment of unselfishness. Messi brilliantly held his run after a corner was cleared to Iniesta, who matched his team-mate with an absolutely sumptuous ball, which Messi brought down with his chest. Completely unmarked just yards away from goal, Messi chose to square the ball to Luis Suarez instead of scoring himself.
37th min, SHOT: A one-two with Suarez allowed Messi to unleash a trademark sweeping left-footed shot, only for the ball to smack the crossbar and come back out.
41st min, SHOT/ASSIST: Messi’s love affair with the woodwork continued, as a brilliantly worked move ended with the Argentine in the box, certain to score. Instead, his shot came off the far post, straight into the path of Paulinho, who couldn’t miss.
67th min, SHOT: And again. Messi stood over a free-kick and everyone knew what was coming, but yet again the woodwork refused to cooperate. It was a beautifully curled shot, and so nearly a picture-perfect goal.
70th min, PENALTY MISS: If anything summed up the fact that it just wasn’t Messi’s day, this was it. Given a chance to get on the scoresheet after Suarez was tripped up in the box, Messi fluffed his lines from the spot – it was actually a fairly easy save for Ruben.
VERDICT – 8/10
On another day, we’d be raving about Messi scoring five goals, and adding an assist to boot, or maybe even scoring an unthinkable double hat-trick. Instead, two poor finishes – one from the penalty spot – and three shots against the woodwork left everyone bemused instead of bedazzled. It’s a shame, because this was so close to being a stunning display. In every aspect except finding the back of the net, Messi was his customary brilliant self.
Instead, we’ve been graced with a reminder that every so often, even Messi is a mere mortal. And just imagine the irony – this came right after he showed off the European Golden Boot to an adoring crowd. With El Clasico looming, it’s probably fair to say that Messi can’t possibly have two straight games with such bad luck – or did he just miss a perfect opportunity to send a shiver down the spines of Barcelona’s fiercest rivals?
