Barcelona dropped points to Villarreal on Sunday after a 1-1 draw, but they have Lionel Messi to thank for keeping their fading La Liga title hopes alive. With Villarreal leading 1-0 in the 90th minute, Messi stepped forward to deliver another fantastic free kick.
Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Messi has scored on 12 direct free kicks for club and country, moving him into the upper echelon of dead ball specialists.
Messi's free-kicks since 2015/16 (he is forcing me to update this every 3 days) pic.twitter.com/hYELABkECg
— ERDI (@barcanumbers) January 8, 2017
His strike against Villarreal was simply unstoppable.
¡GOLAZO! De tiro libre al ángulo perfecto para @TeamMessi
DESCARGUE & VEA → https://t.co/OmR155Bkex #beINgo90 https://t.co/Ugz1772U6t— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) January 8, 2017
Here's a #beINBACKSTAGE fan look at Leo Messi's :#VillarrealBarça pic.twitter.com/dw0Md5FX5B
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) January 9, 2017
The Blaugrana now find themselves trailing the league leaders, Real Madrid, by five points, and Los Blancos still have a game in hand. Barcelona’s next match is Wednesday against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey, another competition where they’re looking to overcome a deficit (1-2).
Related: Messi's Free Kick That Broke Gabriel Batistuta's Scoring Record
