It’s become routine for Messi to do amazing things on the soccer pitch but this goal I think even made his teammates eyes grow wide in amazement. What’s it going to be like when Messi is in his final year of playing the game?

Every stadium Messi visits will be even more packed with fans trying to witness the greatest to ever play the game. Players trying to exchange jerseys and take his shoes and socks….

It’s a genius chip shot by Messi. And don’t discount the perfect layoff by Ivan Rakitic, the weight of the pass enables Messi to chip the ball. I don’t think Rakitic thought Messi would try to score though. I think he laid the ball back to Messi softly so he could cross the ball.

Messi sees the keeper out a bit and not ready for the shot. He doesn’t follow through but sort of dinks the ball up and over the keeper from an incredible angle – wide, near the edge of the box. It’s almost like a cross to the far post yet Messi all along is trying to score.

And the poor goalkeeper, he did is utmost best, stretching as far as he could to try to tip the ball away….Here’s Ray Hudson’s call of Lionel Messi’s third goal versus Real Betis.

Here’s better video of the Real Betis fans cheering for Messi.

A year ago today, Lionel Messi scored a goal so good it had Real Betis fans chanting his name

(via @LaLigaEN)pic.twitter.com/IPvEdZlOrC

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 17, 2020

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Genius plays are not just nutmegs or fakes, although those are genius too, it’s those team plays, set plays, free kicks and the like that are out of the norm. It’s seeing something on the soccer field that nobody else does. It’s anticipating and reading the game. Realizing the wall is going to jump and shooting under the wall, yes that’s genius.

The most creative and smart plays in football. Featuring some of the best footballers in the world: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Mesut Özil, Neymar Jr, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Roberto Firmino, Joao Moutinho and many more. Take a look at this collection of genius plays in football.

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Iniesta is the originator of the croqueta move or at least made it more famous while he played for Barcelona. Really though, it’s a fundamental soccer move to get past a defender and escape pressure that every soccer player should know how to do.

Here’s the Art of La Croqueta featuring: Santi Cazorla, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Isco Alarcon, Franck Ribery, Eden Hazard, Michael Laudrup and Andrea Pirlo.

ESPN has a good write up on Iniesta’s signature croqueta move and where it started. While Iniesta learned the move from Laudrup, he’s made it his trademark move:

A move borrowed from his hero, Michael Laudrup, Iniesta’s croqueta was simple on paper but beautiful to watch in the midst of a high-speed, ultra-physical midfield battle.

It essentially involves Iniesta being confronted with at least one defender and getting past him by playing the ball from one foot onto the other, side-foot to side-foot, with Iniesta’s body weight shifting accordingly to slalom past.

It also proved particularly effective when opponents attempted to double up against him; it was the perfect way of bypassing two players at once, bisecting them while changing direction smartly.

“La Croqueta is a piece of skill that exists not because it looks nice but because it serves the purpose of setting you up for the next pass,” said Laudrup, the move’s originator.

For Iniesta, a purposeful passer rather than a prolific scorer, it was the perfect piece of skill.

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At first I was skeptical about Manchester City paying so much money to sign Mahrez, but he’s quickly shown he is one of the most creative and skillful players on the entire team. You don’t want Mahrez running at you with the soccer ball at his foot. He’ll make you look silly if you’re trying to stop him. And yes, Mahrez like to wear his soccer socks up quite high.

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And certainly some soccer players react differently than others when they are yelled at on the soccer field. Some players need more encouragement or support, yes, even at the pro level.

This is not how you treat your own teammate. Zlatan Ibrahimovic shoves his own teammate Sebastian Lletget out of the wall!

Lletget talked about this on a podcast recently – wasn’t a fond memory. Lletget talks more about the impact Ibrahimovic had on the team and how they might have played more tentative with him on the pitch. Lletget did say he appreciated Zlatan’s desire to win but at times had a hard time playing with him. With Ibra gone from the Galaxy there’s a more relaxed feeling now.

