5 underrated performances from Lionel Messi’s Barcelona career

Lionel Messi’s career with La Liga giants Barcelona is filled with memorable moments. But these five underrated performances also deserve recognition and praise.

It is difficult to fathom that one day Lionel Messi will hang up his boots for the final time and call it a career. In fact, that time might be near as the Argentine international turns 33 in a couple of months. Until that day comes, football fans around the world can still watch and appreciate his stellar play on the pitch.

Or, like many are doing now, Barcelona and football fans in general can reminisce on Messi’s greatest games of his career. Over his tenure with the Blaugrana, he has complied a monumental resume of world class showings. From his enthralling double against Bayern Munich in the Champions League to array of unstoppable El Clasico performances, there are so many to choose from. These showings are why he has etched his name among the greatest to ever play the sport.

But then there is the vast amount of other performances over his career that have become underappreciated and overlooked. It is more so because of how he has normalized his own greatness to the point where even a hat-trick performance is simply expected out of him.

Case in point being these select five fixtures. Any of these five games from Messi would have been a career night for almost any other forward in Europe. But for the Argentine genius, it is just another day at the office.

Barcelona 3-0 Atletico Madrid – 2007-08 La Liga

The 2007-08 season for Barcelona was a passing-of-the-torch year. The season marked the final one for Ronaldinho in the Blaugrana colors but was also the year in which Lionel Messi rose from being touted as an unproven wunderkind to an emerging star. Messi tallied a then-career high 16 goals and 14 assists in all competitions while Ronaldinho recorded a low nine goals in a campaign marred by a muscle injury.

Still, Messi and Ronaldinho shared memorable moments on the pitch in their final season as teammates, such as in Barcelona’s 3-0 home league win over Atletico Madrid.

With Ronaldinho out on the left and Messi on the right, the two combined for a performance many at the Camp Nou will never forget.

Ronaldinho had his usual showing with the flair and crafty moves that became part of his repertoire on the ball. But it was Messi who stole the show.

Donning the number 19 shirt, Messi was the focal point of Barcelona’s attacking force on the day, including in the team’s first two goals. On the first, Messi sent in a straightforward through ball into the box that was mishandled by Atletico goalkeeper Christian Abbiati, which allowed for Deco to sneak in and tap in the loose ball for a goal.

The second goal on the day was more significant than many realized at the time. With Messi maintaining possession over on Ronaldinho’s left side of the pitch, he noticed an opportunity for a quick one-two combination sequence with the Brazilian. Thus, Messi handed off a pass to Ronaldinho, split between two Atletico players and received the return pass for a two-touch, left-footed shot that resulted in an impressive tight angle goal. The sequence was all made possible by Ronaldinho’s ability to drag a defender off from his line and clear up space for Messi to navigate into.

The goal turned out to be Ronaldinho’s final league assist of his Barcelona career, which is fitting as Messi’s first career league goal came off of a Ronaldinho assist.

As the game progressed, Messi continued to show why he truly was Ronaldinho’s successor. The Argentine essentially did it all on the pitch, from linking up with Xavi to tracking back to defend whenever Atletico recovered the ball. His control and poise with the ball wowed those watching. Not even overloads or pressing traps on the flanks could contain Messi on that day.

After a couple of seasons in which he took him under his wing, Ronaldinho — along with those from the club — started to realize that Messi seemed destined for a special career.