In the game against Benfica, Messi continued his magical state of the season, completing a six-game kill streak with a beautiful push, once again breaking the Champions League record and winning praise from many people in the industry.
Six kills in a row, 40 teams
Compared to Paris, Benfica's strength is clearly inferior. However, Messi faced the spell of Benfica, who had never scored a Benfica goal before, and Paris had lost all three previous away games against Benfica.
However, Messi continued his excellent form in this campaign, in the 22nd minute of the game, Mbappe scored, Neymar skillfully crossed, Messi followed the trend of the left foot to push the goal, scoring the only goal of the game for Paris.
Messi's goal seems to be a breeze, but the left foot of the ball is swept along the trend, and the ball goes straight into the dead corner, reflecting Messi's state and technique. Machado, a reporter on the official website of UEFA, commented, "It is incredible that Messi is doing something that only Messi can do. ”
Benfica became Messi's 40th team to break in the Champions League, the Argentine also set a new Champions League record, Cristiano Ronaldo finished second with 38 times, and third-placed Benzema broke 34 teams.
What worries Cristiano Ronaldo is that in his 159th appearance in the Champions League, Messi has scored 127 goals, just 13 goals less than the Champions League record held by Ronaldo with 140 goals.
Before the World Cup, Messi was the best player, playing 16 goals in 13 appearances in all competitions, scoring 8 goals and giving 8 assists, while in the Champions League, he participated in 3 goals in 3 games, scored 2 goals and provided 1 assist.
Not only that, Messi is also good at playing on the road, participating in 7 away goals in all competitions this season, a total of 13 goals (6 goals and 7 assists), with an average of nearly 2 goals per game.
Since the match against Maccabi Haifa, Messi has scored in six consecutive games, participated in a total of 9 goals, scored 8 goals and delivered 1 assist, averaging 1.33 goals per game, almost the same as at its peak.
It should be pointed out that while completing the six-game streak, Messi traveled to the United States to compete on international days, and the continuous long journey did not affect Messi's state.
However, in the 81st minute of the game, Messi was replaced early, whispered with Galti and was unhappy. Argentine journalists revealed that Messi felt unwell. However, after the game, Galtie debunked the rumors, "He said he wanted to go down." After the last sprint, he felt a little tired, which was why he was replaced. ”
Just before being replaced, Messi did not form a shot after breaking into the box, and there was a situation of garlic under his feet when he stopped the ball, which did show signs of physical decline.
Three-person definition: Messi is GOAT
Commenting on the game alongside Henry and Richards, legendary defender Carragher noted, "I think he's the best player the three of us have ever seen. We've seen great players, Pele, Cruyff, Maradona, but I would say Messi is the greatest player. ”
"In everyone's eyes, the idea may be different, because a lot of people think you have to win the World Cup. In Qatar, what I would most like is for Argentina and Messi to win the World Cup, just to cement my view of him: he is the greatest player of all time. ”
Carragher repeated again what he felt during his debate with Neville in 2021, when the two argued about the advantage between Messi and Ronaldo. Carragher said at the time, "Messi can play the front back, C Ronaldo can't play." Again, this is not criticism, but there is no way in the world to make Ronaldo the greatest player of all time. ”
"With all the attributes in mind, Ronaldo is a more well-rounded player, like chocolate feet, headers, he can do things that Messi can't do, but Messi can take you to a place where you can't believe what you see. What Cristiano Ronaldo does is something other players can do, but Messi can do things you've never seen before. ”
Paris midfielder Verratti said: "What he did was unbelievable and you can never get used to it. For me, for a man who loves football, he is a marker, the best player ever. ”
Former Tottenham centre-back Alderreveld has the same view, "I read games a lot and often succeeded. But Messi, we lost 2-4 to Barca, he was unprecedented, really unprecedented. You simply can't control him. ”
"I've played against Ronaldo many times. Of course, his data doesn't lie. But Messi is the best because he's simply elusive and you can't catch him. ”