“We lost against a team better than us with the best player in world. He made the impossible possible. He has something exceptional. He is unstoppable,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said of Lionel Messi in April 2010.
Messi had just scored four goals against Arsenal in the Champions League. At the time he was the Ballon d’Or holder and widely regarded as one of the two best players in the world.
His performance against Wenger’s Gunners was something truly special. A match that underlined how Messi had already outgrown conversations about the era he belonged in and instead to the annals of football’s entire history. He was only 21 years old at the time. The following year Wenger declared him as the greatest player of all time.
“He is the best player in the world by some distance. He’s (like) a PlayStation. He can take advantage of every mistake we make,” the legendary French coach added.
“He has six or seven years in front of him, touchwood that nothing happens to him, and he can reach unbelievable levels.”
And so he did. In the seven years since that mauling of Arsenal, Messi scored approximately 350 goals for Barcelona. He won two more Champions Leagues, and a second historic treble. There were a further five La Liga titles, three European Golden Shoe and four Ballon d’Or.
That was just in seven years. We’re now approaching 13 years since Wenger compared Messi to a PlayStation player. The Argentinian is now 35, has conquered every frontier, and remains a footballer that stretches credulity. He’s still among the very best in the world.
Just take a look at the latest example of his greatness. The 95th minute. 25 yards. Dead centre.
PSG had squandered a two-goal lead to fall behind at home to Lille and were staring down the barrel of a fourth successive defeat. Kylian Mbappe had got the Ligue 1 giants back on level terms late on before a free-kick in a dangerous spot gave Messi the chance to win all three points.
You know what happens next.
“Messi’s like a PlayStation. He can take advantage of every mistake we make. He made the impossible possible. He has something exceptional.”
13 years later, Arsene Wenger’s words still ring true. pic.twitter.com/jot5Apnx0I
— Planet Football (@planetfutebol) February 19, 2023
Just over two months have passed since Messi led Argentina to the World Cup in Qatar, killing stone dead any lingering doubts over his legacy, and – for many – any debates over who is the GOAT.
After…
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