After a turbulent summer, Lionel Messi is in need of a lift. As it happens, his compatriots Pablo Dybala, Lucas Ocampos, Marcos Acuna and Guido Rodriguez and his close friend Luis Suarez also needed a lift on Monday, literally. They asked Messi if he could help. It was a long lift, all the way from Barcelona airport to Buenos Aires.
Messi obliged, offering space for the four Argentina players, who are all based at clubs in southern Europe, and Uruguay’s Suarez, on his private jet for a journey of maximum comfort to this week’s first round of 2022 World Cup qualifiers. The plane has 16 passenger seats that convert to eight beds, two bathrooms, complete with showers and two kitchens. The Argentina Football Association have plenty to be grateful to Messi for already; they can now thank him for his role as executive travel agent and chaperone.
Messi, to whom Argentina have for the best part of a decade seemed in desperate debt, is also feeling unusually thankful to his national team. For the last 12 months he has been as frustrated as at any time during his storied, trophy-laden 20 years associated at Barcelona. He asked to leave in August. His vast buyout clause - €700 million ($824m) - prevented him doing so.
Set next to what remains an openly hostile relationship with Barcelona’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and a barren Barca landscape with no fresh trophies and without his close allies, like Suarez (transferred to Atletico Madrid) and Arturo Vidal (to Internazionale) on site, trips to Argentina suddenly look like a happier, less stressful relief.
For most of the past 15 years, it was very clearly the other way around. While Messi blessed Barcelona with his magic and 34 major titles, his senior career with Argentina yielded no major prizes and annual angst. Barcelona soared with Messi; Argentina burdened him. With his club he has won four Champions League finals; with his country he has lost three Copa America finals and a World Cup final. None of his six Ballon d’Ors were earned for triumphs in the blue-and-white stripes of his national team.
In the low times, he has been accused of prioritising Barca over Argentina, for not singing the national anthem before matches. On occasion, the country's greatest ever goalscorer was abused and even spat at by Argentina fans. Four years ago, the relationship severed, Messi announcing his retirement from internationals. Even Fifa were perturbed. He stepped back, much as he had to last month after declaring he intended to leave Barcelona.
50 Lionel Messi records
LIONEL MESSI'S BARCELONA RECORDS: 6 - Most Copa del Rey finals scored in: 2009, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019. Reuters
34 - Most trophies won as a Barcelona player. Reuters
513 - Most matches won with Barcelona. EPA
48 - Most hat-tricks scored in all competitions for Barcelona. EPA
15 - First player to score in 15 consecutive seasons of the UEFA Champions League. AFP
7 - Most Pichichi Trophies (top scorer in La Liga): 2010, 2012–2013, 2017–2020. Reuters
37 - Most opponents scored against in La Liga history. AFP
Only player to be top goalscorer and top assist provider in the same season: (2018–20). EPA
361 - Most La Liga victories. EPA
16 - Most dribbles completed in a UEFA Champions League game. AFP
27 - Most league matches scored in a season (38 games): 2012–13. EPA
19 - Most teams scored against in a season: 2012–13. AFP
75 - Most appearances in the Copa del Rey for Barcelona. AFP
47 - Most goals scored from a free kick in official competitions for Barcelona. Reuters
38 - Most stadiums scored at in La Liga. Reuters
485 - Most La Liga appearances by a foreign player. AFP
150 - First player to reach 150 La Liga assists. AFP
4 - Most Man of the Match awards won in one FIFA World Cup: in 2014. AFP
6 - Only player to score in six different club competitions in a calendar year twice: 2011 and 2015. Reuters
First player ever to score consecutively against all teams in a professional league (2012-2013). EPA
4 - Only player to provide at least one assist in four World Cup tournaments. AFP
13 - Most appearances in the FIFPro World11: (2007–2019). EPA
11 - Most appearances on a video game cover by a football player. AFP
334 - Fastest player ever to reach 300 goals in Europe's top five leagues. AFP
