The pint-sized Argentinean forward completed the season with records galore under his name, most important of which was his unprecedented 50 goal haul in the Spanish top flight football.
The 2011/12 campaign saw Barcelona fall short in the pursuit of their fourth successive La Liga title and defence of their UEFA Champions League crown. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 was the architect behind their efforts, scoring goals and laying down assists to push his
team ahead.
El Pulga scored an impressive 72 goals throughout the course of the season, 50 of those came in the Primera Division. His feats in the Spanish domestic competition not only rewarded him with the Pichichi trophy but also put him en route to claiming the European
Golden Shoe.
Such has been his proficiency in front of goal that he accounted for 43.8 percent of the total goals scored by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 during the course of the season. The statistics opens the door for debate on La Blaugrana’s dependence on the diminutive forward and
their inability to execute a Plan B in dire situations.
Over the last decade no team has depended on their star performer than the Camp Nou-based outfit. Second on the list is http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Thierry-Henry-c34918 score 30 goals.
The Gunners of the recently culminated season are third with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robin-van-Persie-c31380 scoring 40.5 percent of their goals as compared to Henry’s showing of 41.1 percent.
Furthermore, Messi has been the most decisive forward in the last four years. Guardiola's accession to Barcelona’s bench saw him improve his tally year on year basis, with the final year of the 41-year-old manager witnessing him at his lethal best.
When taking into consideration the yearly output by Messi, the anomaly arrives in his first season with Pep where Samuel Eto'o recorded his best goal scoring figures in a Blaugrana shirt.
On the other hand, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-c9622 Ronaldo’s figures have improved in tandem with his arch nemesis. The Portuguese has made it a habit of scoring crunch goals, scoring 33 in first season at the Santiago Bernabeu, 54 in his second and giving Messi a run for his
money with 60 goals this year.
However, as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ronaldo-c31734 has led the scoring charts in previous seasons, the collective and individual awards have fallen at the feet of Messi. El Pulga overcame the Madrid ace in the current campaign but had to resign himself at lifting the Copa del Rey as the
only respectable trophy this season.
Failure in the major competitions can be attributed to lack of support for Messi in the big games. The Rosario born attacker saw http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Villa-c10629 start the season in a dull form before succumbing to injury.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alexis-Sánchez-c4979, did little to ease pressure from his shoulders.
Fellow La Masia academy graduates, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristian-c9491 Tello and Isaac Cuenca, played well in spurts but went missing in the big games to leave Messi as the sole source of salvation for Les Cules.
With Pep Guardiola departing the managerial hot-seat at the Camp Nou, his successor will have to make sure the Argentinean captain is in best physical shape for the course of the season. Barcelona need players to ease El Pulga’s pressure to score and guide
them to trophies galore.
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