Untouchable, Unrivalled, Unrepeatable: A Look at Messi in 2012

 WORDS BY ZAC ASSOUNI

As Ousmane Dembele took out the 2025 Balon D’or it’s only right to take a look back at the man with more than any other, Lionel Messi and the year that defined a legacy.

The famed trio of Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta sat in front of a well organised defence, a young Alexis Sanches on the left, Pedro on the right and up top Messi forming what we now refer to as ‘Prime Barcelona’ coached by the master, Pep Guardiola. The chemistry that this Barcelona team had was second to none with players often taking up each other’s position with quick intricate passes that often lead to the inevitable, a Lionel Messi goal.

In 2012 Messi scored 91 goals for club and country, with 79 coming for the blaugrana. To put that in perspective, Cristiano Ronaldo scored the second most goals in 2012 with 63.

Otherworldly does not even do it justice and it would take a herculean effort to even come close to the freakish numbers that Messi was putting up week in and week out.

The madness begun in January against Osasuna in the Copa Del Rey where Messi scored two goals in a 4-0 victory as well as the first of nine hat tricks in a 4-1 win against Malaga in the league. The level of consistency on display showed that this was a man on a mission as February saw Messi score four goals in a 4-1 win against Valencia, while in March, Messi became the first player to score a bag of five goals in a Champions League match during Barcelona’s 7-1 demolition of Bayer Leverkusen.

As the weeks rolled on, so did the ridiculous number of goals as Messi surpassed Cesar Rodriguez and became Barcelona’s all-time leading goal scorer at only 24 years old which took Messi’s goal tally to 30 goals in just three months. In the first leg of the Supercopa final against bitter rivals Real Madrid, Messi scored another goal in a hard fought 3-2 win, although, the influence that Messi had on the game was remarkable and even prompted Pep Guardiola to say that the world was “witnessing the best player in every sense”.

“I’m sorry for those who want to sit on his throne, but this man is the best,” he said.

As the goals kept on coming, so did the records as Messi scored once again against Real Betis in the league and breaking the record for most goals scored in calendar year previously held by German legend Gerd Muller with 85 goals scored in 1972.

The little magician brought up the 91 goals in a 3-1 win against Real Valladolid in the league thus cementing that year’s Balon D’or beating out Ronaldo as well as teammate Iniesta.

Most shocking of all, Messi scored more goals individually than a whopping 13 La Liga teams and with defences nowadays moving in more of a unit it makes it harder and harder to see this record being replicated ever again.