“From just inside the box, Messi calmly lifts a delicate right-footed lob over the onrushing Villarreal keeper to restore Barcelona’s lead, a composed winning finish that becomes La Liga goal number 97 of his career.”
Messi’s brace turns a tight La Liga clash against Villarreal into a controlled Barcelona win, with his second-half strikes capping a dominant all-round display on the ball at age 23.
From a central position just inside the box, Messi delicately lifts a right-footed lob over the advancing Levante keeper, capping a dominant display and bringing up career goal number 399.
From a tight early angle at 0–0, Messi calmly lifts Iniesta’s pass over the Racing keeper with a delicate right-foot lob, breaking the deadlock for his 89th La Liga goal and the eventual winner.
From just inside the box, Messi pauses side-on to goal and calmly guides a rare right-footed finish back across the keeper to edge Villarreal 3–2, capping a hot scoring streak with his 431st career strike and 265th in La Liga.
With Barcelona level late on, Messi lashes a difficult right-footed half-volley on the rise into the corner to retake the lead against Racing, a low-xG strike that stands out as the match-winning goal and his 77th career strike.