Lionel Messi - Best Chips and Lobs

This great video by RousSportChannel shows off how Lionel Messi has perfected a type of goal which makes the game of football seem simple. Fans of Spanish football see Messi pull off this scoop or chip finish almost every other game. Messi's lobs are his trademark, be it in the Champions League or when playing for Argentina. While they are delightful to watch, they are also deadly effective, as goalkeepers often have no chance of stopping them. From an early age, keepers are taught to come off their line and make the angles harder for strikers. Messi doesn't have to worry about angles, as he has worked out that there is another route past a goalkeeper, over the top!

The quality of the opposition doesn't matter to Messi either. As seen in this video, Real Madrid, Arsenal and even World Champions Spain have been on the end of a sumptuous Messi lob. Enjoy.

Spanish Football Results - 20 March 2012

Last night their were two Spanish football results, with both Osasuna and Barcelona playing at home. Getafe gained a valuable away point and Barcelona closed the gap with Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

Osasuna 0-0 Getafe;
Barcelona 5-3 Granada

The night however, was not about results, it was about Lionel Messi. Cesar Rodriguez’s 57 year old record was broken in style last night as Lionel Messi became Barcelona’s all-time record goalscorer at the age of 24. Messi scored a wonderful hat-trick which helped Barcelona to a 5-3 win. Barcelona were 2-0 up at half-time, but Granada managed to pull it back to 2-2 in the second half. Lionel Messi’s record breaking goal put the Catalans back in front, and Tello finished calmly on 82 minutes to make it 4-2. Messi completed his hat-trick, but the night was slightly soured as Dani Alves was sent off late on after giving away two penalties.

After the game, all the talk was of Lionel Messi, who now has an astonishing 54 goals in all competitions this season. With 234 goals in his Barcelona career so far, will anyone ever get near to Messi’s final goal tally when he hangs up his boots?

Tonight Real Madrid have the chance to restore their 8 point gap over Barcelona at the top of La Liga. They travel to El Madrigal to face struggling Villarreal, but the Yellow Submarines will have new Head Coach Miguel Angel Lotina in charge of his first game. Also tonight, Atletico Madrid host Athletic Bilbao in what could be a crucial game in terms of Champions League qualification.

Hotshots: European Football's Best Goalscorers

In football there is one thing we love more than anything else - goals!

I have looked at Europe's top leagues over the last four years and worked out which players have scored the most goals. The statistics below are the total goals scored since the start of the 2008/09 season in all competitions.

Best of the best

It is no surprise that these two are top of the pile, and top by quite a margin. The two best players in the world are not necessarily classed as strikers, but their astonishing goalscoring records put the rest of football in the shade. Last season both players scored 53 goals in all competitions, with Ronaldo scoring 40 in the league. Over the last 4 years, Leo Messi has averaged 45 goals a season. He currently has 42 goals this season and we are still only in February!

One Hundred Club

Mario Gomez has been a consistent goalscorer for a long time now, averaging a goal every 1.4 games for the last 6 seasons. Gomez has scored goals at both Stuttgart and Bayern, and has 21 goals for Germany in 50 appearances.

Atletico Madrid's Falcao has scored 107 goals over the past 4 seasons. His 16 goals for River Plate in 2008/09 maybe stretch the rules of this European centric list a little, but during his 3 seasons in Europe his goalscoring record has been devastatingly good. In 87 appearances for Porto, Falcao scored an astonishing 72 goals.

Luis Suarez has been vitally important for Liverpool since he joined in January 2011, even though he has only scored 14 goals for the club so far. Suarez made his name as a goalscorer in Holland, and in the 2009/10 season he scored an amazing 49 goals in 48 games for Ajax.

Hotshots

The players here specialise in goals. Over the past 4 seasons they have consistently scored goals at some of Europe's biggest clubs.

Incidentally, just missing out on this list is Aston Villa's Darren Bent, who has scored an impressive 72 goals over the past 4 seasons. Generally under-appreciated by fans in England, Bent has scored more goals in the past 4 years than Didier Drogba (70), Klass-Jan Huntelaar (70) and Giuseppe Rossi (69).

Some names are expected, but others are missing entirely. Certain top players at big clubs have figures which don't compare well with the players above. In the Premier League Dimitar Berbatov and Fernando Torres have scored 56 and 53 goals respectively. Also surprising are the totals of Alexandre Pato (52) and Robinho (50).

Messi outshines them all

It is easy for me to accept that professional football players can do things on the pitch that I could only dream of. This is easy because I accepted the fact, long ago, that I am not very good. I wonder however, whether some of the top players in the world can accept the same thing when comparing themselves with Leo Messi.

The main reason that Messi is so extraordinary to watch, is that he has the ability to combine effective close control dribbling with very high speed. This is where Messi defies the logic which limits virtually everyone else; close control and speed do not mix. Look at players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka or even Steven Gerrard, great players with the ball at speed - direct, powerful and effective, but the pace at which they run means that they tend to push the ball quite far ahead of themselves before chasing it down. This technique can obviously still be devastating when players like Ronaldo drive into space or through a gap in a defensive line. These players however do not have a choice, they simply cannot do what Messi can with the ball. Messi doesn't need a clear gap, because of his exceptional control while dribbling he can zig-zag his way through a defence via a path which only he seems capable of navigating. I sometimes wonder whether Torres, Drogba and co sit at home watching Lionel Messi on television and think to themselves 'I wish I could do that'.

Messi is not only a brilliant dribbler, he is a great passer, fantastic at linking play and superb at creating chances for others. On top of all that, he is also a composed and deadly finisher. This season, Messi has scored 34 league goals in Spain, earning him the European Golden Shoe award and equalling Barcelona's club record for the most amount of goals scored in a season, set by Ronaldo in the 1996/97 season. He has scored more goals in this season's Champions League than any other player (so far), and has amassed an amazing 47 goals in all competitions.

Quite simply, the 2009/10 season has been dominated by the diminutive Argentinian, and everything is now set up perfectly for the World Cup in South Africa. On 11 June 2010, the world's best players will meet, and will be joined by arguably the best ever, Lionel Messi. Its going to be quite a show!

Watch Messi's goals against Zaragoza from earlier this season