It was a routine victory for the Barcelona side as they romped to a 3-1 victory at the Camp Nou on Saturday evening. While the victory in itself was nothing special, the manner in which it was gotten encapsulates a potential treble-winning season for the Catalan giants. Messi; One player, three goals, excellent performance, he is Barcelona’s well-known but unstoppable card. The Argentine magician scored a hat-trick hence ensuring that Barcelona equaled a la Liga record of 38 matches without a defeat, while he equaled the free-kick record set by fellow South American maestro, Ronaldinho.
Ernesto Valverde’s side started the season with two consecutive losses to arch-rivals: Real Madrid and the alarm bells were ringing all over Europe. It seemed the Spanish giants were going to suffer through the season, but for a moment there we forgot they had messi. He reminded us of his presence with the brace against Alaves on the August 27. then he put another two past Buffon in the Champions League. Like that, the Barcelona team which seemed in shambles at the beginning began to win each game after the other with Messi contributing with his goals, assists and menacing presence.
He is the route and that has always been the case
Barcelona could win a third treble this season as they are in the final of the Copa del Rey, one leg in the semifinal of the Champions League, and clear at the top of the La Liga table, and like yesterday, the manner in which they go about it will be through the diminutive magician in their ranks.
As seen in the game against Sevilla last week, be it a digging out, or as seen in yesterday’s match against Leganes, be it a total outclassing, Barcelona have Messi and with him, they can do anything.
The statistics speak for themselves
He has scored 29 goals for the Catalan side in the league this season as well as providing a plethora of assists for the team.
Also, by dropping back into midfield, he has had the cause to orchestrate attacks for the Catalan side. The hat-trick yesterday was just another way of Messi proving that he remains indispensable for Barcelona. Yes, Barcelona is dependent on Messi and for over a decade they have through him remained at the very peak of European football.
This season is no different and maybe even for several seasons to come as the genius is showing no signs of relenting.
The game against Leganes was a routine win, but it encapsulated Barcelona’s season and in fact their seasons to as far as back as 2008-2009: Messi delivers!
