Barcelona: 3 of Lionel Messi’s best teammates ever

Messi’s goalscoring tally begun on the 34th match day for La Liga when Barcelona hosted Albacete. A night that the Argentine will never forget.

Cameroon and Barcelona legend Samuel Eto’o put the hosts ahead in the 66th minute. Later, with a few minutes left in the regular 90 minutes, Eto’o would make way for Messi. Within a minute after stepping on the pitch, Brazilian star Ronaldinho lobbed a pass over the Albacete defense for Messi to control the ball and chip the keeper.

Lucky for Albacete and Raul Valbuena, who was on goal, the assistant referee raised his flag in a somewhat controversial offside position of the Argentine.

Again, within a minute or two, Messi won a ball in the air, which he then would pass it back to Ronaldinho, who again would lob a pass over the defenders for Messi to again control it and still chip Valbuena. This time the referee kept his flag down, signifying that Messi’s first official goal was valid.

During the years of 2004 until 2008 that these two played alongside, they managed to get their shots to the back of the net. Messi scored 42 goals, while Ronaldinho scored 72 for a combined total of 114 goals. These two were directly involved in seven of those goals, Messi surprisingly never assisted any of Ronaldinho’s goals.

The last goal that Messi received an assist from Ronaldinho was playing in the UEFA Champions League Group Stage match against Scottish side Rangers in a 2-0 win.

Ronaldinho was the mentor that Messi needed for his adaptation into Elite football. With his plays and knowledge of the game Messi, was able to become the lethal goalscorer that he is today.

Their partnership on and off the field was recognized by many as one of the most significant relationships that the football world has seen. Ronaldinho’s lobbed pass was the beginning of something legendary.