Leo Messi: The Journey From A Dwarf To The Best( Part 3)

After couple of unsuccessful season Barcelona were in need of an overhaul leading to the departure of Rijkaard and Ronaldinho. Due to Ronaldinho's departure Messi was given no.10 shirt.

In 2008-09 season under new manager Pep Guardiola,his first uninterrupted one he scored 38 goals in 51 games. Though he was a right winger,Pep Guardiola for the very first time used him in false 9 in El classico on 2nd May 2009. In that match he assisted once and scored twice in an emphatic victory of 6-2,the team's best score at Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

In that season's champions league Messi scored twice and assisted two more to ensure 4-0 victory over Bayern Munich on quarter final. In the final against Manchester united Barca won 2-0 with Messi scoring the second one with a header. With La liga and Copa Del Rey already conquered,Barca became the first player in Spanish football history to win a treble. Barca also conquered Super Copa,UEFA super cup and FIFA club world cup and became the first ever club to win a sextuple. At 22 years of age,Messi won the Ballon d'or and FIFA world player of the year.

In that season's Champions league quarter final against Arsenal he notably scored all 4 goals in that match making him Barca's all time top scorer in Champions league. In that season Messi though guided Barcelona to La liga win,but they fumbled in Champions league.

In the 2010-11 campaign, Messi secured Barcelona's first trophy by scoring a hattrick in 4-0 victory over Sevilla. Messi helped team achieve 16 consecutive victories including an hattrick against Atletico Madrid on 5 February 2011. Though he couldn't do much in Fifa World cup,his Barcelona performance helped him win both Ballon d'or and FIFA world player of the year.

In 2011-12 season he scored 73 goals and assisted 29 times in all club competitions producing 11 hattricks in the process. In that year's Supercopa De Espana he netted three times in Barca's 5-4 victory over their arch rival. For his efforts in 2011 he earned his third consecutive Ballon d'or. By that time he was already considered as one of the best.

Year 2012 saw Messi breaking many records. On 7th march 2012 he scored 5 times in a champions league game against Bayern Leverkusen. In that season's Champions league Messi scored 14 times and assisted 5 times.

Despite Messi's individual form Barcelona faltered in both La liga and Champions league. They only won Copa del Rey that season which also bought to an end of a great era of Pep Guardiola.

On 9th December against Real Betis saw Messi breaking two records: he surpassed Cesar Rodrigues's record of 190 goals which made him Barcelona's all time top scorer, and he also overtook Gerd Muller's 85 goals in a year record. At the end of the year Messi scored 91 goals( Argentina+ Barcelona). As the odds favourite, Messi won 4th successive Ballon d'or.

On 2nd April 2013, he suffered a hamstring strain. In the Champions league semi final he missed both home and away match due to injury and Barcelona lost 7-0 on aggregate. In that season he netted 46 times in la liga and finished as league's top scorer.

On 10th November,he tore his hamstring which left him sidelined for two months. He came back from injury and on 23rd March he scored another hattrick in El Classico which made him all time top scorer of El Classico.

Messi finished that campaign with 41 goals in all competitions. For the first time in 5 years Barcelona had gone trophyless. In the last match when Barca lost the game against Atletico Madrid,Messi got booed even in Camp Nou. That year has been a injury plagued one for him. In world cup for Argentina he did more than decent job, though he was out of touch. He had netted four times and assisted once,had created more chances and completed most dribblings. As Argentina came second in World Cup he was totally devasted and was in grief,beacuse he and his team came to the closest possible situation to win the World Cup.