On his second match back with Barcelona, Lionel Messi scored his first goal of the Ronald Koeman era with an atypical right-foot missile.
Even though he already made his debut under Ronald Koeman last weekend, Lionel Messi just scored his first goal against Girona today. The Argentine forward was a sight for sore eyes against the Catalan club in the final friendly before the start of the season.
Ronald Koeman decided to start using him in the same position that made him the incredible goal scorer that he’s always been. That famous ‘False 9’ position right behind the striker with the freedom to move all over the final third. The new system that Koeman used is also something we hadn’t seen from Barcelona in nearly two decades.
A 4-2-3-1 formation from Koeman.
You are reading the right words. Ronald Koeman is using an apparently more defensive formation that hasn’t been used in such fashion since the Louis van Gaal days. The same backline remains but we have a novelty with the two defensive midfielders in the middle.
However, things take a wild turn upfront with a four-player attacking line. We have Messi down the middle on that ‘False 9’ position. We also have Trincao and Coutinho as wingers on each side with Griezmann as the striker. That’s the formation Koeman will use and he already stated it’s the one that works for him.
You might think this moves further away from the Barcelona style of play, but the results speak otherwise. We can see Messi’s influence during his side’s second goal. He constructed the whole situation and Phil Coutinho finished it.
Messi’s right foot.
Whether he is angry or not, there is no questioning his quality. His own goal came right before half time against Girona with an unusual finish to the far corner. We don’t often see Leo striking the ball with his right foot, which is why we were all surprised.
A long-range effort that officially gave us the comfort of Messi still at FC Barcelona. Although he scored another one during the second half, his first goal was a work of beauty. When Ronald Koeman took him off the pitch, there was also a handshake that the whole world was expecting.
We know they only defeated Girona but at least Leo finally scored. There’s still a lot of work left for everybody at the Catalan club.
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