When star players are compared with each other, experts talk about each of their achievements and hat-tricks have ever been the dream for any player and an important yardstick during any such assessment, especially if they are playing for sides like Manchester City or, of course, Barcelona. And, if we are talking about players like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, a serious evaluation is obvious but this time Messi scores an edge over his rivals after his twenty first career hat-trick against Espanyol on Sunday. Looking at the 5-1 final score, no one would believe that once visitors were leading with first goal of the game and it was the time when Barca fans were stunned to see how they can lose a game on home turf, but their star forward did not led them down and scored back to back goals to edge his side by three important goals. Apart from Argentine, Gerard Pique and substitute Pedro Rodriguez were other two who scored for the Spanish giant thinning their point difference from table leader Real Madrid to just two points.
Team manager Luis Enrique, like always, seems way too happy to see his star player is getting back to his old day’s form and expectedly he named 27-year-old as the most attacking striker who can defense too. He said, “Messi attacks, but he defends too. You easily get used to having players who can make the difference like that. When they have freedom, it is difficult to stop them. What we want is that, in Leo’s case, he brings the most to the team. He did not just do that today scoring — he also made chances, and we saw him defending too. That is what we look for in all our players.”
Calling the Messi’s first goal as the vital one for the game they were almost about to lose, he added, “Their goal started to generate doubts. It was difficult for us to get in to the game, and their counters were causing us problems. goal was key. At the start of the second half, the second goal did a lot of damage to the opponent. After the break we were much better, more fluid, more movement of the ball. When we can get to the edge of the box in those situations, it is difficult for opponents.”
No matter what anyone says about Messi, he has always been a beloved player for billions of fans worldwide and Enrique exaggerated statements about his skills are just extending long list of his devoted fans!