7. He's Not Quite The Best Ever At Taking Penalties
If theres one glaring weakness in Lionel Messis game, its probably his ability from twelve yards. Its something of an oddity that a player with such undoubted talents as Messi should struggle with something as relatively simple as a penalty. Perhaps hed have a better record from the spot if the act of taking a penalty involved beating two or three players in the run-up. Admittedly the last two penalties he took he scored, both for Argentina in the Copa America. The second of these was in the penalty shootout against Chile that Argentina went on to lose. In such a high pressure situation, Messis finish was flawless, suggesting its not necessarily a question of mental fragility. Yet with Barcelona, his penalty conversion record is far from impressive. Having taken over sixty penalties at club level, Messi has missed thirteen. That may not sound too bad, but it hardly yells world class. You could argue hes not even the best penalty taker at Barcelona, but given the perpetual race between Messi and Ronaldo to score the most goals, hes not going to all of a sudden relinquish the responsibility. Even if he continues to miss important penalties, such as this one in the Champions League semi final of 2012 that saw Barcelona crash out to eventual winners Chelsea.
