Lionel Messi and the year 2010 (Part 5)
29th September: This was the date when Barcelona were to face the
Russian Champions Rubin Kazan in an away UEFA Champions’ League group stage fixture. The match ended in a draw as both the goals came through penalties and the newly signed Spanish striker David Villa scored the penalty for the Catalan Giants. Lionel Messi
finally made his return after a two-game lay off and featured in the second half of the game. The Argentinean maestro could not play the full game because he was still recovering from the bad blow that he suffered during the game against Atletico Madrid two
weeks back. In addition, Josep Guardiola made sure that Messi played in a position where his ankle was less at risk. The Argentinean played right behind the two strikers and featured as an attacking midfielder for Barcelona.
17th November: This was a day that Lionel Messi might remember all
his life. After a disappointing FIFA World Cup campaign with Argentina, it was now time for the Argentinean to shine as he faced the South American rivals Brazil in a friendly game that was to take place in Qatar. The whole game went without a goal until Lionel
Messi made sure that he makes the difference. The Argentinean number 10 dribbled past four Brazilian players from the centre of the pitch and after finding the right spot he shot the ball into the net to help his side win the game with a single goal. Even
though the game was a friendly, it was against a rival national side and Lionel Messi totally owned the show single handedly and even won the man of the match award.
24th November: Lionel Messi was having an extraordinary run in not
only the Spanish La Liga, but also the UEFA Champions League and for the Argentinean team. On 24 November, Barcelona were to face a different side as the Spanish Champions were to visit Greece to face the Greek Champions Panathinaikos in a UEFA
Champions’ League group stage match. It was like a “must win” match for the Catalan Giants so that Guardiola could rest his players for the last Champions League game. Lionel Messi made sure that he made the difference for the team again and after scoring
the first goal of the game, he managed to find the net for 10 consecutive games while playing for Barcelona. He simply showed why he is known as the best player in the world as he helped his side in thrashing Panathinaikos in a 0-3 away from home encounter.
29th November: The Catalan Giants were to face a different Real
Madrid unit during the new season and Lionel Messi was the one who looked to be in extraordinary form for Barcelona. However, with Jose Mourinho being in charge of the Los Blancos, things were a little different as the Argentinean maestro never found the net
against a team being managed by Jose Mourinho. Josep Guardiola made sure that Lionel Messi did something more than scoring goals as he played him right behind the strikers as an attacking midfielder to add an extra man in the midfield. With Lionel Messi being
a part of the Barcelona midfield, the possession was totally dominated by the home side at the Nou Camp. After scoring 2 goals in the first half, the Catalan Giants came back in the second half and it was Lionel Messi who laid off two extraordinary passes
for David Villa to score a brace as Barcelona won the game 5-0 at home to take their spot at the top of the Spanish La Liga table. Despite the fact that Lionel Messi did not score throughout the game, he still made sure that he was useful for the team as he
helped them with two wonderful assists.
6th December: Lionel Messi got nominated for the Ballon d’Or award
yet again and joined the “last three” choices, which included his teammates, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, who also had extraordinary seasons in 2010.
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