I have seen Messi play live over 20 times. In the Champions League, La Liga and a Copa del Rey final where he scored the most amazing goal I have ever witnessed. There is something about seeing him live which makes it memorable. When he has the ball in a threatening position, the stadium comes alive. The goal against Atletic Bilbao in the Camp Nou is the best goal I have ever seen in person, but there is something about his play that makes almost every touch in the final 30 meters magical.
I saw the group stage match against PSV Eindhoven where he scored a hat trick with Masha’s brother and when we were walking to the Metro station after the match there were hundreds of Dutch fans drinking beer and happily singing as they walked down the street. Dutch fans are known for being rowdy and Evgenyi asked me why they seemed so happy when their team had lost 4-0. I said they were happy because for the rest of their lives they will be able to talk about how they were there and saw Lionel Messi score a hat trick. That is the Messi Effect.
I have seen him make the same move he made last night a hundred times. He loves coming across the pitch right to left at the top of the box. There always are two or three defenders there and he usually looks for a low opening. Either between defenders or a nutmeg. The shot usually is low and he gets it off incredibly fast, with little or no windup, and very hard. When you watch him play, most of the time you don’t know when the shot is coming because it comes in a flash whenever he sees that opening.
Jerome Boateng was one of the best CBs of his generation. Against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Messi scored a hat trick nutmegging him 3 times. The first two times he nutnegged him were 1-on-1 with Messi coming down the right side. Boateng was so off balance he went down after the nutmeg and Messi then chipped over Neuer. The third time was a right to left run like last night where he found space between Boateng’s legs and drilled a low shot between them, off the right post and in.
Last night the defenders played so far off of him that he didn’t need to look for space low. He had space to get the ball up and go for the upper left corner. From the second he got the ball and saw how much space he was given, he was going for that shot. He is going to put that shot right where he put it last night 9.5 times out of 10. Maybe 9.8.
I saw the group stage match against PSV Eindhoven where he scored a hat trick with Masha’s brother and when we were walking to the Metro station after the match there were hundreds of Dutch fans drinking beer and happily singing as they walked down the street. Dutch fans are known for being rowdy and Evgenyi asked me why they seemed so happy when their team had lost 4-0. I said they were happy because for the rest of their lives they will be able to talk about how they were there and saw Lionel Messi score a hat trick. That is the Messi Effect.
I have seen him make the same move he made last night a hundred times. He loves coming across the pitch right to left at the top of the box. There always are two or three defenders there and he usually looks for a low opening. Either between defenders or a nutmeg. The shot usually is low and he gets it off incredibly fast, with little or no windup, and very hard. When you watch him play, most of the time you don’t know when the shot is coming because it comes in a flash whenever he sees that opening.
Jerome Boateng was one of the best CBs of his generation. Against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Messi scored a hat trick nutmegging him 3 times. The first two times he nutnegged him were 1-on-1 with Messi coming down the right side. Boateng was so off balance he went down after the nutmeg and Messi then chipped over Neuer. The third time was a right to left run like last night where he found space between Boateng’s legs and drilled a low shot between them, off the right post and in.
Last night the defenders played so far off of him that he didn’t need to look for space low. He had space to get the ball up and go for the upper left corner. From the second he got the ball and saw how much space he was given, he was going for that shot. He is going to put that shot right where he put it last night 9.5 times out of 10. Maybe 9.8.
