Four FIFA Ballon d’Or awards and countless accolades can’t hide the fact at his core, Barcelona megastar Lionel Messi is still just one man – and as susceptible to cold streaks as any other player in Europe.
After a losing effort against Atletico Madrid that booted Barcelona from the Champions League they were in the middle of defending, Messi completed his fifth straight game without scoring a goal – the first time he had endured such a streak since 2010.
Lionel Messi has failed to score in 5 consecutive Barcelona games for the first time since 2010.
Human… Just. pic.twitter.com/5ObHkJXm9n
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 13, 2016
Since Marco 20, 2016: Villareal, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid (in La Liga), Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid (in the Champions League) have all shut Messi out despite the Barcelona star playing all 450 minutes of those matches. In the process, Barcelona’s match record is 1W, 3L, 1 D.
Messi missed over a month of action early in the 2015-16 campaign due to a leg injury, but returned in full force and now has 29 goals and 11 assists for Barcelona.
Barcelona’s back-to-back La Liga losses to Real Madrid and Real Sociedad have also put the club’s La Liga title hopes in jeopardy, with Atletico Madrid now just three point out of first place and Real Madrid four points out.
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