In the build-up to Barcelona’s trip to Tottenham on Wednesday night, a British newspaper devoted a prominent article to the idea that Lionel Messi has entered into an age-related decline, and that his club will soon have to learn how to deal without him.
Well, that theory soon got blown out of the water, didn’t it?
Messi was simply sensational at Wembley, with the splendour of his performance nowhere near reflected in the plain statistical return of two goals.
They were two important goals, of course, one of them coming to restore his team’s two-goal advantage shortly after Harry Kane had pulled one back for Spurs, and the other securing the outcome in the final stages after a dogged fightback from the hosts.
But if the only thing you know about Messi’s game in London was that he scored twice, you’re missing out. He did so much more, starting in the second minute when his delicious through ball pierced the home team defence, allowing Jordi Alba to run on and – with a fair amount of help from panicking Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris – tee up Philippe Coutinho for the opener.
Messi also played a central role in his team’s second goal, again bypassing the defence with a perfectly placed pass into the run of Luis Suarez, who combined with Coutinho to give Ivan Rakitic the chance to blast home an exquisitely executed volley.
He could easily have bagged more than two goals, as well, having hit the post twice in the space of two minutes at the start of the half in a sequence of plays which were so similar the only possible reaction was bemused laughter – even from Messi himself.
DON'T TALK, JUST WATCH: 137 seconds of Messi at Wembley last night. Nearly wore out that goal post. pic.twitter.com/0NOcDmQca7
— Neal Collins (@nealcol) October 4, 2018
There’s a lot more we could examine, but you get the idea. Messi was spectacular, and Spurs had no answer. And the good news – especially for Barca fans but more generally for any lover of football – is that he will continue to deliver era-defining performances of that nature for many years to come.
Decline? The only people who could possibly think that Messi has entered an irreversible downward spiral are those who haven’t watched him play in the last 12 months, other than for Argentina during the World Cup Finals where he had the misfortune of playing for a team so badly structured it would be impossible for any individual player to shine.
Unfortunately, there seem to be plenty of people who don’t watch Messi, judging by the way he was left out of the top three for the recent FIFA award for the world’s best player, despite producing one of his best ever seasons to lead an otherwise moderate Barca side to a comfortable league title.
Without reopening the wounds of that tired debate, though, it is at least crystal clear from Messi’s performance against Tottenham on Wednesday that he is not even close to being finished yet, and even the faintest hint of the word ‘decline’ should not be allowed to appear anywhere near his name.
Lionel Messi
And the reason he has many years ahead of him (praise be to your chosen deity) is that on top of all his other talents, Messi is incredibly adaptable.
Over the course of his career, he has operated as a right winger, a centre forward, an inside right and now, in this latest stage of his development, he is morphing into a central midfielder – with the added bonus of being a central midfielder who averages a goal per game.
Against Tottenham, Messi had 95 touches of the ball, more than any other player except Jordi Alba. The vast majority of those were in a condensed space 20 yards either side of the halfway line, with just a few coming near the Tottenham goal as he made well-timed surges into the box.
This means, happily, that Messi can still be the best player on the pitch – or any pitch – even by restricting his expenditure of energy and covering a relatively small amount of ground.
By playing in this way, holding the game together in the centre of the field and making the occasional devastating burst towards goal, Messi can delay the effects of ageing and keep on doing what he’s currently doing for a long time to come. And that’s something to really celebrate.
