Worrying Stats Show How Lionel Messi Form At FC Barcelona Has Plummeted

Ronald Koeman has acknowledged that Lionel Messi’s returns at FC Barcelona could be better, in a prematch press conference ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League clash with Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros.

“Seeing the player day by day, he’s happy and wants to play and be the captain of the team. I don’t have any complaints. I also think he’s been a little unlucky. I have no doubts about his performance,” Koeman added.

Yet the stats don’t lie, and prior to the Dream Team Legend’s sitdown with the media at around 13.00 local time, Catalan paper L’Esportiu provided details of how far the Ballon d’Or holder has fallen post-lockdown.

Before the coronavirus-induced pause to top flight European soccer – with Barça’s last game in front of a paying audience at the Camp Nou played on March 7 in a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad, where Messi netted the winner – the Argentine was scoring at an average of 0.75 goals per game.

From June to August, though, when the Blaugrana ceded the La Liga title to Real Madrid across 11 domestic clashes, and were knocked out of the Champions League 8-2 by Bayern Munich after two continental fixtures, this dropped to 0.53 per game.

Reeling from the humiliation administered by the Bavarians and the forced exit of close friend Luis Suarez, Messi then went about attempting to force his own departure to Manchester City.

This was blocked by president Josep Bartomeu in threat of legal action and a battle in the courts, so it is perhaps no surprise that Messi’s production has fallen as low as 0.25 per game now in battered spirits.

His loan strike a penalty on opening day, in the 4-0 thrashing of Villarreal, the 33-year-old had one in open play disallowed away at Celta Vigo in Barça’s following match, but has fallen flat in a 1-1 draw with Sevilla and 1-0 loss to Getafe on Saturday.

Hosting the Hungarians tomorrow evening then, it is hoped that Messi can get back on the horse in his favorite competition, and then release his frustrations on Real Madrid in El Clasico this Saturday.

With an action-packed schedule ahead, Koeman needs his leading charge to be firing on all cylinders, and Messi’s output is integral to how well Barça get along in their Spanish and European commitments.