When Was Messi 'Actually' In His Prime？

Alvi Nabeel

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00:00the team struggled it'll be tempting to use the word struggled with messi because on one hand

00:05more than 100 goals in two seasons they were still very elite numbers but the fact that the

00:10team failed to replicate the same heights they had in previous years brought questions about

00:15certain players being system players and messi's name was in that conversation some believed it

00:20was only a matter of time before messi would get finished particularly after that 2013-14 season

00:25his response he became one-third of arguably the greatest trio the game has ever seen the msn

00:32neymar joined in 2013 suarez in 2014 right from the start the south american trio hit it running

00:39neymar on the left suarez through the middle and messi down the right they didn't just beat teams

00:44this front three they destroyed the opposition it was hard enough getting past just one of these three

00:50neymar the brazilian wonder kid from santos was finally living up to his reputation in barcelona

00:55silky smooth and skillful with the ball in one-on-ones he was deadly then luis suarez the

01:00european golden boot holder at the time off the back of setting the record for the then joint most

01:05goals in a single english premier league with 31 for liverpool and once he got into the team in october

01:11suarez was a lethal combination of goals and assists clever movements excellent finishes then messi

01:17simply unstoppable that goal against bayern munich in the champions league highlights messi during

01:22this period he had the skill to take on opponents completely humiliate them and still find the finish

01:28on his own jerome boating was one of the best defenders in the world at the time and in that

01:33moment messi had slashed his price tag in half that season was just something else for barter and messi

01:39they won the treble again the msn combined for 122 goals and 64 assists in all competitions that year

01:46neymar hit a career high of 39 goals and 10 assists suarez with 25 goals and 23 assists messi 58 goals

01:54and 28 assists in 57 matches messi's numbers told a story that goal against athletic bilbao is right

02:01up there with the greats scoring 58 goals is one thing but in the same season messi created 143 chances

02:08as well he'd become the main part of a collective that didn't fear any team en route to winning the

02:13champions league barca beat the champions of england manchester city in the round of 16

02:18the champions of france psg in the quarterfinals the champions of germany bayern munich in the

02:23semi-finals and the champions of italy juventus in the final the champions from four of the top five

02:29leagues in europe all went down to that barcelona team this was messy as the controller of chaos

02:35tactically under luis enrique he was brilliant emotionally he was playing to prove the disappointment

02:40of losing the 2014 world cup and that only made him stronger but there was one drawback for the

02:46three years the msn lasted from 2014 to 2017 they were incredible 364 goals and 171 assists together

02:55as a trio but messi he became known as one part of the trio and that was the problem many believed

03:00he couldn't do it on his own and they had reason to in 2009 that barcelona team had players like henry

03:06an attack in 2011 xavi and iniesta controlling the tempo behind him and in 2015 it was suarez and neymar

03:14the drawback with messi now was at every time he always had a system partners a part of something

03:19until it changed messi was about to face the greatest challenge of his career at barcelona becoming club

03:25captain

03:302018-19 messi is against the odds now he has to become a version of himself he hasn't been at barcelona yet

03:36a leader with xavi iniesta and neymar leaving the club luis suarez was declining the midfield

03:43options looked slow and lacked the rhythm barter had for years and defensively it looked a mess at

03:48times this was where it was at for messi this was the real test it's also here that he delivers his

03:54most complete season ever 50 games 51 goals 19 assists 70 goal contributions eight free kicks four

04:01hat tricks and a promise on his part messi became everything for barcelona they won la liga thanks

04:22to his brilliance in the league 36 goals and 14 assists 50 goal contributions in 34 games and won the spanish

04:30super cup 2. in the champions league messi was in a league of his own he single-handedly dragged his

04:35team to the semi-final also he was not only the top scorer he was voted as the best forward won the

04:41goal of the tournament and in la liga he was the best player the best forward the player with the most

04:47assists in europe he won the european golden shoe the fifa the best award and at the end of the year

04:53another ballon d'or messi was the captain of this barcelona ship and his performances did the talking

04:58the ball was glued to his feet messi played the game like a man on a mission determined to fulfill

05:04that promise as a leader to the barcelona fans but then the walls came crumbling anfield the scene of

05:10messi's european collapse with barcelona they let a three goal lead slip got knocked out of the

05:14champions league in the semi-finals it got worse as well they also lost the copa del rey final against

05:20valencia barcelona had gone from a potential treble to winning just the league title that season

05:26messi was devastated still it took nothing away from the fact that messi had proved a point he

05:32could do it on his own with little or no support messi didn't need magic around him now because he

05:37was the magic and eventually the magician shone his wand on world football's biggest stage but time was

05:43passing and with every game from that point on physically messi lost something some thought he was

05:49playing on borrowed time and would soon retire but messi had one more trick up his sleeve the greatest

05:54act of his magical career yet at this point messi looked to be nearing the end he'd left barcelona

06:03in 2021 to join psg but this was all before he'd somehow broken the jinx with argentina see for years

06:10messi had tried the 2014 world cup final back-to-back copa america finals in 2015 and 2016. messi had done

06:18everything he could to win a trophy with the national team but it didn't work at least until 2021

06:23under lionel scaloni the national team had rebuilt messi was still the central figure but with the

06:29addition of players like goalkeeper emi martinez rodrigo de paul alongside experienced pros such as

06:34di maria argentina had stability and that was the key to finally breaking the 28-year jinx messi and

06:41argentina conquered south america overcome with emotion he'd finally done it finally won a trophy with

06:47the national team but this was still only the beginning the best would come a year later he was 35

06:53coming into the 2022 world cup there were doubts over his physical condition how long would messi be

06:58able to run for would his presence in the team cost argentina in the long run but yet again messi

07:03evolved into something different the wizard he didn't need to run to make the difference he wasn't

07:08the fastest or the strongest but in moments like this he could explode every touch had a meaning every

07:14pass was to break the opposition the team was built to understand him and in turn he made each action

07:21count the world cup final eight years ago at 27 messi had been at that stage in his physical prime he

07:27failed to win the big one with argentina and now standing in his way was a french team led by mbappe

07:32looking to deny him again the only difference was that this time messi wasn't the same man a brace in

07:38the final the game went to penalties after mbappe's hat-trick and the team did it for him gonzalo montiel

07:44scored the goal to win it at 35 messi had conquered the world he'd won the world cup with argentina as

07:50captain as the learning figure the main force not the fastest or the strongest but he was the best

07:56another ballon d'or followed proof that at that moment as he had been for almost his entire career

08:02messi evolved into the final act 1095 appearances 858 goals and 381 assists as of recording this

08:11lionel messi changed football in four different eras he was a goal scorer a creator a leader and a

08:18winner he's completed the game nothing left there's a lot of young talent in world football right now

08:23but one thing is clear there will never be another lionel messi

08:30you

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