5 reasons why Lionel Messi will be effective for 5 more years

#1 He has never been sidelined for too long

We have seen the careers of so many talented players get wound up by injuries. Santi Cazorla is a very good example from the recent past. The basic rule of all competitions- you gotta show up for the competition. And Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been locking horns for about a decade and that's owing to their incredible fitness levels and insusceptibility to injuries.

The longest period of absence in Messi's career came in 2013/14 when he tore a muscle. He was ruled out for 60 days and missed 10 games and that was that. He came back to the Camp Nou like he had only been gently pricked by a thorn and carried on doing what he was doing anyway (dominating Europe of course).

Zlatan Ibrahimovic recently returned from a career-threatening injury at the age of 36. That's just what champions do. And lord o lord, Messi is definitely one if there ever were any. The fact that he is not prone to injuries will go a long way as he is welcomed by the lax 30s.

Also read: 5 of the best strikers in Europe this season

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Aakanksh Sanketh