5 ways in which Lionel Messi's playing style has evolved over the years

#3 Lionel Messi takes more long-range shots than he used to

FC Barcelona v Deportivo Alavés - La Liga Santander

During the years when he was unstoppable, Lionel Messi would slalom past defenders and often bomb into the box before letting a shot away. Between 2004 and 2015, Messi averaged 1.29 shots from outside the box on average. In that 11 year period, he scored just 32 goals from outside the box.

Since 2015-2021, Lionel Messi has scored 42 long-range goals and averages 2.25 shots per 90 from outside the box. He leads the chart for most number of goals from outside the box in the 2020-21 La Liga season with eight goals. That's twice as many as second-placed Karim Benzema.

This has a lot to do with the fact that Messi has dropped deeper in recent times in order to create chances for his side.

#2 Lionel Messi has become a specialist free-kick taker

Barcelona v Liverpool - UEFA Champions League Semi Final: First Leg

Lionel Messi is undoubtedly one of the best free-kick takers in world football right now. It is quite interesting to note that he wasn't much of a set-piece specialist in his early years. It is definitely a feature he has added to his game over the course of his career.

Messi scored a total of 16 free-kick goals between 2004 and 2015. In the past six seasons, he has scored 41 goals from free-kicks. This clearly shows that it is an aspect of his game that he has worked and improved on.

Messi's curling free-kicks are incredibly accurate and are quite the thing to behold. In fact, he is arguably the best free-kick taker in the world right now.

A compilation of Lionel Messi free kicks is exactly what we need right now 😍(via @LaLigaEN)pic.twitter.com/vhJuywBVsC

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 3, 2020

#1 Lionel Messi has evolved as a playmaker

FC Barcelona v Manchester United - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final: Second Leg

The trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jr., famously known as MSN, has influenced the legendary Barcelona man's playing style as well. Following the arrival of Neymar and Suarez, Messi started playing a retreated role in attack.

While he used to start down the right flank, at least on paper, Lionel Messi would usually act as a link between Neymar on the right side and Luis Suarez up front. Messi would play centrally and would create loads of chances in addition to scoring plenty of goals.

Now that the likes of Iniesta and Xavi are long gone, Messi has inherited the responsibility of creating opportunities for his teammates. His stats from the 2019-20 season are a testament to the same. Messi scored 31 goals and provided 27 assists across all competitions in the 2019-20 season with Luis Suarez playing as the main striker.

Sure, his 2020-21 campaign has been a bit different following the departure of Suarez but he has been elite in the playmaking department this term as well. He scored 38 goals and provided 13assists across all competitions this past season.

These days, we see Messi attracting opposition players on to him and then releasing his attackers into space with well-weighted through balls. He has definitely become more of a central figure in terms of stitching passes together and orchestrating play than he used to in his early years.

Lionel Messi created 77 chances for Barcelona this past season, which is the highest among all La Liga players.

Lionel Messi has created 291 chances in the UCL since 09/10 Only 35 chances has been converted into goals. pic.twitter.com/aVY3J0zN8g

— Stan (@FutbolStan_) May 18, 2021

(Stats courtesy: Transfermarkt)