Barcelona’s La Liga title aspirations were left looking bleak after only being able to secure a draw at Villarreal on Monday, but things could have been a lot worse for the Catalans.
They secured a point in the dying moments thanks to a moment of utter brilliance from superstar Argentinian Lionel Messi.
He won and then superbly scored a 90th minute free-kick in a definitive exhibition in finding the top corner.
It was majestic from the Barca man and meant that his side at least left with a point.
In case you haven’t seen it yet…
#Messi saves #Barca from defeat yesterday with a magical free kick! pic.twitter.com/iTT1Va2f71
— Titus T Podikunju (@BeingTitus) January 9, 2017
But this only represented an exclamation point to Messi’s performance, one that was dominant throughout the ninety minutes.
As you can see from this stat supplied by our friends over at WhoScored.com, Messi was instrumental throughout the match as his side failed to come up with the goods to secure a much needed win.
Lionel Messi: No player has made more key passes in a La Liga match this season than Messi did vs Villarreal (7) pic.twitter.com/ha16WCg3wL
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) January 9, 2017
As you can see, Messi made more key passes (7) than any player has in a single match this La Liga season.
Talk about splitting open a defence…
What did you make of Messi’s performance and was is the best goalscoring free-kick of the season?
Have your say by commenting below, using #360fans on Twitter or getting in touch via Facebook.