Lionel Messi, La Liga's most lethal free-kick sniper
D10S has scored 41 goals for Barcelona from free-kicks in his career
Leo Messi has never stopped improving. The Argentine star picks up more techniques and tactics as he goes along, including improving his free-kicks.
In the 90th minute against Villarreal he rocketed in a dead ball from the edge of the box, launching Barca into a 4-4 comeback.
Messi has now scored 41 free-kicks for Barca, the most effective sniper in football. That’s 41 of his 594 goals in 676 games for Barca. Including penalties he has 111 goals from dead balls, 18.69 per cent of his total haul.
In the same way he didn’t get the No 10 shirt until the 2008-09 campaign, when Ronaldinho left, it was not until then he got take free-kicks, with the Brazilian or Deco in charge.
Six of the 24 goals Ronaldinho scored in 2006-07 came from free kicks.
Messi swapped the No 19 for the No 10, but even though he scored 42 goals between 2004 and 2008, none of them were from free-kicks.
Since then he’s scored at least one in each season.
It’s evidence that shows Messi has been working on them. In three of the last four seasons he’s hit seven free-kick goals, and in the 2018-19 campaign he could overtake that, with 11 or 14 games remaining depending on how they go in the Champions league.
Scoring a free-kick against Villarreal meant for the third time in his career he’s scored a free-kick in three consecutive games.
He did so in 2016-17, with Villarreal a victim and Athletic Bilbao twice punished too in their Copa del Rey games.
Then Messi did the same in 2017-18, against Girona, Las Palmas and Atletico Madrid.
Twice he’s managed to score two free-kicks in one game. On August 11, 2015 in the European Super Cup final against Sevilla (5-4), and then in the 4-0 win over Espanyol on December 8, 2018 in La Liga.
USUAL VICTIMS
It’s nothing strange for Messi to pick on the same teams. He’s hit six free-kick goals against Espanyol. Athletic have been beaten five times. Sevilla four and Atletico three.
It is the latter who arrive at Camp Nou on Saturday to fight to stay in the title race… they must be careful around the edge of their own box.
Messi, last season, earned Barca a 1-0 win over Atletico with a free-kick at Camp Nou.
ONE LEFT
Messi’s 41 free-kick goals for Barca can be broken down. He has 31 in La Liga, 4 in the Champions League, 3 in the Copa del Rey, 2 in the European Super Cup and 1 in the Spanish Super Cup. Only in the Club World Cup has Messi not scored a free-kick.
Since D10S arrived in the first team squad, Barca have fought for the CWC four times.
In 2006 he was out injured and the team lost. In 2009 he played twice and scored twice, like in 2011. In 2015 he only played the final but scored. Barca won the three titles and Messi scored every time… but not from a free-kick.
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