La Liga 12/13

[Shaggy]

Messi even scores world class penos

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEfvgLoCAhw"]Gol de Messi penalty (1-1) Barça - YouTube[/ame]

[Gibbo]

I'm bored of Messi now, he's too good.

It's almost like cheating.

They should enforce a rule like PE teachers used to do, where he can touch the ball but not score.

[Chazza]

Sky Sports News @SkySportsNews
Lionel Messi signs contract extension at Barcelona until 2018

[RichC]

Wonder what they've bumped his wages up to

[AnfieldForever]

Wonder what they've bumped his wages up to

Something tells me Ronaldo's going to be even more upset than he was before.

[RichC]

never a bad thing!!

Any other era he'd have been the stand out player of his generation, must eat him alive

[RichC]

The head to head stats of theses two is mind blowing

http://messivsronaldo.net/

[dww]

From that I take it that Messi hasn't been selfish enough in the Champions League.

[Muddled]

Wonder what they've bumped his wages up to

Well, going by rumour, he *was* on €12.7M a year, or roughly €244K p/w.

I guess this contract, which secures him for his prime (how crazy a thought is that!) will be touching €15M.

[RichC]

If true, wow

Spanish Liga - Messi signs Barca deal 'worth €16m a year after tax'

Lionel Messi has signed an extension of his Barcelona contract until 2018 - and it is reportedly worth €16 million a year after tax

If the figure reported by Marca - worth £13.7m - is accurate, that means the Argentine whizkid will be paid €36.4m (£31.1m) a year before tax by the Catalan giants - or to put it another way £600,000-a-week.

It was announced in December that a deal had been reached to keep him at the Camp Nou - and that has now been signed.

A club statement read: "Leo Messi extended his contract with FC Barcelona through June 30 of 2018.

"The signing ceremony was attended by the player, president Sandro Rosell, vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu and the director of football Andoni Zubizarreta.

"Messi added two additional years to his existing contract, which was set to expire in June of 2016. The player, who joined the club when he was 13 years old and made his first-team debut three years later, will be 31 when his contract expires."

Team-mate Jordi Alba was overjoyed at the news and said Messi could be regarded as the best player ever in a few years.

"I can’t imagine what Messi will be like in 2018, but it’s great news for Barça fans that he’s staying," he said.

"He is the best player in the world and as long as nothing happens, he’ll be the best ever. We’ll try to make him feel as comfortable here as we can."

Messi scored an incredible 92 goals in 2012 and is already regarded as a great of the game at the age of only 25.

He already has 34 goals in La Liga this season, netting in each of his last 12 league games, and has set a number of club scoring records.

Winning a fourth World Player of the Year award in January, he has been top scorer in the Champions League for four years in a row and has won that trophy three times alongside five domestic titles and two Copa del Reys.

Barca were held by Valencia last weekend, but hold a nine-point lead over Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga while hated rivals Real Madrid in third are 16 points off their pace.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/spanish-liga-messi-signs-2018-barcelona-160441594.html

[Shaggy]

Marca is basically the Real Madrid magazine so I wouldn't trust their info.

[Alex]

You'd pay it though. Is is the best player to play the game. To call him prolific would be a disservice.

[RichC]

13 minutes gone Barca 2-0 already

[Shaggy]

Messi again - I think that's 13 successive games he's scored in. 35 league goals, 46 for this season. 299th of his career.

[RichC]

Amazing stats from him - 35 league goals this season already

He could go past the 50 of last season