Leo hasn’t become any worse in passing, by contrast, this figure proves the captain did everything he could to break through Alaves’ defence.
Leo Messi surprisingly lost the ball 28 times against Alaves but one shouldn’t make any dramatic assumptions about this stats and here’s why.
RELATED:
- If a player loses the ball too many times, it doesn’t necessarily mean he is poor at passing.
- Instead, it may prove that this player was trying very hard to break through the opponents’ over-defensive system which was the case in the 1-1 Alaves draw.
- Messi attempted a lot of dribbles, ground duels and passes between the lines to break the deadlock while the Basques parked the bus, especially after going down to 10.
- Leo’s other numbers confirm it: he completed record-breaking 12 dribbles out of 15 and won 16 duels out of 22.
- Looking back, Messi also lost 279 balls in the first 20 games of the 2011-2012 La Liga season, arguably his best-ever at Barca.
- These numbers are perfectly understandable: back then, Barca’s opponents usually left no space for the Catalans to attack, thus the ball losses.
Follow our socials Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google News.
