2009/2010

The season started badly for Leo as he sustained an injury on international duty. This occurred in a set of international fixtures which had been frowned upon by many coaches and players alike, as it took place before the start of European club campaigns. But after winning the 2009 UEFA Super Cup, Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola asserted that Messi was probably the best player he had ever seen.

On 18 September, Messi signed a new contract with Barcelona, running until 2016 and with a buy-out clause of €250 million included, making Messi, along with Zlatan Ibrahimović, the highest paid players in La Liga, with earnings of around €9.5 million yearly. Four days later, on 22 September, Messi scored two goals and assisted another in Barça’s 4–1 win over Racing Santander in La Liga. Messi scored his first European goal of the season on 29 September in a 2–0 win over Dynamo Kyiv. Messi took his goal tally to six goals in seven games in La Liga with a strike during a 6–1 rout over Real Zaragoza at Camp Nou,and also scored a penalty in Barça’s 4–2 win over Mallorca at the Camp Nou on 7 November. On 1 December 2009, Messi was named winner of the 2009 Ballon d’Or, beating runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo by largest ever margin of 473 to 233. Afterwards, France Football magazine quoted Messi as saying: “I dedicate it to my family. They were always present when I needed them and sometimes felt even stronger emotions than me.”

On 19 December, Messi scored the winner in the final of the 2009 Club World Cup against Estudiantes in Abu Dhabi, and thus giving the club their sixth title of the year.Two days later, he was given the FIFA World Player of the Year award; beating Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Kaká and Andrés Iniesta to the award. This was the first time he had won the award, and he became the first Argentinean to ever receive this honour. On 10 January 2010, Messi scored his first hat-trick in 2010 and his first hat-trick of the season against Tenerife in the 0–5 victory. On 17 January, Messi scored his 100th goal for the club in the 4–0 victory over Sevilla.

He then started an impressive run scoring 11 goals in five games. First he scored on the 84th minute against Málaga for a 2–1 win, then he scored two goals against Almería in a 2–2 tie. He continued his spree with an impressive week where he scored eight goals; he started by scoring a hat-trick against Valencia in a 3–0 home win, then he scored two goals against Stuttgart, in a 4–0 win that secured Barcelona’s qualification to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, and finally he scored another hat-trick against Zaragoza in a 4–2 away win, becoming the first FC Barcelona player to score back-to-back hat-tricks in La Liga. He played his 200th official match for Barcelona against Osasuna on 24 March 2010. On 6 April 2010, for the first time in Messi’s career he scored four goals in a single match, netting the lot in a 4–1 home win over Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final second leg. This also saw him overtake Rivaldo as Barcelona’s all time greatest scorer in the competition.

Sadly, Barcelona were eliminated from the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League to Inter Milan, but despite this, On 10 April 2010, Messi scored his 40th goal of the season when he netted the first goal in a 2–0 away win against title-rivals Real Madrid in El Clásico. On 1 May, Messi played his 50th game of the season and scored two goals on a 4–1 away win against Villarreal with a total of 42 goals in 50 games. Just three days later, on 4 May, Messi scored two goals in another 4–1 win at home against Tenerife. Messi scored his 32nd goal in the current La Liga season on 8 May, during an away win against Sevilla, upping his tally once more to 45 goals for the season in all competitions, as well as further closing in on Ronaldo’s club record of 34 goals in a La Liga season, having scored 32 and needing only two goals in the last game of the season to equal his record set during the 1996–97 season. He was able to score these goals on the final day of the season as Barcelona secured yet another La Liga title.