One of the more staggering things to realize about Lionel Messi’s career is this: If you were to talk about the game where Messi was so good the opposing fans gave him a standing ovation, they could reply: Which time?
Messi has made a habit out of this. The latest time he was so breathtakingly brilliant that the opposing fans had to stand and applaud was this weekend, when he had a hat trick in a 4-1 Barcelona win over Real Betis.
After Messi completed his hat trick, the Betis fans all over the stadium rose to their feet and applauded him.
The last goal especially, an inch-perfect chip from no angle off a broken corner kick play, was so good the fans didn’t know what to do with themselves. Listen to the noise they make when it goes in. It’s sort of a shocked “gooooo-ahhh?!” then stunned silence, then applause, then more applause. He broke them.
Here they are standing for him:
This is becoming routine, but again, this is nuts. This isn’t some Dirk Nowitzki farewell tour where fans are saying goodbye to a beloved opponent. Messi is very much in his prime, and he’s destroying these teams, and he’s so good they can’t help themselves. I’ve never seen anything like this, and it’s happened multiple times with Messi.
“Even though the opposition concedes goals to Messi they can still enjoy this unbelievable era which he has created, they enjoy it too and today they recognized that,” said Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde after the game, via Reuters.
“It’s significant that they gave him this ovation, it’s an acknowledgment. Our rivals’ supporters have to suffer him but they also appreciate him, because of the player he is.
Here’s all his highlights from the game against Betis:
