That question was asked when the whole world was excited about Messi’s solo goal that eliminated 4 Bilbao players to open the score in the final of the Spanish King’s Cup.
- Lionel Messi, now or never
- Americans are “blind” about… Ronaldo and Messi
- Messi still has to stand trial for tax evasion charges
Remember back in March 2012, when AC Milan met Barcelona in the Champions League, in a situation where Lionel Messi was very close to scoring, but a skillful kick from Alessandro Nesta (then 36 years old) denied El Pulga the chance. Messi was so helpless that he angrily punched the ground after that move. Messi was at the peak of his form at that time, being marked to death by a 36-year-old man.
Messi once “turned off” when facing Nesta.
Coach Arrigo Sacchi once proved experimentally that defending is always easier than attacking: In the exercise of 5 high-class defenders against 10 legendary attackers that he used to give Milan players of the 1988 generation, the attackers did not score a single goal, year after year, not like Messi’s recent twisting and turning of players and scoring goals like taking things from a bag. What is happening now is truly… UNBELIEVABLE!
In Messi’s goal in the recent match against Bilbao, many people must admit that the defenders were a bit “silly”, “silly” to the point of disbelief. Messi started from the sideline and dribbled the ball only along the right sideline, which is a very narrow space, but 3, 4, then 5 defenders still let it pass. In the history of world football, there has probably never been a solo move that traveled a long distance in a narrow space on the sideline and scored a goal. That is a position that is both easy to block and easy to “cut off” the opponent’s legs without worrying too much about the consequences, because most people cannot shoot a free kick directly into the goal from that angle. Messi looked like he had just dribbled the ball on a string into the net.
But looking at the past statistics, it’s no surprise: La Liga defenders are simply terrible. Since Ronaldo arrived in La Liga, defenses have never been so vulnerable: Ronaldo scored 33 goals in his first season (Messi scored 47). The following season, both scored 53 goals, six more than Ferenc Puskas’ previous all-time record in the 1960s.
Since then, it goes without saying: In the past 60 years of Liga history, temporarily excluding Messi and Ronaldo, the 30-goal/season mark has only been broken 7 times by 7 different players. In the 6 seasons with CR7 and La Pulga, that mark has been broken 5 times each. I don’t understand how Liga defenders play. People keep saying that football is becoming more pragmatic, harder to score goals, but we have to exclude Spain. During Messi’s time in La Liga, only Pepe, with his “butcher” style of play, was said to have temporarily restrained El Pulga a few times.
Messi went past four Bilbao defenders before scoring the opening goal in the Copa del Rey final.
Back to Messi’s solo, if Nesta was there then Messi would have shot up into the sky after a tackle. If Maldini was there then Messi would have been blind and wouldn’t have dared to dribble like that. If Ivan Cordoba was there then he would have received an elbow. If Claudio Gentile was there then Messi would have cried like Diego Maradona in 1982 because he was pinched too much. Or if Materazzi was there then Messi could have been sent off for a “rhino headbutt” on the Italian defender.
So Messi’s recent solo goal simply highlighted the “silliness” of the La Liga defender, and although it was beautiful and incredibly bizarre, it can hardly be recognized as an all-time great solo goal.
