2008/2009

In a summer which saw the departure of key players such as Ronaldinho and Deco from Barcelona, Messi’s importance to the Blaugrana was substantially increased. Leo inherited Ronaldinho’s number 10 jersey, and was asked to play more centrally by new manager Josep Guardiola, although he still played from the right wing on paper.

However the season did not start smoothly for the Catalans. Lionel, fresh from return from the 2008 Beijing Olympics was in a Barcelona side that could only manage one point from their opening two games of the season, against newly promoted Numancia and Sporting Gijon respectively. The reply would prove to be immense though, as Barcelona went on to win their next eleven goals, with Messi scoring eight goals in that period. Most notably, On 1 October 2008, during a Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk, Messi scored two goals during the last seven minutes after coming on as a substitute, to turn the score from 0–1 to a victory for Barcelona 2-1.

As Barcelona pulled away at the top of La Liga, they approached a set of fixtures known as ‘Everest’, where they had to play Sevilla Valencia, Real Madrid, and Villarreal. Messi netted a fine brace against Sevilla scoring a volley from 25 yards, Messi also scored the second goal in Barcelona’s 2-0 win over Real Madrid. Barcelona had remarkably won all four of the games against their title rivals. Shortly after this, Messi was named second in the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year and the 2008 Ballon D’or.

Messi scored his first hat-trick of 2009 in a Copa del Rey tie against Atlético Madrid which Barcelona won 3-1, in a game watched by Argentina’s newly appointed manager – Diego Maradona. Perhaps Messi’s finest moment of the season came on 1 February 2009, as he came on as a second half substitute with Barcelona trailing 1-0 to Racing Santander. Messi was able though to score two quick goals to secure a vital victory and another three points for the now clear league leaders. The second of the two strikes was Barcelona’s 5000th league goal. On 8 April 2009, Leo scored twice against Bayern Munich in the Champions’ League, setting a personal record of what was then eight goals in the competition. In national colours, Messi was in inspired form for Maradona, scoring in both of his first two games, one of which a fine solo goal against France. However, there would be a sour note to add to this, as Argentina collapsed 6-1 to Bolivia in very very testing conditions at altitude.

As a frantic end to Barcelona’s season began, Messi scored twice in a simply outstanding 6–2 win over Real Madrid at the their own Santiago Bernabéu. In a touching gesture, he, after scoring each goal, ran towards the fans and the cameras lifting up his Barcelona jersey and showing another T-shirt that read Síndrome X Fràgil, Catalan for Fragile X Syndrome, to show his support for children who suffer from the affliction. Messi was able to win his first Copa del Rey on 13 May, as he turned in a sensational second half display to score one and assist another two, in a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao. Shortly after the league title was wrapped up, leading to the season finale – The UEFA Champions League Final. Messi was impressive as ever in this game scoring a headed goal in the 70th minute giving Barcelona a two goal lead. That meant Barcelona had won the Copa del Rey, La Liga and UEFA Champions League this season.