Rare Lionel Messi archive footage shows Barcelona star tearing Espanyol apart in spectacular fashion. Messi was still a 17-year-old
If we were to compile a
clip of all his greatest moments out on the pitch, Leo would surely have the
most exhilarating highlights reel of all time. He's always had an eye for the
truly spectacular.
Even when he was barely
old enough to drive.
Back in the 2004/05
campaign, Messi was still a 17-year-old youth prospect with Barcelona B ;
though he would make his senior debut that season, his career was at its most
delicate, formative stage. Nonetheless, the little Argentine was producing
jaw-dropping displays for Barca's reserve side.
Take this showing
against Catalan rivals Espanyol , for instance - it's an absolute joy to watch.
Barca have just shared this rare archive footage from their 2004/05 B-team derby clash with The Blanquiazules. As you can see above, Messi runs the show from start to finish.
With a series of mesmeric, mazy runs and trademark dribbles (as well as a goal and an assist), teenage Messi humiliates his opponents over and over again.
No change there then. Beautiful stuff, Leo.
Malaga 1-2 Barcelona: 5 things we learned as Lionel Messi grabs brilliant winner
Ed Malyon was at La Rosaleda as Barca looked to go top of La Liga
Lionel Messi scored the winner as Barcelona overcame a scare to beat Malaga 2-1 at La Rosaleda.
The Argentine popped up with an acrobatic volley from close range to settle a tight encounter on the Costa del Sol, with Barca second-best for much of the first half.
But Luis Enrique's decision to haul off the struggling Thomas Vermaelen helped turn the game around.
Munir had put the visitors in front after a minute but Malaga's energetic pressing soon put them in control of the game as an unfamiliar Barcelona back five made errors aplenty.
The hosts got a deserved equaliser when Juanpi capitalised on one of those mistakes, but Messi's second-half strike knocked the wind out of Javi Gracia's men and condemned them to defeat - sending Barca top.
But what did we learn? Ed Malyon was there:
1. “Keep it tight” doesn’t always work
Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno 
Malaga boss Javi Gracia had said pre-match that he wanted to frustrate Barcelona and all the pre-match indications were that the in-form hosts could cause a Neymar-less Barca some problems.
Instead, Gracia had barely finished saying “keep it tight, lads” (in Spanish of course) when Munir put the visitors in front after 63 seconds.
Lionel Messi played Luis Suarez in behind, the Uruguayan tiptoed past a defender to the byline and squared for Munir, who tapped into a vacant net from a yard.
Change of plan, Javi.
2. Malaga press causes problems
A poor start gave way to hope as Malaga proceeded to cause problems for Barcelona’s slightly makeshift back five.
It began as a couple of mistakes from visiting defenders putting them in trouble, but they continued.. and continued.. and it became clear the Barca defence was struggling under the pressure from Charles, Juanpi and Duje Cop.
In no time at all, Barcelona had completely surrendered control of the game and were so accident-prone that you felt they were capable of setting themselves alight in the process of doing something as simple as passing the ball along their backline.
On several occasions Javier Mascherano was there to save the day, including one remarkable recovering challenge on Charles (following a Vermaelen shocker) that was somehow so good the striker was booked for diving.
But Mascherano, tired of putting out everyone else’s fires, soon got burnt himself and this time Malaga made no mistake.
Claudio Bravo got a hand to Juanpi’s effort, but the ball looped into the net and La Rosaleda erupted.
3. Barcelona need that centre-back this summer
In the end this was a victory for Barcelona but there was some serious creaking along the way.
Luis Enrique has been hugely reliant on Javier Mascherano and Gerard Pique this season but rested the latter for this trip to the Costa del Sol.
His heart won’t have thanked him for it.
Inexplicably Thomas Vermaelen got the nod over Marc Bartra once again and the Belgian was, once again, rubbish.
The tone was set five seconds in when he fell limply to the floor under Charles’ challenge and continued to be powder-puff for the entire fixture. Which is fine, as long as you’re not indecisive and error-prone too. But he was.
The Belgian may never have fully recovered from the Achilles problem at Arsenal and his year-long injury lay-off on joining Barcelona has done him no favours.
A booking for his attempted murder on Charles before half-time also meant he would have been walking a second-half tightrope.
So his manager saw sense and hauled him off in favour of Jeremy Mathieu at the break.
It was a blow for the hosts.
Robert Fernandez, Barcelona's sporting director has said Bartra can't leave this window despite interest from the Premier League and Bundesliga, which is fine. Barca are, after all, battling on three fronts.
But they clearly don't trust him enough, and based on Thomas Vermaelen's showing today their interest in the likes of Aymeric Laporte, John Stones and Marquinhos is going to be a priority this summer.
4. Barcelona improve after break
A rest and (probably) a good bollocking did Barcelona some good as they returned to the field in far better form.
Lionel Messi operated far more centrally in the second half of the game, with Arda Turan jutting right into the Argentine's traditional area until the introduction of Ivan Rakitic.
Messi's decision to do this was crucial as, with no Neymar, Malaga had been able to double up on him out wide. Drifting into the middle he could find pockets to operate in.
And Messi's ability to find space in the centre proved crucial in Barca retaking the lead.
Adriano's cross was slightly overhit for the Argentine to comfortably hit, but he acrobatically adjusted his body to volley home from close range.
Malaga attempted to respond by getting back in the faces of their opponents but had had the wind knocked out of them slightly by such a swift second-half rebuttal and never again enjoyed the superiority of the first period.
Their chance to win this game had gone.
5. Next week is the big one for Barcelona
With players rested today and more likely to get rotated for the Copa del Rey quarter-final in midweek, all eyes are obviously on next Saturday's visit of Atletico Madrid.
Diego Simeone's men are genuine title challengers, make no mistake, and a win at the Nou Camp would make them favourites.
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