“With PSG still searching for a breakthrough at 0–0, Messi threads the move that finally opens Nantes up, timing his service to release Mbappé and break the deadlock for league-leading assist number 5 of his season and career assist 336.”
Amid a three-game scoring drought, Messi controls Ligue 1’s Round 6 trip to Nantes with a pure creator’s display, threading 2 assists, 4 key passes and 18 progressive passes as PSG’s 35-year-old playmaker dictates the entire 90 minutes en route to Man of the Match.
In a tense Copa América quarter-final locked at 0–0, Messi threads a perfectly timed pass that slices Ecuador open and springs De Paul through to break the deadlock, a pressure-breaking contribution that also registers career assist number 313.
At 0–0 in a tight Champions League group tie against Viktoria Plzeň, Messi threads the move that finally pries them open for Iniesta, the breakthrough also registering as his 100th career assist.
At 0–0 away to Juventus in the Champions League group stage, Messi’s incisive pass into space unpicks a tight back line to give Dembélé the opener, doubling as the 300th assist of his career.
With Barcelona still locked at 0–0 in Málaga, Messi threads the decisive pass that finally opens the home defence for Ibrahimović, breaking the deadlock and quietly bringing up his 50th career assist as a creator at just 22.