Lionel Messi Best Season Statistics Here

So, when you search for "lionel messi best season statistics," the answer is 73 goals and 32 assists. But the real answer is this: For one season, a 5-foot-7 magician from Rosario turned football into a solo sport. And we were all just lucky to watch.

He would draw four defenders toward him, freeze them with a head-fake that defied physics, and then slide a no-look pass through the legs of a fifth man to find Pedro or Alexis Sanchez. He was a cheat code. If you guarded him tight, he dribbled past you. If you parked the bus, he chipped the keeper. If you doubled him, he found the open man. lionel messi best season statistics

The 50 La Liga goals remain the Everest of European football. Cristiano Ronaldo hit 48 the same season in a legendary arms race, but Messi got to 50. It is the equivalent of a baseball player hitting .400 or a basketball player averaging a triple-double for a season. It wasn't supposed to happen in modern, tactical football. So, when you search for "lionel messi best

Did Barcelona win everything that year? No. They lost the Champions League to Chelsea and the league to Real Madrid. That is the tragic beauty of Messi’s 2011-12 season. He would draw four defenders toward him, freeze