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Lionel Messi has been the main man at Barcelona for a decade and a half now. He has been operating at a level most players can only dream of and has played arguably the biggest role in the Catalans' success in the 21st century.
There are very few things that Messi cannot do on a football pitch. He has dominated the sport, winning a record six Ballons d'Or and numerous major trophies. Messi is still going strong at the age of 33 and that has a lot to do with how he has been able to adapt and evolve with time.
Lionel Messi has gone from strength to strength at Barcelona
We've seen Lionel Messi evolve from a tricky, lightning-quick winger in his younger days to a well-rounded footballer in recent times. Without further ado, let's take a look at the various ways in which Lionel Messi's playing style has evolved over the years.
#5 Lionel Messi hardly plays on the wings anymore
Lionel Messi spent his early years as a member of Barcelona's senior side, operating down the right flank. During that time, Ronaldinho played down the left-wing and Samuel Eto'o thrived as the Barcelona striker.
But once Frank Rijkaard departed and Pep Guardiola was put in charge, Messi started to be deployed in a more central role. He played as a false nine and the Argentine would take on the bulk of the goalscoring as Guardiola offloaded Eto'o and then Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
His role was similar to that of an attacking midfielder but he was as prolific any goalscorer at the time. In the 2011-12 season, which was Pep's last campaign in charge of the side, Messi scored 50 goals and provided 19 assists in 37 La Liga appearances.
These days, Messi hardly ever stations out on the wing. He usually starts as a centre-forward and even plays as a false nine at times.
#4 Sprints a lot less
Given that he is 33-years-old, it is not surprising that Lionel Messi doesn't run as much as he used to. Back in the day, when he first broke onto the scene and when he used to be deployed on the wings, he was great at carrying the ball over long distances.
However, he has lost a yard of pace in recent times and defenders are able to catch up with him. His burst of pace has more or less remained in tact but Messi sprints a lot less these days. The Argentine, playing more centrally, has also limited his avenues to embark on lengthy runs across the pitch.
But that doesn't mean that Messi has stopped taking defenders on and beating them though. He completed 4.7 dribbles per 90 minutes in the 2020-21 season and ranked fourth among players across the top 5 European leagues.
#3 Lionel Messi takes more long-range shots than he used to
During the years when he was unstoppable, Lionel Messi would slalom past defenders and often bomb into the box before letting a shot away. Between 2004 and 2015, Messi averaged 1.29 shots from outside the box on average. In that 11 year period, he scored just 32 goals from outside the box.
Since 2015-2021, Lionel Messi has scored 42 long-range goals and averages 2.25 shots per 90 from outside the box. He leads the chart for most number of goals from outside the box in the 2020-21 La Liga season with eight goals. That's twice as many as second-placed Karim Benzema.
This has a lot to do with the fact that Messi has dropped deeper in recent times in order to create chances for his side.
#2 Lionel Messi has become a specialist free-kick taker
Lionel Messi is undoubtedly one of the best free-kick takers in world football right now. It is quite interesting to note that he wasn't much of a set-piece specialist in his early years. It is definitely a feature he has added to his game over the course of his career.
Messi scored a total of 16 free-kick goals between 2004 and 2015. In the past six seasons, he has scored 41 goals from free-kicks. This clearly shows that it is an aspect of his game that he has worked and improved on.
Messi's curling free-kicks are incredibly accurate and are quite the thing to behold. In fact, he is arguably the best free-kick taker in the world right now.
#1 Lionel Messi has evolved as a playmaker
The trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jr., famously known as MSN, has influenced the legendary Barcelona man's playing style as well. Following the arrival of Neymar and Suarez, Messi started playing a retreated role in attack.
While he used to start down the right flank, at least on paper, Lionel Messi would usually act as a link between Neymar on the right side and Luis Suarez up front. Messi would play centrally and would create loads of chances in addition to scoring plenty of goals.
Now that the likes of Iniesta and Xavi are long gone, Messi has inherited the responsibility of creating opportunities for his teammates. His stats from the 2019-20 season are a testament to the same. Messi scored 31 goals and provided 27 assists across all competitions in the 2019-20 season with Luis Suarez playing as the main striker.
Sure, his 2020-21 campaign has been a bit different following the departure of Suarez but he has been elite in the playmaking department this term as well. He scored 38 goals and provided 13assists across all competitions this past season.
These days, we see Messi attracting opposition players on to him and then releasing his attackers into space with well-weighted through balls. He has definitely become more of a central figure in terms of stitching passes together and orchestrating play than he used to in his early years.
Lionel Messi created 77 chances for Barcelona this past season, which is the highest among all La Liga players.
(Stats courtesy: Transfermarkt)
