Messi: "Quality is more important than quantity"

His signature left-footed shot, which went through the legs of goalkeeper Courtois in the 63rd minute, was only Messi’s sixth goal in the Champions League this season. This is a rather modest achievement for the Argentine superstar in Europe’s most prestigious club tournament in nearly a decade.

Currently, Messi is 6 goals behind Real Madrid star Ronaldo (CR7 has 12 goals). Since the 2008/2009 season until now, the Argentine player has rarely been left behind by Ronaldo with such a large gap. Making that comparison is not to prove that Barcelona's star wearing the number 10 shirt is declining more than Ronaldo, or with himself in the Champions League this season. On the contrary, this is a sign that Messi is extremely excellent.

With 2 goals and 1 assist, Messi helped Barcelona beat Chelsea 3-0. Photo: Internet

The player born in 1987 did not score as many goals as in previous years, but his goals were very important for Barcelona. His double against goalkeeper Buffon (Juventus) brought a 3-0 victory for Barcelona and helped the Camp Nou team almost secure the top spot in the group, even though it was only the opening match.

It is worth mentioning that, of Messi's total 6 goals up to this point, half of them (3 goals) were scored against Chelsea in the last 2 matches. That means, the number of goals (3 goals) of La Pulga in the group stage (Messi played 5/6 matches) is only equal to the number he scored in the knockout round against Chelsea (2 matches).

Remember, last season, Messi only scored 1 goal for Barcelona in 4 matches (2 knockout matches, 2 quarter-finals). The fact that La Pulga could not penetrate Juventus's net in the quarter-finals was one of the main reasons why Barcelona had to stop early. Even though in the group stage, the Argentine player scored 10 goals. And how dependent Barcelona is on Messi's goals, no need to say more, everyone understands.

At the end of the match, Coach Conte (Chelsea) came out to congratulate Messi. Photo: Internet

Through the above evidence, we can see: it seems that in the 2017/2018 Champions League season, the Argentine star is implementing the motto "quality is more important than quantity". That is, there is no need to score too many goals in unimportant matches, just score at the times when the team needs goals the most. That is what Messi needs and Barcelona needs.

Messi's equalizer in the first leg to make it 1-1 and his double in the second leg against Chelsea are clear proof.