Comparing Lionel Messi's 2014/15 Stats to His 2015/16 Numbers

Barcelona and impressive statistics have been cosy bedfellows for some time now, and although this season will not follow the dizzy, triple-trophy hoisting heights of the last one, 2015/16 is going to be no different.

In fact, with four games left to play—three in La Liga as well as the Copa del Rey final against Sevilla next month—the magical front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar have already matched their remarkable combined tally of 122 goals they scored last season.

Yet, as this article from Sport pointed out, that has largely been down to the efforts of one man.

Suarez has more than doubled his tally of goals from last season, going from 25 to 53 to lead the Pichichi race for top goalscorer and to stake a claim for the title of the greatest out-and-out forward in world football right now, but what of his two team-mates?

Neymar scored 39 goals last season, but is 10 down on that tally this time around, while Messi would need to score 18 times in his final four games to catch up to his 2014/15 total of 58. He’s capable of most things, but probably not that.

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And so those who judge football simply by such numbers will state that he’s not quite been at his very best, especially when you consider that his number of La Liga assists (via Fox Sports) is currently five down on last season’s tally of 18.

In the UEFA Champions League, he’s down too.

Per UEFA.com, Messi scored just six goals in the competition before Barca’s quarter-final elimination, 10 less than Cristiano Ronaldo, while he registered just one assist. By contrast, Manchester City’s Wilfried Bony has four. Last season, Messi scored 10 times and assisted six on his way to lifting the trophy.

Crisis, then? Finished? Washed up? Not quite.

Statistics can show many things, but they can’t quite show a player’s deepening influence on a side beyond that of mere goals and assists which, as per the Bony one above, can often look a little silly.

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In Suarez, Messi has a team-mate for whom scoring goals has become an obsession. He’d crawl over hot coals to score one, or he’d slide tackle his grandmother.

Despite Messi’s majesty, you’d never quite have the same feeling with him, with the scoring of a goal just the obvious ending to a piece of sublime skill that has probably made him the greatest player the game has ever seen.

With Suarez on board, the Argentina international isn’t likely to repeat the dizzying numbers of goals he has posted in recent seasons. He’ll still be racking up stats which put pretty much everyone else in world football to shame, but they won’t quite be as mind-blowing.

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He’ll be looking to the Uruguayan more often, utilising Barca’s most effective scoring weapon and dropping deeper and deeper towards a central role which many feel is where his future lies anyway.

Another factor in Messi’s numbers being down in 2015/16 was the simple fact that he was injured for a not-insubstantial period.

He limped off 10 minutes into a match against La Palmas in late September and didn’t return until the 4-0 Clasico victory over Real Madrid two months later, missing five matches in the league and three in the Champions League in that time.

Had he played in those, then his numbers would certainly have gone up, but it is perhaps wiser to look at this season’s figures as a template for what will come in the Argentinian’s future.

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He’ll always keep scoring, keep assisting and keep on being regarded as the best of the best, but perhaps it is time to stop seeing him as just the astronomical numbers he racks up season after season, or to indulge in what is in a sense a pretty childish rivalry with Ronaldo.

Just enjoy him, because he won’t be around forever.

His statistics belong in history books for future generations to pore over, but we get the honour of watching him play week after week.

We’re the lucky ones.