Lionel Messi: Barcelona star says he needs to improve on penalties
Lionel Messi is not impressed with his penalty conversion rate and revealed he is working to improve.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi has stated that he needs to improve on penalties s a professional footballer.
The 31-year-old has been rounded criticised for his penalty technique which has cost his team on certain occasions most notably in the 2012 UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg against Chelsea.
At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Messi was again unable to convert from the penalty spot as Argentina were held to a 1-1 draw by Iceland in their opening group game of the tournament.
Messi who is regarded by some as arguably the best player in the world has, however, come out to admit that penalty taking is an area in his game which improvement can be made upon.
Lionel Messi and penalties
In an interview with Catalunya Radio Messi pointed out his penalty technique when he was asked about which aspect in his game that need a bit of work.
He said, “The penalties. I'd like to be more effective.”
The Argentine superstar who has converted 71 from 88 penalty attempts in his career stated practicing spot-kicks does not usually translate to conversion on the pitch.
He said, “There are a lot of other factors at play.
“It's very difficult. It's not the same to practise them as it is to take them in a game.”
Messi who has a career total of, 556 goals in 641 appearances also stated that credit should be given to the goalkeepers that have stopped his penalties as some of his misses will have gone through in previous era’s.
He said, “You can have a plan or have an idea about what to do, but when the moment comes it's much more difficult to do it than it looks.
“Today's goalkeepers save some penalties that the ones in the past wouldn't have.
“But, yeah, this is a thing that I'd like to be better at.”
Messi is who is back in training with Barcelona and will not be a part of the Argentine team international break fixtures against Guatemala and Colombia.
He is expected to return to action when reigning La Liga champions Barcelona take on Real Sociedad in their next league fixture scheduled for Saturday, September 15.
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