Lionel Messi turned in a Midas-like performance in Saturday’s Copa del Rey final — everything he touched turned into gold. He opened the scoring for Barca in the 30th minute with an unstoppable effort from 18 yards out, he was heavily involved with a “hockey assist” in Neymar’s goal and then he settled the match before halftime with a sublime feed for Paco Alcacer and Barcelona’s third.
Outside of these pivotal moments, Messi was unplayable. He registered 101 touches in the game, including four key passes, four shots and a staggering nine successful dribbles.
Lionel Messi vs. Alaves
29 years old. 30 titles. Superhuman.pic.twitter.com/7HZeCsj9yJ— EiF (@EiFsoccer) May 27, 2017
The aftermath of Messi’s superhuman performance yielded two staggering statistics: 1.) He’s now scored 30 goals in 25 major finals. 2.) He’s now won 30 trophies at the age of 29. Mateo Messi is impressed.
GIF — Mateo and Messi after the Copa Del Rey Final [Credit to captainmessi Tumblr] pic.twitter.com/HVF2WZkMm4
— fcb family (@fcbfamilia) May 28, 2017
Look at Mateo trying to drink from his own little Copa del Rey trophy. Forget everything I just wrote, the real hero on the night was Mateo.
Thiago and Mateo
(video credit: ESPN FC) pic.twitter.com/1iu6j773Bp— Leo Messi (@messi10stats) May 28, 2017
And look at Thiago — will he be Lionel + Neymar + Ronaldinho? If this celebration is anything to go by, yes.