FCBARCELONA.CAT

01.02.2010 18:12

A Fabulous Year

Jordi Clos

It’s exactly 365 days since Leo Messi scored Barça’s 5,000th league goal in El Sardinero. From that day on he has not ceased to delight the fans and accumulate silverware.

At 18:35 on Sunday 1st February 2009 Leo Messi ensured himself a place in the Barça Hall of Fame when he scored the Club’s 5,000th league goal in Santander. He joined such legendary names as Marco Aurelio (1,000), Zaballa (2,000), Quini (3,000) and Amor (4,000).

Flat out for the treble

That goal gave Barça a 1-2 win and was the starting pistol that signalled the year of a truly fabulous year for the Argentine star. In April he played his 100th First Division game and then in May he astonished fans around the world with his two goals in the historic 2-6 defeat of Real Madrid in the Bernabéu, a defeat that virtually decided the league title in Barça’s favour. He scored another in the Spanish Cup final and the team’s second in the Rome CL final. He was a fundamental part of the treble-winning side.

Individual and collective honours

After his first proper summer rest for some time, Messi made a decisive contribution to the victories in the European and Spanish Super Cups in August. At the same time he started to harvest the fruits of the previous season in the form of individual honours, the first of which was the award for the best forward and best player in the Champions League 2008-09.

The best in the world

In October, he helped Argentina secure a place in the next World Cup thanks to a win over arch rivals Uruguay. It heralded an exceptional few months in which he won the awards for the best player in La Liga 2008-09, the Golden Ball and the FIFA World Player. The icing on the cake was Barça’s success in the World Club Cup – a Messi goal included. The sixth trophy in 12 months.

However, Leo Messi isn’t sitting back and taking it easy! He has started 2010 in great form and is the leading scorer in La Liga with 15 goals. One year on and he’s still making history.