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Lionel Messi wins Pichichi and Golden Boot 2012

Lionel Messi wins the Pichichi and Golden Boot 2012 for scoring 50 league goals. He have set a new record both in Pichichi and Golden Boot award, beating Cristiano Ronaldo record of 41 goals in Pichichi he set last year and also beating Dudu Geogescu record of 47 goals in Golden Boot.

This is Lionel Messi second Pichichi Award, although he didnt score in his last league game, Ronaldo who had to score 6 goals to beat Lionel Messi, only manage to score 1 goal and remained 4 goals behind him.

Match Highlight: Lionel Messi vs Espanyol - Spanish League - May 5, 2012

Lionel Messi vs Espanyol - Spanish League - May 5, 2012

Match Statistics:

11 min: Messi Goal, Freekick (1-0)

62 min: Messi Goal, Penalty (2-0)

72 min: Messi Goal (3-0)

77 min: Messi Goal, Penalty (4-0)

Lionel Messi gets his 72nd goal of the season

Lionel Messi created yet another magical night for all the Barca fans to remember, scoring 4 goals against Espanyol to take his league goal tally to 50 goals this season. 

After breaking Gerd Muller’s record of highest goal in single season in all competition of 67 goals, Messi went on to break Georgescu’s record of most goals scored in European league in a single season. He still has one more game left to increase that tally.

Lionel Messi have now scored 72 goals in 52 official matches for Barcelona this season, an average of 1.24 goals per game. He have scored in all competition that he played in this season.

He scored 4 goals last night against Espanyol. He have scored 4 goals against Arsenal as well as Valencia, he have also scored 5 goals against Bayer Leverkusen this season.

It was a sad night for all Barca fans as they bid their farewell to Pep Guardiola for his last match at Camp Nou. Lionel Messi went on to make it a special night for him, right after scoring the first goal, which was an amazing freekick right over the head of the Espanyol defenders to the back of the net, he went and pointed at  Guardiola to let him know that the goal was dedicated to him.

At second half, Barcelona were 1 up against Espanyol, we kept putting pressure on Espanyol, as we reached the 60th minute, Messi won a penalty kick as the defender tried to block the ball with his hand and Messi made is 2-0 for Barcelona, the ball did hit the poll but it bounced and went back inside the net. Messi got his 70th goal of the season.

It didnt take much time for Messi to get his hat-trick and then we won yet another penalty as Busquets was taken down in the penalty area and Messi guided it past the goalkeeper to get his 4th goal of the night and scoring 50th league goal in a single season. He went on to hug Guardiola after his scored his 50th league goal and the team joined in.

Camp Nou were paid their homage to Pep Guardiola who have brought us so much success in just 4 years, winning 13 trophy and maybe 14 after our Cup Final against Bilbao.

Thank you very much Pep Guardiola for all the amazing matches, we have witnessed in your era. Even when we lost few games, we never changed our style and we kept pushing and pushing, it was the only way the other team were able to win or draw against us. I hope we continue the same and wish you all the best in your future life.

RECORD:

1. World Record - Lionel Messi sets a new world record of scoring 72 goals for his club in single season in history of football.

2. Lionel Messi scored his 50th League Goal of the season, highest in European league in single season.

3. Lionel Messi scored 8 hat-trick this season, creating another record and breaking Cristiano Ronaldo record of 7 hat-trick in a season.

4. Lionel Messi become the first Barcelona player to score 250 goals and is right now at 252 goals.

LIONEL MESSI STATISTICS 2011/2012

Spanish League - 36 matches, 50 goals, 15 assists

Cup (Spanish, Supercup, Club World Cup) - 11 matches, 8 goals, 8 assists

Champions League - 11 matches, 14 goals, 5 assists

TOTAL: 58 matches, 72 goals, 28 assists

Match Highlight: Lionel Messi vs Malaga - Spanish League - May 2, 2012

Match Highlight: Lionel Messi vs Malaga - Spanish League - May 2, 2012

Match Stats:

34 min: Messi Goal, Penalty (1-2)

57 min: Messi Goal, Penalty (1-3)

63 min: Messi Goal, Iniesta Assist (1-4)

Lionel Messi broke Gerd Muller’s record with 68 Goals

Lionel Messi have created yet another record by scoring his 68th goal of the season with Barcelona last night. He broke previous record set by Gerd Muller of 67 goals, which wasnt broken for 40 years. In the process, he also broke record set by Pele of 66 goals with Santos (how will Pele react now.. aahhh Messi still has score 1000 goals.. right :P)

It was coming and we all knew it. Before Guardiola arrived as coach of Barcelona, Messi highest goals was 17 goals in 2006-2007 season. He might have broken the record next season but due to his injury he manage to only score 16 goals in 2007-2008 season. Yes, Messi used to score less than 20 goals. 

