“At 3–0 up in a Copa del Rey knockout tie, Messi threads a perfectly timed pass that releases Jordi Alba into space to kill off Elche’s resistance, adding a calm, incisive assist to his peak-years tally as career setup number 166.”
On a hot scoring streak, Messi coolly buries a Copa del Rey R16 penalty and adds two slick assists, leading Barcelona’s response after a league defeat and effectively killing the tie against Elche in the first leg.
At 2–0 up in a World Cup semi-final against Croatia, Messi’s twisting run on the right pulls Gvardiol apart and carves out the byline angle for Álvarez to tap in, sealing the final spot and logging career assist 349.
At 2–0 in a Champions League semi-final against Bayern, Messi threads a stoppage-time pass that releases Neymar to seal a 3–0 first-leg cushion, capping his masterclass with career assist number 183.
In an El Clásico Supercopa final deadlocked at 0–0, Messi threads the move that releases Iniesta behind Madrid’s line, breaking the tension and opening the scoring before later capping the night by reaching the 200-career-goal mark.
At 2–0 in an MLS Cup semi-final, Messi threads the move that rips Cincinnati open and turns control into dominance at 3–0, the incisive pass that both kills the tie and pushes him to a staggering 1300 career goal contributions.