Lionel Messi and the year 2010 (Part 4)
21st August: After a disappointing FIFA World Cup campaign, the Barcelona star came back to perform for his club during the pre-season matches. The
goal-scoring machine was simply ready to face almost any challenge and after a 2-goal brawl against the Chinese club Beijing, Lionel Messi was rested for a few weeks until he was played against Sevilla on 21st August. The game was very important
as it was the final of the Spanish Super Cup and the Catalan Giants had already lost the first leg 3-1 while being away from home. With Sevilla visiting the Nou Camp, the Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola made sure that he picked the right “cards” to overturn
the goal difference. The Spanish mastermind played his best team and the Spanish Champions won the game 4-0 at the Nou Camp. Lionel Messi found the net twice, yet again, and it was seen that despite the fact that he could not score in South Africa for his
country, he was still the same while performing for Barcelona.
19th September: Lionel Messi showed great consistency in terms of goal scoring form and fitness throughout the year. The Argentinean striker barely
got injured or missed any of the matches because of an injury problem; however, he did receive a blow from the Atletico Madrid full back Tomas Ujfalusi. As Barcelona were to visit Madrid to face Atletico Madrid in a Spanish La Liga match, the match was expected
to be fabulous because the Madrid side were hitting form especially with the FIFA World Cup golden ball winner Diego Forlan, included in their squad. Barcelona went to Madrid and gave their best and it was Lionel Messi who helped his side win as he laid a
great ball off for Pedro Rodriguez to score the winning goal of the game in the 1-2 away encounter. However, during the dying moments of the game, Lionel Messi found himself alone in the oppositions’ half and while running for the ball, the Argentinean struck
Tomas Ujfalusi and suffered from an ankle injury, which looked to be terrible and career threatening as well. Later on, when the Barcelona fans saw the pictures it was speculated that their favourite Barcelona star might not even return for a season. Despite
the fact that the injury looked to be hideous in pictures, he still managed to “dodge the bullet” and made a return after only a week. With the fans expecting him to be out for at least two months, the Argentinean took almost no time in recovering from the
“terrible” blow and Josep Guardiola featured him in an away group stage fixture with a tough looking Russian team, Rubin Kazan. Lionel Messi featured during the second half as Pedro Rodriguez made way for him; however, he was played in the midfield and not
the striking position so that he could only get the hang of things again.
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