We are steam-rolling through 2021, and as we reach the end of March, 1 man has been completely dominant across the European footballing landscape… Lionel Messi. Although his brilliance is not particularly shocking, considering how he has been at the top for around 15 years, however it his the consistency that is truly astounding. In a side that is in dire need of a complete overhaul, Messi is managing to keep them at the top while they rebuild, often dragging the side to victories and picking up points, which has resulted in this month reaching another Copa del Rey final and has them primed and ready to take the no.1 spot in La Liga, despite Atletico’s prior dominance.

The reason for giving this award to the Argentine for the 3rd consecutive month is both based on stats and performances. In just 3 league matches, he took 3 man of the match awards, bagged 4 goals and 4 assists. Along with this, he was a solid performer in the Copa del Rey semi-final, and his efforts gave Barcelona a glimpse of a comeback over PSG in the Champions League. So, although the likes of Lewandowski, Mbappe, Haaland and even Iheanacho having solid months, the European award simply had to stay with Messi for this month.

Match By Match

March 3rd: Barcelona 3-0 Sevilla – Kicking us off in this month, was Barcelona’s stunning comeback in the Copa del Rey semi-final, as Braithwaite bagged an extra time winner to send Messi’s men through to the final. While this game was a real spectacle for the neutral supporter, with dramatic goals, 2 Sevilla red cards and extra-time, for Messi it was probably his most mediocre performance of the whole month. Not really involved in the goals, and picking up a yellow card, in quite surprising fashion, Barcelona were not reliant on Messi’s magic, and although he was a big part of the team and performance, it was a night for his teammates to become the heroes.

March 6th: Osasuna 0-2 Barcelona – Back in La Liga, Messi was on top form once again, as he helped his side pick up the first of their 3 league victories in March, and picked up the 1st of his 3 man of the match awards in those games. Messi was contributor for both goals, as he made his first 2 of 9 goal involvements, assisting Alba and Moriba to pick up a comfortable victory and taking the 3 points back to the Nou Camp and continuing the pressure on Atletico. Along with his assists, the Argentine also pulled off 5 shots (2 on target), made 6 key passes and achieved an 8.77/10 WhoScored rating for his nights work.

March 10th: PSG 1-1 Barcelona – After losing the first leg 4-1, the task was quite mammoth for Barcelona as they travelled to Paris, and things became even tougher after Mbappe added a penalty early in the first half to make the task much greater. However, in the 37th minute, Messi scored a pretty stunning goal to give a glimmer of hope to the Spanish side, and could well have seen a full comeback on the cards had he not missed the penalty moments later. From this point and in the second half, PSG steadied the ship and showed some signs of maturity as they managed the game to a close and secured the 1-1 draw and aggregate victory to continue their quest for the big-eared trophy. Messi was as expected a solid performer in this one, however as has become a common theme with Barcelona in recent years, it appeared like the whole side were waiting on Messi to do everything, and after the missed penalty, many of the side appeared to lose belief in a legendary comeback. Messi himself was doing everything possible, however it wasn’t to be, and Barca again highlighted their need to refresh and begin a new cycle of the squad. In the game, Messi bagged his first goal of the month, and could have had more with the obvious missed penalty, as well as 7 shots (with 3 on target), and also made 4 key passes which his teammates couldn’t capitalise upon.

March 15th: Barcelona 4-1 SD Huesca – Back to La Liga again, and this time Barcelona returned to winning ways in some style, claiming a dominant win over Huesca, thanks to a perfect Messi performance, in which he bagged 2 goals, assisted a 3rd and claimed the 2nd man of the match award for his top-quality 10/10 rated performance. With his 20th and 21st La Liga goals of the season, Messi again is setting his sights on 30+ once again after his influence kept Barcelona within touching distance of the top-spot and could arguably put them as favourites to steal the title as we reach the closing stages of the season.

March 21st: Real Sociedad 1-6 Barcelona – In the finale of the month and prior to the international break, Messi and Barcelona produced their most dominant performance in some time. Already at 3-0, Messi then bagged 2 for himself in the second half to turn the comfortable victory into a dominant performance. By claiming his 22nd and 23rd league goal of the season, he has created some distance in the individual scoring stakes, with him now 4 clear of Moreno in 2nd place. This of course is not Messi’s priority, and he would surely prefer to take the La Liga title than personal accolades, however should he continue like the way he has in 2021, he will take both. Additionally, in this game, he is set up to take another personal award in April as he becomes Barcelona’s highest appearance maker in their next league game. Returning to this month, he has shown once again why he is the top-man in football, with 3 man of the match awards from 3 league games, another 5 goals for his tally and 4 assists to ensure his side are into another domestic final and are just a few points behind Atletico in top-spot. Although there has been the Champions League knockout this month, the 2nd leg actually showed Messi positively, and instead simply highlighted their reliance on the Argentine. So, for all this and more, Messi claims his 3rd consecutive NextGoalWinner Player of the Month award.