10 - Most Man of the Match awards won in Copa América matches. AP Photo
115 - Most goals scored for a single club in the UEFA Champions League. AFP
435 - Fastest player ever to reach 400 goals in Europe's top five leagues. AFP
5 - Most goals scored in a European Cup/Champions League game, against Bayer Leverkusen in 2012. AFP
110 - Most dribbles completed at the World Cup finals. AFP
123 - Fastest player to reach 100 UEFA Champions League goals. AFP
68 - Most goals scored in the UEFA Champions League group stage. AFP
5 - Only player to provide at least one assist in five Copa América tournaments. AFP
3 - Most UEFA/UEFA.com Goal of the Season awards: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2018–19. AFP
6 - Most Best Player in La Liga awards: 2009–2013; 2015. AFP
12 - Top assist provider in Copa America history. AP Photo
21 - Most goals in CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup qualifiers. AFP
6 - Most Ballons d'Or: 2009–2012; 2015; 2019. AFP
Messi is the only player ever to score in his teens, his 20s, and his 30s at the World Cup. He first scored at the 2006 FIFA World Cup as a 19-year-old in Argentina's 6-0 win over Serbia and Montenegro, then five times in 2014, and once in 2018. AFP
6 - Most FIFA World Player of the Year/Best FIFA Men's Player Awards: 2009–2012; 2015; 2019. AFP
444 - Most goals in La Liga. AFP
50 - goals in a La Liga and European league season. Reuters
8 - Most Champions League hat-tricks. AFP
183 - Most assists in La Liga. AFP
7 - La Liga Best Forward titles ( 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16). AFP
36 - Most hat-tricks in La Liga. AFP
300 - Most recorded assists in football history. AFP
91 - goals in a calendar year (2012) - 79 with Barca (59 in La Liga, 13 in the Champions League, 5 in the Copa del Rey and 2 in the Spanish Super Cup) plus 12 with the Argentina national side.
6 - European Golden Shoes for top scorer in European football. AFP
60 - Only player to score 60+ goals in all competitions in 2 consecutive seasons: (2011–12 and 2012–13). AFP
10 - Only player to score more than 40 goals in 10 consecutive seasons. AFP
79 - Top goalscorer in all club competitions in a calendar year (2012). AFP
21 - Longest goalscoring run in a domestic league: 33 goals in 2012–13. Reuters
7 - Only player to score in seven official competitions in one calendar year: 2015, in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, UEFA Champions League, Copa America, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. Reuters
70 - Argentina all-time top scorer. EPA
27 - Top goalscorer in El Clásico. EPA
His commitment to Argentina now seems absolute, and there is an urgency to fix the striking gap - no senior international trophy - in his resumé. Next summer brings a Copa America that, pending public health concerns, will be partly staged in Argentina. It will be Messi's fifth. Three ended with defeat in penalty shoot-outs. The last one, in 2019, ended with Messi red-carded in the third-place play-off.
Because that was more than a year ago now, his subsequent suspension has been erased, making him available for Thursday, his first competitive match since, and the first step on what will likely be his last stab at a World Cup, the 2022 tournament in the Middle East. He will be 35 by then.
Lionel Scaloni, Argentina’s head coach, has a plan to have Messi as his clear leader but not as overburdened would-be saviour. “It is great to be able to count on Leo,” said Scaloni, “and in the last two matches [friendlies last November], we found a way of making everybody comfortable. We can’t always be expecting him to be the genie with the magic lantern.
Lionel Messi's last appearance for Argentina resulted in a red card in the third-place play-off at the 2019 Copa America against Chile. AFP
As for his mood, homecomings make Messi smile, says Scaloni. “Whenever he comes to the national team, I see him happy and well. We put whatever is happening at Barcelona aside.”
Against Ecuador, and for next week’s demanding away match in the sapping altitude of La Paz against Bolivia, Messi will be without several long-times allies. Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero is still recuperating from knee surgery and Angel Di Maria, of Paris Saint-Germain, is out of favour with Scaloni, who has named a squad with a glance at the long-term.
