Lionel Messi 19/20 La Liga campaign stats DEBUNKED

How stats can fool you (A Thread)

I want to start off by saying I do not dislike/hate Messi in any shape or form. I simply think his campaign is overrated and overlooked just by his stats.

Most people see these stats without context and think it’s one of the best league campaigns ever. I’m here to debunk it.

Messi 19/20 La Liga stats

33 games played
25 goals
21 assists

These stats are insane without context.

Now let’s dig deeper. What teams did he score these against? How many from open play? How many game winners? Keep reading

Below Top 10 Teams Goals

20/25 of Messi’s La Liga goals came vs below top 10 teams. That’s 80% of his goals. 80%. That’s insane.

Top 10 Teams Goals

Out of the only 5 goals (FIVE) he scored vs t10 teams, only 2/5 were from open play.

- Goal vs Atletico
- Goal vs Granada
- Penalty vs Atletico
- Penalty vs Sociedad
- Freekick vs Sevilla

Points won with goals

Messi only has 6 game winning goals. Incredibly poor considering most of his goals were against smaller competitors.

Neymar who’s only played half of Messi’s league games has more game winning goals.

Stat-padding

How many goals came when the game was almost finished?

vs Sevilla (H). 4-0 in 78’ min
vs Valladolid (H). 4-1 in 75’ min
vs Mallorca (H). 5-2 in 83’ min
vs Eibar (H). 4-0 in 87’ min
vs Mallorca (A). 4-0 in 93’ min
vs Alaves (A). 5-0 in 75’ min

Assists with context (1/2)

21 assists
15 open play assists
5 side pass assists
4 freekick assists
1 backwards pass assist
1 accidental assist
1 deflected assist that shouldn’t count

Messi is a great playmaker, but this 21 assist stat is overrated

Assists with context (2/2)

Assists vs Madrid and Atletico - 0

Assists vs Top 10 - 5

Assists vs Bottom 10 - 16

I couldve gone into more detail about his La Liga campaign outside of stats including his terrible el Clasico performances home and away when it mattered.

But the thread would be too long.

End of thread. Likes and retweets appreciated.