Lionel Messi is so incomprehensibly great because he has an almost unlimited arsenal of match-deciding, soul-snatching, title-winning skills and attributes—so many, in fact, that some of them threaten to go under-appreciated. Perfect example: some of his deceptively simple but actually staggeringly effective moves in Barcelona’s Copa del Rey match against Valencia yesterday.
Like, everyone knows to lose their shit when Messi does something like this, but are people giving him proper credit after he pulled off a majestic, slow motion run like this?
Sure, this Copa classic will go down as one of his greatest goals ever, but will history remember that he was just as ruthlessly efficient in the smaller, subtler moments like this?
We all know how much reverence Messi inspires in the hearts of spectators who sometimes can’t help but barge onto the pitch and bow before him, but after seeing Valencia midfielder Francis Coquelin’s attempt to rip off Messi’s jersey, no doubt his desperation to exchange shirts with the Argentine idol blinding him to the fact that he was in the middle of a game and should probably wait until the final whistle to ask for the memento, will this incident be held up as the clearest evidence of Messi’s mind-melting genius the way it should?
Or how about how Messi can go from just standing around, picking his butt, looking completely disengaged from the match, and then out of nowhere turn it on and completely emasculate a defender like he did to José Luis Gayà?
This guy, man. He can do it all. Even nothing.