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| Lionel Messi with Joan Gamper 2016 MVP award |
FC Barcelona won their first important game of the 2016/2017 season after beating Italian side Sampdoria 3-1 in the Joan Gamper Trophy game and the star of the encounter was Lionel Messi.
The Argentine starlet put up a dazzling performance in the game and also scored two beautiful goals whilst also pulling off an assist, he was involved in all Barça goals.
Messi put delight in the hearts of every fan present at the Camp Nou on Wednesday, providing an overhead kick assist to set up Luis Suarez for the first goal before destroying Sampdoria goalkeeper for Barça’s second and then bending a magnificent freekick to score Barcelona’s third.
With the performance, Lionel Messi broke three different records for himself, as he always does.
The Joan Gamper Trophy was founded in 1966 and has been played in 51 different occasions. After the win against Sampdoria, Lionel Messi was officially named the Man of the Match, his third award making him the only player in the history of the Gamper to win three MVP awards. The fascinating thing is that no player has ever won it more than once. Apart for the MVP against Sampdoria, Messi was also the best player against Santos in 2013 and Leon in 2014.
Prior to the game against Sampdoria, Messi had 5 goals in the Gamper. His brace in the game took his goal tally to 7, making him the top scorer in the history of the Joan Gamper Trophy joint with club legends Hristo Stoichkov, Juan Asensi and Txiki Beguiristain who also have 7 goals each. One must note that Messi still will play so many Gampers in the future, hence this record is going to be likely shattered soon.
Still on the two beautiful goals, Lionel Messi’s brace made him become the only player in the history of the Gamper to score in four consecutive editions of the tournament. Before the brace against Sampdoria, Messi scored once each against AS Roma, Leon and Santos in the three previous editions in 2015, 2014 and 2013 respectively, bagging a total of 5 goals in the all four games.
Lionel Messi dazzled in the game and provided FC Barcelona fans with high hopes of seeing their main man in great form for the new season.