Guardiola era has come to an end but we know that the legacy is going to continue and we wont be compromising in our style with Tito in-charge of Barcelona. Messi has been the goal machine for Barcelona in Guardiola era. First season, he grabbed 38 goals, which we felt was the greatest show ever and he might not be able to reach this record for a long time now. I was also sad that he missed to beat Ronaldo previous year record of 42 goals but who would have thought that it would just take Messi one year to beat that record. He scored 47 goals and also manage to level with Brazilian Ronaldo 34 league goals, the top-scorer in single season for Barcelona.

If you thought that this is the best Lionel Messi can do? You were wrong. He beats his previous record of 47 goals and set a new personal record 53 goals in season 2010-2011 but still failed to beat his league record which he held with Ronaldo.

He have reached a new height this season and has broken all time club record and is just 2 goals away from 250 goals for Barcelona. He will be the first player to ever reach that mark. 68 goals in season with 3 matches remaining, you know he would set something amazing this season. 

With 46 league goals, he is the only player to achieve that mark for Barcelona in single season beating his previous 34 league goals record.

It is sad to see Messi out of Champions League and last night Real Madrid grab the victory and secure the League title. Copa Del Rey will be the final match for Pep Guardiola, lets hope to see magical night from Lionel Messi and hope to bring another cup :)

LIONEL MESSI STATISTICS 2011/2012

Spanish League - 35 matches, 46 goals, 15 assists

Cup (Spanish, Supercup, Club World Cup) - 11 matches, 8 goals, 8 assists

Champions League - 11 matches, 14 goals, 5 assists

TOTAL: 57 matches, 68 goals, 28 assists

Match Highlight: Lionel Messi vs Rayo Vallecano - Spanish League - April 29, 2012

Messi Match Stats:

15 min: Messi goal, Pedro assist (0-1)

38 min: Kieta goal, Messi assist (0-3)

89 min: Pedro goal, Messi assist (0-6)

91 min: Messi goal, Pedro assist (0-7)

Barcelona beat Rayo Vallecano 7-0

Barcelona beat Rayo Vallecano 7-0 last night to keep the La Liga still alive for a little bit more. Messi and Pedro scored twice, Alexis, Kieta, Thiago scored 1 goal each to secure a comfortable victory for Barcelona. 

Two-Three bad games and people start thinking Barcelona time is over, well that is the standard our Barcelona team have set for themselves. Yes we sometime miss our chances and we have our bad days but doesnt mean we give up our style, thats what make our Barca boys amazing and we showed that last night.

Barcelona didnt waste much time to put pressure on Rayo defense and our front three (Messi, Alexis and Pedro) were involve in almost everything. Lionel Messi grabbed the first goal of the night when Pedro unselfishly setup Messi and later winning the ball in midfield from behind which went straight to Kieta, who then setup Alexis for the second goal of the night.

A long crossed towards Messi was brilliantly controlled by him and then like he always used to do, running and dribbling from the right side to the middle of the box but this time around, he setup Kieta with an amazing pass between the defender legs and we went on half-time with 3-0.

We continued the pressure after the half-time and grabbed a goal when Alexis crossed the ball in the box and Messi failed to put inside but the ball hit the bar and bounce back to Pedro, who jumped and scored it.

Afellay then joins the party although he didnt scored, it was still nice to see him back on the pitch after a long injury. We kept the pressure on Rayo and the chances were coming and then Alves gave a brilliant cross in the middle of the box and Thiago headed it past the goalkeeper to make it 5-0 for Barcelona. Thiago ran towards Alves and they started celebrating with a dance but then Puyol stopped it and asked them to continue with the game as he felt it would be insulting the home crowd.

