Leo Messi has been the Barça reference in the first games of this new season In addition to witnessing and experiencing the celebration of two trophies, the 2 Super Cups, Messi has dramatically improved his scoring numbers with regard to the start of other seasons.

Outdoing himself

In his eighth season in the first team Messi has never achieved these numbers. Six goals in four official games for Messi. Three goals against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup, one more in the European Super Cup, a competition which until now he hadn’t scored in, and two more goals on Monday against Villarreal.

Only two years not scoring

Messi didn’t score a goal in the same period in seasons 2005/06 and 2007/08. In the other seasons we had to wait a short while for his goals.

In the 2006/07 season Messi scored just one goal, against Celta, in the first game of the season (Barça won 3-2). In 2008/09, Guardiola’s first in charge, Messi scored 3 in the first four games. One at the Camp Nou, a penalty against Racing (1-1), and two more at Sporting (Barça won 6-1).

A hat trick to start

Last year the best player in the world beat his old numbers. Messi scored four goals in his first 4 games, including a spectacular, and decisive, hat-trick at the Camp Nou against Sevilla in the return leg of the Spanish Super Cup, and another goal in Santander, the first goal for the future League Champions, on the first day of last season.

At the end of the 2010/11 season, Messi had scored 53 goals in official competitions, a stat we should bear in mind towards the end of the current season, considering this spectacular start.