Ranking Lionel Messi's top 5 worst calendar year performances

#3 2006 — 12 goals

Lionel Messi was called upon by the senior team manager at a very young age

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.

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#2 2005 — 3 goals

2005 was one of the lowest goal scoring years of Messi's career.

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.

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#1 2004 — 0 goals

Ronaldinho had a crucial role to play in Messi's early entry into the senior team

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.