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Unlike his rival Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi started off his career as a center forward. The same helped the Argentine gain more opportunities to find the back of the net compared to his Portuguese counterpart.
Even though Messi kept shuffling between being a winger and at the center of the park later in his career, his goal-scoring exploits continued.
Lionel Messi holds the record for the highest number of goals (91 goals in 2012) in a calendar year. The former Barcelona captain also has a record for most goals scored in a single season (50 goals in the 2011-12 La Liga season) under his name.
With so many seemingly unbreakable records under his belt, let's take a deep dive to see how Lionel Messi's numbers look at some of the lowest points of his career.
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Ranking Lionel Messi's top 5 worst calendar year performances.
#5 2020 — 27 goals
The year 2020 was unique for Lionel Messi in many ways. After being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and matches within closed stadiums, little did La Pulga know it would be his final season with his boyhood club.
In a surprising turn around of events, the 2020-21 La Liga season was Lionel Messi's last season at the club where everyone, including him, believed he would be retiring. The year 2020 saw Lionel Messi net 27 goals for club and country. That is nearly half of his previous year's tally (50).
Despite enduring one of the most shocking moments of his life, Lionel Messi switched to French giants PSG for a lucrative deal. Messi is struggling in the French Ligue 1 right now but he continues to be on top in UCL outings.
#4 2008 — 22 goals
The year 2008 is special for both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. As it is the year the duo began their duopoly for the Ballon d'Or — the most revered individual accolade in football.
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged the 2008 Ballon d'Or award but that led to a spark which caused Lionel Messi to go on a spree from the following year itself. The Argentine won the award four years in a row between 2009 and 2012. He now has seven!
But before all this, Messi endured one of the lowest scoring years of his career in 2008. The PSG man had made 48 appearances for club and country that year. His outing with Albiceleste wasn't fruitful either. Leo Messi managed to score just two goals off eight games that year.
#3 2006 — 12 goals
During the 2005-06 and the 2006-07 seasons, the world was starting to know about the wonder called Lionel Messi. Ascending through the ranks of Barcelona's youth setup, Lionel Messi was called upon by the senior team manager at a very young age.
Between 2003 and 2005, Messi shuffled between various youth sides and occasional senior team appearances for Barcelona. By 2006, he was an integral part of Barcelona's starting XI, and the same year Leo broke the deadlock to score his debut senior national team goal.
As the Rosario-born forward was getting used to the highest level of football, he also took time to find the back of the net on a regular basis. He only scored 12 goals that year with two two of them coming in the blue and white jersey.
#2 2005 — 3 goals
The 18-year-old Lionel Messi was too good to play among his peers in Barcelona's youth setup. The same paved the way for him to make recurring appearances for the club's senior team.
Lauded equally by the management and the players, Messi kept on displaying his brilliance in each game. His talent was enough to please the then superstar and the most recent signing of Barcelona — Ronaldinho. The Brazilian befriended the young Lionel Messi and helped him gain a swift entry into the senior side.
The move proved to be fruitful for the club as Messi turned out to be an unstoppable force for Barcelona. However, while all this happened during the latter stages of the year 2005, the same year also ended up as one of the lowest goal scoring years of Messi's career.
#1 2004 — 0 goals
In 2004, the then 17-year-old Lionel Messi was yet to feature for his senior national team. By then, Lionel Messi had already earned a name for wreaking havoc in youth leagues.
By mid-2004, the Argentine forward had started catching Barcelona's senior team management's attention. The process took about a year and Leo was granted entry to the senior team.
Lionel Messi featured in both Segunda División B and La Liga that very year for his team. Even though Messi's dribbling skills set the pitch on fire, the little magician was far from becoming a goal scoring machine at the age of 17.
Messi ended the year 2004 without scoring a single goal. However, since then, there's been no looking back for the Little Magician.
