Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi] (
listen); born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professionalfootballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Often considered the best player in the world and rated by many in the sport as the greatest of all time, Messi is the only football player in history to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or four times, all of which he won consecutively, and the first player to win three European Golden Shoes. With Barcelona he has won seven La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles, as well as three Copa del Rey titles. A prolific goalscorer, Messi holds the Guinness World Records titles for most goals scored in La Liga (289), a La Liga season (50), a calendar year (91), a Champions League match (five), and most Champions League seasons (five).
Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a child. At age 13, he relocated to Spain to join Barcelona, who agreed to pay for his medical treatment. After a fast progression through Barcelona's youth academy, Messi made his competitive debut aged 17 in October 2004. Despite being injury-prone during his early career, he established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, finishing 2007 as a finalist for both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award, a feat he repeated the following year. His first uninterrupted campaign came in the 2008–09 season, during which he helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football. At 22 years old, Messi won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award by record voting margins.
Three successful seasons followed, with Messi winning three consecutive FIFA Ballons d'Or, including an unprecedented fourth. His personal best campaign to date was the 2011–12 season, in which he set the La Liga and European records for most goals scored in a single season, while establishing himself as Barcelona's all-time top scorer in official competitions in March 2012. He again struggled with injury during the following two seasons, twice finishing second for the Ballon d'Or behind Cristiano Ronaldo, his perceived career rival. Messi regained his best form during the 2014–15 campaign, breaking the all-time goalscoring records in both La Liga and the Champions League in November 2014, and led Barcelona to a historic second treble.
As an Argentine international, Messi has represented his country in six major tournaments. At youth level, he won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, finishing the tournament as its best player and top scorer, and an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. His style of play as a diminutive, left-footed dribbler drew comparisons with compatriot Diego Maradona, who declared the teenager his successor. After making his senior debut in August 2005, Messi became the youngest Argentine to play and score in a FIFA World Cup during the 2006 edition, and reached the final of the 2007 Copa América, where he was named young player of the tournament. As the squad's captain since August 2011, he led Argentina to the finals of the 2014 World Cup and the 2015 Copa América, and both times was selected as player of the tournament.
2015: A historic treble
"Messi is an alien that dedicates himself to playing with humans."
At the start of 2015, Barcelona were perceived to be headed for another disappointing end to the season, with renewed speculation in the media that Messi was leaving the club. A turning point came on 11 January during a 3–1 victory over Atlético Madrid, the first time Barça's attacking trident of Messi, Luis Suárez, and Neymar each scored in a match, marking the beginning of a highly successful run.[166][167] After five years of playing in the centre of the pitch, Messi had returned to his old position on the right wing late the previous year, by his own suggestion according to Suárez, their striker.[167][168] From there, he regained his best—arguably his best-ever—form, while Suárez and Neymar ended the team's attacking dependency on their star player.[169][170] With 58 goals from Messi, the trio scored a total of 122 goals in all competitions that season, a record in Spanish football.[171][172]
Towards the end of the campaign, Messi scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over Atlético Madrid on 17 May, securing the La Liga title.[173]Among his 43 league goals that season was a hat-trick scored in 11 minutes against Rayo Vallecano on 8 March, the fastest of his senior career; it was his thirty-second hat-trick overall for Barcelona, allowing him to overtake Telmo Zarra as the player with the most hat-tricks ever in Spanish football.[172][174] Additionally, as the season's top assist provider with 18 assists, he surpassed Luís Figo as the player with the most assists in La Liga;[note 2] he had made his record 106th assist in a fixture against Levante on 15 February, in which he also scored a hat-trick.[175][176][177] Messi then scored twice as Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 3–1 in the Copa del Rey final on 30 May, achieving the sixth double in their history. His opening goal was hailed as one of the greatest in his career; he collected the ball near the halfway line and beat four opposing players, before feinting the goalkeeper to score in a tight space by the near post.[178]
In the Champions League, Messi scored twice and assisted another in their 3–0 semi-final victory over Bayern Munich, now under the stewardship of Guardiola.[179] His second goal, which came only three minutes after his first, saw him dribble past Jérôme Boateng, making the defender lose his footing and drop to the ground; it went viral and was subsequently named the best goal of the season byUEFA based on an online voting.[180][181] Despite a second-leg loss, Barcelona progressed to the final on 6 June in Berlin, where they defeated Juventus 3–1 to win their second treble, becoming the first club in history to win the league, domestic cup, and European cup twice.[182][183] Although Messi did not score, he participated in each of his side's goals, particularly the second as he forced a parried save from goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon from which Suárez scored the match-winning goal on the rebound.[171] In addition to being the top assist provider with 6 assists, Messi finished the competition as the joint top scorer, with 10 goals, which earned him the distinction of being the first player ever to achieve the top scoring mark in five Champions League seasons.[184][185] For his efforts that season, he received the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for a second time.[186]
Messi opened the 2015–16 season by scoring twice, both times from a free kick, in Barcelona's 5–4 victory over Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup.[187] A subsequent 5–1 aggregate defeat against Athletic Bilbao in the Supercopa de España ended their expressed hopes of a second sextuple, with Messi scoring his side's only goal.[188] On 16 September, he became the youngest player to make 100 appearances in the UEFA Champions League in a 1–1 away draw to Roma.[189] On 26 September, Messi sustained an injury in Barcelona's match against Las Palmas; tests later confirmed that he suffered a tear in the medial collateral ligament of his left knee, ruling him out for six to eight weeks.[190]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFVyME0B_xs
