Four dribbles in a game. Four among the 14 players who played. Four in the more than 90 minutes. There was one night, that of April 10, in which Barcelona was only able to complete four feints. One from Ansu Fati, one from Gavi, one from Koundé and one from Balde. Nobody else. It was also at the Camp Nou, a stadium that seems big to the defenses and, therefore, the forwards have a little more space to face. The rival was Girona. With almost no imbalance, the marker did not move. It is one of the deficits that the Barça coaching staff has detected and that the return of Leo Messi would instantly alleviate.
Messi’s arrival in Barcelona, ​​like Last Dance, would be a very powerful claim for the season that the team will have to move to Montjuïc. With the current The Best in their ranks, the expectation in the stands would be guaranteed. In addition, the ending of the story would sentimentally act as a magnet for sponsors, something that the club also needs. But the key is that reinforcing him would be profitable on the field. Of that, coach Xavi Hernández has no doubt.
The Argentine, at 35, is still a master of dribbling. Without having the explosiveness of Getafe’s goal -more than fifteen years have passed-, the crack retains the virtue of breaking waists when he faces. In Ligue 1 nobody has haggled more than him this course. Up to 103 times he successfully left his par, seven times more than Doku, the young Belgian from Rennes. Almost 30 more than the fast Mbappé. Six out of every time he tried one-on-ones he would outrun the defender.
Some numbers that have no comparison in the Barça squad, which at times, such as in the tie against United in the Europa League, saw the seams on the attack front. Dembélé and Raphinha together (53 and 46) do not reach one hundred. Lewandowski and Ferran Torres remain at thirty.
Messi’s campaign is not just the World Cup he won. In Qatar 2022, a tournament that lasted less than a month, with short trips, the Albiceleste captain was motivated and multiplied to lead Argentina to the title, the long-awaited third World Cup for his country. Leo scored in the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and two goals in the final.
Few players are known as much as Messi. At his age, he has played 53 games from August to the first weekend of June. That includes 41 with PSG, seven from the World Cup and five friendlies with Argentina. Only in one, in preparation against Jamaica, did he come off the bench.
He was never a physical footballer but his resistance is beyond any doubt. But it is that his contribution and his influence on the game are on another level. In the last ten months of competition he has scored 37 goals, 21 with PSG and 16 with the albiceleste. But since he was never just a finisher but a conductor, he has contributed 25 assists, most with the Parisian club. It is not surprising that, in addition to the two league titles won, Mbappé has been the top scorer in those two championships thanks to the Argentinian’s vision of the game.
In total, Messi has intervened in 62 goals. At Barça, Lewandowski, who is indeed a man from the area, has celebrated 33 goals, plus two with Poland in the World Cup, and has provided 8 decisive passes (and another with the national team). Far away are Raphinha’s numbers with 10 goals and 12 assists in his first year as a Blaugrana or Dembélé (8 plus 9) while being injured for three months. Both were very unnoticed in the World Cup.
Messi is talented, with the last pass and ability to intimidate, but also set pieces and shots from outside the area. Barça hasn’t scored a free-kick since he left. The Argentine has scored two with PSG this season. The leap in quality would be undeniable. And Xavi imagines him as a double striker (as with Scaloni), a midfielder (as at PSG with Galtier) or even as an insider or false winger. Because Messi had so much and retains a lot.
