Barcelona marched back to the pitch on Saturday and scored a 4-0 win over Mallorca. The highlight of the game, however, was Lionel Messi registered in the scoreboard, and he is only two points shy of reaching 700 career points. But according to club boss Quique Setien, the Argentine superstar's greatness extends beyond the goals he made.
If Messi will clear the net and achieve the target on Barcelona's next game, it will be another solid evidence of the skipper's superb skills as a footballer. For Setien, though, he sees the best player in Camp Nou as more than just a goalscorer.
"You don't only have to assess the goals he scored, but also the rest of his contributions, like assisting. That gives us a lot of points," Goal reported the team manager as saying.
Having 700 points for country and club is not a small feat indeed, but Messi is larger than the goals he alone pushed to the box. As Setien pointed out rightly, the Barca captain makes things happen on the field for his squad, and in most cases, the team wins because of how Messi operates when on the pitch.
Add to that is his immeasurable contributions, such as rallying the squad when the pressure builds and pressing them on to continue and win.
Messi likewise champions for the benefits of the Barcelona roster members. He was at the forefront of defending the players when he thought the club board failed to do the mandated job of management.
The forward also did not hesitate to take the cudgels for his teammates and clashed with Barca executives to advance the general welfare of the players.
As Setien has indicated, Messi is great on his record goals alone, but the most important reason is his impact on and off the pitch.
Meanwhile, the Barca boss sounded off that Antoine Griezmann is set to figure prominently in upcoming fixtures by the club, but he reminded that the French star would need to shine as there are other players to consider.
The World Cup winner is deemed an important part of the club, and the manager assured Griezmann will still play a leading role in the games to come.
However, Fansided reported that Griezmann could be released soon to interested clubs as Barcelona will want to push the hiring of Lautaro Martinez and Neymar in the upcoming transfer window. The team will need to generate cash for the planned signings and selling Griezmann, and other stars are one of the options available.
It was suggested too that the French striker could be used in a swap deal for Neymar to be released by Paris Saint-Germain. It would seem that PSG will be willing to discuss a deal involving Griezmann, the report added.
