Top 5 Lionel Messi seasons ahead of second year at PSG
Lionel Messi is preparing for his second year as a Paris Saint-Germain. It is also his second year away from Camp Nou, a fact that many are still getting used to.
His first season at Parc De Princes saw him finish in the top two assists providers in the Ligue 1 but his goal tally was poor as he only scored five league goals in over 39 appearances.
PSG's president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has made the bold claim that the world will witness a better version of Messi in the coming season. For this reason, we are taking a look at some of the best versions of the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner and ranking the top five seasons of the mercurial Argentine.
2008/09 season - 38 goals
The world came to know Messi in 2004/05 but it was in 2008/09 in his first season under Pep Guardiola that he truly turned up the heat in the kitchen.
Barcelona was handed over to a certain Josep Guardiola, whose only managerial experience was with the club's B-team after they endured a trophyless outing in the 2007/08 season. The former midfielder came in with a revised version of Barcelona's original style and soon, they were back to winning ways.
The key, of course, was Messi, who was moved into the false 9 role beside Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry in attack. Messi, who inherited Ronaldinho's number 10 jersey that season, went on to score 38 goals and provided 19 assists in all competitions including that famous header against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League final.
It was also the season that Barcelona won their first treble.
2017/18 season - 45 goals
This season was especially good for Lionel Messi in LaLiga where he scored 34 goals and assisted 14 more to guide the club to their third league triumph in four years.
It was the season of that iconic celebration where he stood and took in the insults of Real Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabeu after running riot against Barcelona's fiercest rivals.
It was a poor season for the club in the Champions League, however, as they fell to AS Roma in the round of 16. But his LaLiga run in that season was one of the best that fans had ever witnessed. This was because the burden of creativity was officially placed on him and he shouldered it better than anybody thought he would.
2014/15 season - 58 goals
Barcelona had just parted ways with Gerardo Martino who managed the worst Barcelona side of the 2010s and returned to their recipe of employing former players.
Luis Enrique was the man chosen to lead the team and what a run it was! Messi was especially rampant as a result of his partnership with Neymar and Suarez who gave him the freedom to express himself fully in attack.
He stormed to 43 LaLiga goals but lost out on the Pichichi to his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who notched 48 goals that season. He was also responsible for 21 league goals and finished the season with 58 goals and 30 assists as Barcelona bagged their second treble.
2011/12 season - 73 goals
Many would argue that this is Messi's best season ever and they would make strong points for it.
First of all, he scored 50 goals in 38 LaLiga matches. Nobody normal does that. Then he notched another 23 goals in other competitions for Barcelona to take his tally to 73 goals in 60 matches. This is not counting his 20 LaLiga assists and his 28 total assists in all competitions.
He went on to score 91 goals in 2012, with the rest coming in another historic season - the 2012/13 season - as well as for the Argentine national team. That is the world record for goals scored in a calendar year and nobody, not even Messi can match it.
They failed to win the LaLiga title that season however because Real Madrid went crazy and amassed 100 points. The Copa del Rey was his only solace in what would have been an epic season.
2018/19 season - 51 goals
This is the season that fans place alongside the 2011/12 season as Messi's greatest performance ever.
He had begun to carry the burden of creativity the season before, 2017/18, but he still had Andres Iniesta to count on. However, injuries and the eventual phasing out of the legendary midfielder from the team led to Messi carrying the full burden of creativity.
He finished in every top attacking metric in the world, carrying a Barcelona team that was rated as one of the poorest he had ever played for in the 2010s. Messi scored 34 league goals as Barcelona marauded all the way to the title.
He was also the standout performer in a very poor Barcelona side in the Champions League, dragging them to the semi-final where he scored twice against eventual tournament winners Liverpool. The 2018/19 season saw the Argentine at his absolute creative and goal-scoring best.
It is this season that PSG fans will be hoping he can recreate ahead of the coming 2022/23 season so that Kylian Mbappe can have the type of season he did in 2011/12.
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