January 2021 has seen the footballing schedule steam-rolling on and while some will be seeing 2021 as a fresh start, one man has been fairly consistent in his brilliant for the past 15 years, and demonstrated this perfectly throughout the whole month of January… Lionel Messi.

In my opinion, the greatest player of all time makes his first appearance in the NextGoalWinner Player of the Month awards, and about time as we dish out the 5th edition of the award. In what was a typical Messi month, and would be the pinnacle of many players careers, he bagged 6 goals and 1 assist through his 6 games this month. This average of a goal per game is fairly standard by the Argentines expectations, however if we are to step back and review for a second, it truly is remarkable in his consistency and brilliance.

With an average WhoScored? rating of 9/10 through the entire month, it was near perfection from the Barcelona man, and his performances led to an unbeaten month in La Liga for his side. Admittedly, there was the cup loss to Bilbao in extra-time, however this was the only blip through the month. Additionally, Messi broke another personal statistic in this game as he received his first red card of his Barcelona career. Just another record breaking month for the great man.

Match By Match

January 3rd: SD Huesca 0-1 Barcelona – Opening the month off for Barcelona, Messi was highly influential and his assist for De Jong’s goal was the difference as he earned the star player award for his performance in the years’ opener. Although arguably not his finest performance, his efforts in attack were the real difference as he made 8 shots in total with 2 of them on target, and the assist. Having 115 touches, he was, as usual, the key figure in the Barcelona side and picked up an 8.29/10 rating for his efforts.

January 6th: Athletic Bilbao 2-3 Barcelona – In the first of 3 games versus Bilbao in the month, Barcelona were victorious in the La Liga matchup, after 2 goals from the Argentine and 1 from youngster Pedri saw them take all 3 points. It was another quality day at the office for Messi as he claimed his back to back player of the match awards, earning a 9.15/10 rating for his work on the pitch. Although he was at fault for Bilbao’s early opener, he redeemed himself in style and could have easily had 3 or 4 after hitting the woodwork on several occasions. Again having over 100 touches of the ball, he was the focal point of the side.

January 9th: Granada 0-4 Barcelona – In their most comfortable win of the month, Messi bagged a back to back brace, as he scored the 2nd and 3rd before half-time to leave his side going into the break with a dominant lead. Although not the star man, he did achieve a 8.97/10 rating after scoring with his 2 shots, and for only 65 minutes work, he was still heavily involved.

January 17th: Barcelona 2-3* Athletic Bilbao – In Barcelona’s only defeat in the month, it was a dramatic match-up as they faced Bilbao in the final of the Supercopa de España. After many years at the top of the sport, he received his first red card after lashing out late into extra-time through frustration at conceding in the extra period. After 120 minutes of a tough fixture, and years leading this side through games, this example of becoming frustrated is pretty understandable, although does admittedly taint his month. This was certainly the worst game of the month for the Argentine, however a mere blip in the incredible month surrounding this game.

January 27th: Rayo Vallecano 1-2 Barcelona – In their following cup game against Rayo Vallecano, Barcelona returned to winning ways, and Messi returned to the scoring habit as he bagged the equaliser which setup Barca’s comeback. In a decent Copa del Ray victory, Barcelona seemed keen to quickly react to the final defeat and will look to push on and claim silverware once again.

January 31st: Barcelona 2-1 Athletic Bilbao – In the final match of January, Messi put in his top performance of the month as he opened the scoring in the 3rd matchup between the 2 sides this calendar month. Messi earnt his 3rd player of the game award and an almost perfect 9.7/10 rating for his work. Having 4 shots (2 on target) and making 4 key passes, Messi was involved heavily with the attacking output Barcelona offered. Another solid league result, and another sublime Messi performance. It’s just what he does.