Messi and Pedri speak the same language for Barcelona

He may not be as prolific as previous seasons and his direct free kicks no longer scare an opponent, but Lionel Messi is still ‘the man’.

A record 644th goal for Barcelona saw him set a new benchmark for goals scored for a club, and it’s hard to see how that record will be broken again.

There aren’t many men from a single club these days, and the ones that are don’t score with the incredible regularity that the Argentine has.

The shot against Valladolid was as forceful as any other that has scored before and was beaten as to say to the critics, ‘take that’.

Once again, this season, Messi has been discarded as past and is no longer necessary. Once again, continue to respond to criticism to the best of your ability.

His goal against La Pucela was possible thanks to the invention of Pedri, a player who seems to have been at the club for years.

If you hadn’t noticed, you would swear that this boy was educated at La Masia, such is the dexterity with which he has taken care of the task at hand.

Messi recognizes a player when he sees him, and you can see how often he seeks to find Pedri now that he has possession, 12 times against Valencia, something reciprocated by the young man, 10 times against Valladolid.

It’s an emerging relationship and it could be one of the keys to holding onto Messi next summer.

Photo by Octavio Passos / Getty Images

Clearly, Barça are a team in transition and it may be a couple more years before they return to anywhere that is close to their best.

However, if Messi can see the green shoots of recovery, and if there is something to hold on to and believe that he can help the club do it all again, that should be motivating enough.

Let’s not forget that Ansu Fati is yet to return. If there was a way to convince Ronald Koeman to also play Riqui Puig, they are three young people who speak Messi’s language and who should be the foundation of the team for years to come.

For now at least, let’s enjoy the telepathy of two players on opposite ends of an age range of soccer players, but who are so totally in sympathy that it makes any debate about whether they can play dying together.