Sky Sports: “Of the 4,229 players to have donned a pitch, Lionel Messi was Europe's standout player in 2020 ahead of Robert Lewandowski and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Best FIFA awards ranked the three differently - with the Bayern Munich striker top and Messi in third place.”
BBC Sport: “✨ Footballing genius.
Argentina's World Cup-winning captain Lionel Messi has been crowned BBC Sports Personality's World Sport Star of the Year for 2022!”
#SPOTY
.
@BarcaStat
: “Most goals and assists (League and Champions League) so far this season;
41 - Lewandowski
35 - Messi
34 - Immobile
Most big chances created;
38 - Di Maria
28 - Messi
28 - De Bruyne
Most completed dribbles;
155 - Messi
140 - Adama
130 - Zaha.”
.
@Carra23
: “Messi as a player, can take you to a place where you can't actually believe what you're seeing. What Cristiano Ronaldo does, is he does things that other players can do. Messi can do things we've never seen before. Messi can run a game, Ronaldo can't do that.”
Opta: “Lionel Messi (107) has surpassed Diego Maradona (105) as the player with the most dribbles in the history of the
#WorldCup
(data since 1966). Legacy.”
ESPN: “Lionel Messi was named to TIME's 100 Most Influential People of 2023 and it was accompanied by this powerful tribute from Roger Federer.
The ultimate respect from one 🐐 to another 👏.”
#TIME100
Fabio Capello: “Cristiano Ronaldo is an extraordinary footballer, but Messi is a genius. There are three geniuses in football; Pelé, Maradona and Messi. Period. Ronaldo is very strong as he lets you win everything, but Messi is a genius and something else.”
.
@2010MisterChip
: “When Lionel Messi made his Barça debut (Oct. 2004), the official trophy count between the two rivals stood at 61-72, in favour of Real Madrid. Fifteen years later, Messi's Barça dominates their rival 95-92.
THE MAN WHO CHANGED THE HISTORY OF SPANISH FOOTBALL!”
⚠️ MESSI BRACE ALERT ⚠️
Leo scores his 2nd goal against Nicaragua.
It's his;
32nd goal of the year
53rd goal of the season
67th goal for Argentina
670th official career goal
.
@RayHudson
: “The Mozart of our game, for eternity... The rest? Banjo players. All the cynics, critics & haters, keep throwing your bricks at him! He takes them and builds another monument to his genius with them! Messi's world, where the insane & impossible become the expected!”
.
@Omojuwa
: “If anyone without the face and name Lionel Messi had played the football he played last season, we won’t be comparing them to the 2nd best player in Portugal or the 2nd best player in Liverpool. Messi is a victim of his own greatness. He's judged by celestial levels.”
Robert Lewandowski: “The expectations around Messi are enormous and what he has already achieved as a footballer is something that perhaps no one will achieve. You may have to wait 100 years for someone like him to be born again. He is and will be one of the greatest in history.”
Giggs: “If you're going through on goal, 2-v-1 with
@Cristiano
, I think he'd put you out wide knowing that you can't shoot and that you have to cross for him. Whereas I think Messi would put you in for goal. Ronaldo's first thought is how can I score, not how can the team score.”
.
@GadSaad
: “Maradona scored 34 goals for Argentina. Messi has scored 64. Every other stat, Messi destroys Maradona. But Maradona won the World Cup whereas Messi came a few minutes from potentially winning it. So the 13 trillion ways which Messi is superior are magically erased.”
.
@LaureusSport
: “2022 saw Leo Messi elevate his status in the footballing world further.
The
#Laureus23
World Sportsman of the Year Nominee lit up the 2022 FIFA World Cup as he inspired Argentina to glory and finally won the biggest prize in football.”
Opta: “Lionel Messi is now the top scorer in the history of the five major European leagues with 415 goals, surpassing
@Cristiano
Ronaldo's 414. Legend.”
Leo Messi: “Even if I played for a million years, I’d never come close to Maradona. Not that I’d want to anyway. He’s the greatest there’s ever been.”
#WorldCup
Craig Bellamy: “He’s the best player I’ve seen in my lifetime. These players are so rare. I caught Maradona at the end, I didn’t get to see
@Pele
. Big fan of
@Cristiano
, but Messi plays a different game to any footballer I've ever seen. He's the greatest of all time in my book.”
.
@GuillemBalague
: “Messi has not only scored the most goals and provided the most assists this season, but he has also attempted the most shots, created the most chances and completed the most successful dribbles.”
Antonio Cassano [on the birth of his son, Lionel]: “He's my Messi. I've given him this name as a homage to the greatest player of all time. My wife wasn't keen, but I convinced her. I hope my son will play football like his father — because doing it like Messi is impossible!”
Pep Guardiola [on what he would say to people who claim that he's not won the Champions League since Barcelona, because he doesn't have Messi, Xavi, Iniesta etc.]:
“I completely agree with them. I was a very lucky guy at Barcelona.”
Leo Messi: “Even if I played for a million years, I’d never come close to Maradona. Not that I’d want to anyway. He’s the greatest there’s ever been.”
#Maradona60