Take away the more than 200 caps that Messi and Nicolas Otamendi, who moved this summer from City to Benfica, have between them, and nobody else in Scaloni’s squad has more than 30. As ever with Argentina, though, Messi has a choice of high-class striking partners, in Dybala and Inter’s Lautaro Martinez, with Ocampos also selected after his excellent 2019/20 with Sevilla.
Barcelona v Sevilla player ratings
BARCELONA PLAYER RATINGS: Neto. 5 – Had little to do other than pick the ball out of the back of the net in the first half. He could do little to stop Luuk de Jong’s thunderous effort, though he did get a hand to it. Was quick off his line to sweep up when needed. On one occasion he almost got caught in possession by Rakitic when attempting a drag back under pressure. Reuters
Sergi Roberto. 6 – Solid distribution throughout and, as ever, loved to get forward. Barca’s attacking play was predominantly down the left hand side, but he was always available, and his crossing was a danger all game. Reuters
Ronald Araujo. 5 – Came in to replace former Sevilla man Clement Lenglet and struggled to keep up with Suso and Ocampos at times. His pin-perfect long ball set Griezmann free early on in the second half. He came close to scoring an own goal when he deflected the ball onto his crossbar. Getty Images
Gerard Pique. 6 – A busy evening for Pique who had to establish a relationship with Araujo and was under pressure from the Sevilla press all game. Showed tremendous positional sense throughout to win virtually every header. AFP
Jordi Alba. 5 – Tried to catch out Bono with a free-kick but his effort finished wide. Was sometimes caught out by Sevilla’s pace on the break and left the field injured before the end. AFP
Sergio Busquets. 6 – The master of keeping possession even when pressed, Busquets is accustomed to the kind of pressure applied by the Sevilla midfield. Still, it was an evening of tight margins and few spaces, and he hardly had a moment to think before he was closed down. He did well to block a cross from Ocampos with Sevilla on the attack, and then enjoyed a few forays forward towards the end. Getty Images
Frenkie de Jong. 5 – The Dutchman was constantly pressed and found it hard to find any consistency, though he did well to link defence and attack. He ventured forward in the closing minutes and came close to converting a Busquets cross. EPA
Philippe Coutinho. 6 – The Brazilian’s fine form continued as he found himself in the right place at the right time to seize on Jesus Navas’ mistake and level the scores. Linked well with Fati on the left, though drifted out of the game as it wore on and was later substituted. EPA
Lionel Messi. 7 – The Argentine was involved in Barca’s equaliser; he sent a delicious ball towards Alba that caused confusion in the Sevilla defence, and enabled Coutinho to fire home. Played in a deep-lying role to try and get his side going, he came close to scoring before the break when he cut in front the right hand side and again with a low effort from range in the second. Was brought down in the area several times towards the end but wasn’t rewarded with a penalty. AFP
Ansu Fati. 7 – The in-form youngster exuded confidence early on with a number of neat flicks coming in from the left hand side. His first shot on goal was comfortably saved by Bono. His final ball sometimes let him down, but he looked a constant threat when running at the Sevilla defence before he was substituted. Reuters
Antoine Griezmann. 5 – The Frenchman twice came close to scoring in the first half; first with an acrobatic effort that saw him penalised for using a high foot, and again when through on goal, but his first touch was heavy and he was slow to get his shot away. Similarly, when through on goal after the break, he took a heavy touch and missed the opportunity to fire at goal. Looked short of confidence. AFP
SUBS: Pedri (Fati 60) 5. – The 17-year-old did little to change the game when he came on, though he will have loved the opportunity in such a big game. AFP
Trincao (Griezmann 60). 6 – Enjoyed a foray down the right 10 minutes after coming on but his cross to the far post was cleared for a corner. Then had a glorious chance to win it cutting in from the right but his shot was saved. EPA
Miralem Pjanic (Coutinho 75). N/A – Made his presence felt with a thundering challenge soon after coming on. Getty Images
Sergino Dest (Alba 75). N/A – The first American player to play for Barcelona’s first team and the fifth US international to play in La Liga, he looked lively when he came on and set up Messi for a strike at goal from 25 yards. AP Photo
