After a mediocre start to 2016, Lionel Messi seems to be finding form at just the right time in the season for Barcelona.
The forward is widely seen as the best player in the world, but there were concerns about the dip in form that he experienced for much of last campaign. After having been a regular contender for the top goalscorer awards, Messi finished second even in the Barcelona squad and was close to being overtaken by Neymar. The superstar, though, has put an end to potential talk of a decline after managing to score yet another hat-trick in the Champions League.
The latest hat-trick came against Celtic, who were the visitors to the Camp Nou. The Scottish club had a new manager at the helm and Brendan Rodgers was adamant that they were not in the Champions League just to make up numbers. However, Barcelona dismissed them with a lot of ease in the opening group game of the season. Messi has now become the first player in the Champions League history to score six hat-tricks. This hat-trick is also his 40th for club and country. Those three goals also meant that Celtic suffered their worst defeat in this competition. Following the game, Enrique claimed that Messi was the undisputed number one in the world.
“Messi plays with complete freedom and he can change his position as he wants. He’s the best in the world in every position.If he plays as a number 9, a number 8 or a number 6, he’s the best in the world. He can judge the perfect pass from 40 yards and put the ball wherever he wants.He’s total football and we’d be very stupid if we imposed limits on him.For me, he’s the best player of all time, both for the number of goals he scores and for his footballing vision,” said Enrique.