After Lionel Messi’s two-goal haul against Real Mallorca on Sunday evening took the mesmeric Argentine to an awesome tally of 76 goals for the calendar year, members of the Barca camp have been queuing up to pile praise on their remarkable talisman.
Manager Tito Vilanova got the ball rolling, commenting: “Leo continually breaks records. His goal tally is spectacular. It takes other great players seven or eight seasons to score the amount of goals he scores in one season. Also, some of his goals are absolute beauties.”
Superstar midfielder Andres Iniesta also got in on the act, saying: “Leo Messi is number one. He’s the best not just for his goals, but also for his general play. He has so much impact on the team – he is unique and determined, and that’s why he breaks so many records.”
And Iniesta also gave a reminder that Messi is only 25 years old: “What makes the Barcelona fans particularly happy is the fact that he has so much time ahead of him.”
Midfielder Sergio Busquets, normally an understated public speaker, also expressed his amazement at the achievements of his teammate, stating: “If there is a player that can break all the goalscoring records, it’s Messi.”
Barca’s 4-2 victory at a rainy Iberostar Stadium featured the first starting appearance since mid-September for central defender Gerard Pique, who was delighted to be back in action after recovering from a foot injury.
“I felt great physically, I was very comfortable on the pitch,” said Pique, who believed that his team were more than worthy winners: “In general we played well and we were the superior side, even though the opening 15 minutes were difficult.”
Pique’s return couldn’t prevent Barca from leaking two more goals as Mallorca staged a second-half comeback, but the Spanish international suggested his team will always be vulnerable at the back: “As our style of play is based on attacking, it’s more difficult to defend – but the goals scored by Mallorca came from two isolated plays.”
Manager Vilanova was also quizzed about his team’s defensive shortcomings, which have seen them concede 14 goals in the opening 11 league games of the season – six more than Real Madrid and a higher total than mid-table outfits Sevilla and Real Valladolid.
“We are going through a period where the smallest errors lead to conceding a goal,” Vilanova admitted. “Opposing teams are scoring a lot of goals without too much effort. Against Mallorca we were a bit cold when we came out for the second half.”
Vilanova had words of praise for speedy young winger Cristian Tello, who was granted his fifth league start of the season and responded with a lively performance featuring an extremely well-taken goal to make the score 3-0 on the stroke of half-time.
“We know what Tello is capable of and he played a great game. He hasn’t had a lot of minutes recently but I believe he’s improved a lot defensively – he’s becoming a more complete player on a daily basis.”
Will Messi do it? The games Messi has left to break Gerd Muller’s 85.
Nov 14 International (A) v Saudi Arabia
Nov 17 La Liga (H) v Zaragoza
Nov 20 Champions League (A) v Spartak Moscow
Nov 25 La Liga (A) v Levante
Nov 27 Copa del Rey (H) v Alaves
Dec 1 La Liga (H) v Athletic Bilbao
Dec 5 Champions League (H) v Benfica
Dec 9 La Liga (A) v Real Betis
Dec 11 Copa del Rey v TBA
Dec 16 La Liga (H) v Atletico Madrid
Dec 18 Copa del Rey v TBA
Dec 22 La Liga (A) v Valladolid
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