“There’s definitely a better feel around the place for sure,” Lletget said on BSI: The Podcast. “As far as chemistry, that’s only going to build with time.”

“You feel like you want to literally take your boots off and just walk off the field. It’s tough to play against him and tougher to play with him.”

Talking about being shoved in the wall by Ibrahimovic, Lletget said this:

“That to me is complete insanity to do that to one of your team-mates — complete insanity. It’s one of those moments I think he shows his true colors.”

I wonder if Ibrahimovic will respond to what Lletget has said.

So far though, new signing Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez hasn’t surpassed the scoring ability that Ibra showed during his time with the Galaxy.

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What’s a rondo you ask? A rondo is essentially a keep away game. Sometimes in youth soccer it’s called piggy in the middle. It’s trying to keep two people in the middle from getting a touch on the ball while those on the outside pass the ball around them. It’s fun.

This reminds me a bit of when Cristiano Ronaldo got trapped in Barcelona passing triangle when he played for Real Madrid.

In the following video from the training archives, the Barcelona first team players show their soccer skills with three consecutive 20-touch rondos.

Up to 60 passes were made with Luis Suárez and Joan Barbarà, the assistant coach, in the middle. Check out the reaction from the Uruguayan and his teammates when the three rondos were completed, as well as the punishment they had in store for Suárez! And yes, Pique is very pleased with what appears to be a nutmeg at 17 passes!

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Barcelona is all about the triangle. The triangle of passing, where the ball bounces in and out like a giant pinball machine on a field. The other team is either mesmerized and falling asleep after suffering through a series of consecutive passes or they are dumbfounded by a quick one two or give and go.

But Barcelona’s is missing a key figure in that dangerous passing triangle. Neymar. In all likelihood Barcelona’s will try to re-sign him and bring him back to the club.

And Neymar is especially missed what with Luis Suarez being out injured, another member of the triangle. Here’s a perfect example of how key Neymar is to Barcelona’s attack and how much he’s missed. It’s Neymar who makes the decisive give and go that leads to this Messi goal.

27 passes lead to Messi’s goal against Roma. But it’s Neymar’s pass at the 1:07 mark that starts the attack.

Here’s what Lionel Messi said about Neymar recently:

“Neymar has always been a top-level player and different to the rest. He is unpredictable, he takes players on and he scores lots of goals. On a sporting level Neymar is one of the best in the world and I’d love for him to come back.”

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How many times have Barcelona done this? Where Barca play a number of passes in a row and then slot home a goal. On average, how many passes in a row do Barcelona make before they score?

Now and again they counter attack opposing teams and score in just a few passes but more often than not Barcelona keep possession, make the other team nearly hypnotized by the soccer ball, moving in and out and side to side, and then they break through with one killer pass or give and go, often with Messi or Suarez on the end of it.

The post Barcelona’s Tiki Taka – 27 Passes Then Messi Goal appeared first on Soccer Training Info.

Real Madrid falling into Barcelona’s “Pinball Machine” at home as every single Barca player touches the soccer ball before Suarez scores. This is Barca. Welcome to Tiki Taka show at Bernabeu, starting with Ronaldo’s “assist” to Bravo. Poor Cristiano is understandably terribly frustrated after Barcelona score.

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The LAFC forward Vela chips Inter Miami goalkeeper Luis Robles just perfectly. And it’s really not the goalkeeper’s fault or you can’t blame him too much. It’s all happening so fast and Vela just gets underneath the ball so well and so quickly it’s up and over the keeper before he knows it. I don’t even think Robles is off his line too much or anything, it’s just a sublime chip by Vela.

During his time at Arsenal Vela was known to chip the keeper on occasion. Really, with all the soccer clubs he’s played for he’s pulled off an amazing chip. Vela is the chip master. He makes chipping the goalkeeper look easy but it’s not! I think many people don’t know or forget that Vela spent quite a bit of time playing in Europe. In fact, Vela scored 54 goals while playing for Real Sociedad in La Liga.

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