It just took 10 minutes more for Barcelona to create another goal when Messi gave a through cross to Pedro who made it 6-0 and then returned the favor by grabbing the ball from Afellay and setting up Messi for his second goal of the night.

Lionel Messi is now just 2 goals away from equaling Gerd Muller record of 67 goals in single season and now is also running for Pichichi and European Golden boot Award with 43 League goals.

LIONEL MESSI STATISTICS 2011/2012

Spanish League - 34 matches, 43 goals, 15 assists

Cup (Spanish, Supercup, Club World Cup) - 11 matches, 8 goals, 8 assists

Champions League - 11 matches, 14 goals, 5 assists

TOTAL: 56 matches, 65 goals, 28 assists

Barcelona 7 points behind Real Madrid

We dropped 3 points against Real Madrid but they probably deserved it more than us. Not because they were defending very well, because we lacked concentration on El Clasico night.

Our passing was way off, we didnt finish our chances and our defending is still not up to the mark. They only had 27% possession but still manage to have 11 shots, 6 shots on target and 7 corners. 

Lionel Messi was again well guarded by Real Madrid. They used the same tactics as Chelsea did against us. He still managed to produced few of the chances for Barcelona and yet again he was forced to shoot the ball from the outside as he was not able to get near the box.

Chelsea are 1 goal ahead of us and they will be doing the same thing, its not fair for us to say that parking bus is not good as they gets what they want. We will have to find a way to create chances even if they park the bus and hopefully our passing will be back like it used to be. We have reached a point were every single mistake will cost us.

Lets not forget our team has been playing so well for so many years now, we have won so many cups, dont get upset so easily if we lose few games or we fail to win trophies. I still think we can win 3 cups this season but only if we play extremely well and Real Madrid just loses all of their game.. ;)

Barcelona missed too many chances which lead to their loss against Chelsea

Barcelona have lost their first leg of semi-final against Chelsea, who defended very well against Barcelona. Barcelona on other side, still manage to break down their defending but then lack concentration in front of goal and missed all the chances that came their way. Although if the game rules would have been, whoever hit the post most would win the game, we would have definitely win it :D

Anyways, Chelsea had their game plan and they stick with it till the end. Defend with their life and if they take chances of the counter-attack. Let the score not confuse you, Barcelona played an excellent game against Chelsea, they were attacking and hoping to get behind Chelsea players who were most of the time in their half and their penalty area heavily guarded. Still a brilliant pass from Iniesta gave Alexis very good opportunity to grab the first goal of the night, and he beat Cech with his chip but it went too high and the goal post saved Chelsea.

The chances kept coming but still we didnt see any goal coming our way. Fabregas missed few chances which came to him and Messi trying to shoot from outside the penalty box as there was no other way to get pass their defenders.

As we were reaching the first half, Lionel Messi slipped and looked a little uncomfortable for a while and unlucky ball came to him and he gave it away to Lampard and he took the chance to pass the ball to Ramires who then setup Drogba for the only goal of the night.

Barcelona came back strong against Chelsea after the first half break, with more speed but it was never going to easy against Chelsea who were just sitting behind to defend their goal and they never even had one shot against Barcelona in second half. It was one way traffic with us attacking and them deflecting all our shot, even free-kick and corner-kick didnt help us, whenever Messi was near their box, they fouled him over and over. But at the ever end, Lionel Messi created a beautiful chance by passing to Busquets who back-heeled to Messi but it was blocked but the ball went straight to Pedro, who shoot and manage to get past Cech but last second touch save it but still the ball kept going and came to Busquets who had an open net but shoot it wide.

Chelsea did secure the win against Barcelona but what we should take from this match is we had 12 shots and 8 shots on target, not the same as last time we visited Chelsea, we only had 1 shot and 1 goal which lead us to Champions League final. I believe we can turn this around, we only need more concentration in front of goal, its not like Messi will always get chance to be near goal post. Others have to score when they get the opportunity. Dont believe in all the statistics that people will say, that we have never won against an English team, we never won when we lost first leg of semi-final. Its just one goal, we can get 1 goal against them at home, so be confident and believe :)

Match Highlight: Lionel Messi vs Levante - Spanish League - April 14, 2012

Match Highlight: Lionel Messi vs Levante - Spanish League - April 14, 2012