Lionel Messi misses again but is his penalty record actually that bad?

Lionel Messi may just be the greatest player we’ve ever seen but he’s not completely flawless as he proved again in the Copa del Rey against Espanyol.

The Argentine missed a penalty in the second half, although credit must go to goalkeeper Diego Lopez who pulled off a marvellous save.

Messi has admitted recently he’s not perfect and needs to practice penalties more - so just how good is he from the spot?

Well, Opta reckon he’s not been that hot this season and to be fair they do have a point. Check it out...

3 - Lionel Messi has missed more penalties than any other La Liga player this season in all competitions (three from six attempts). Strange. http://pic.twitter.com/rVgz6du5nY

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 17, 2018

But if we’re talking about his overall record from that spot, well, then it doesn’t really look too bad at all.

This was Messi's 100TH penalty for club and country in regular time.

Balance:
— 100 taken
— 77 scored
— 22 missed
— 1 assisted#EspanyolBarça http://pic.twitter.com/CgR27dXsgq

— MESSISTATS (@MessiStats_) January 17, 2018

However, it’s a different story in the Copa del Rey. According to MessiStats, he’s only scored three out of nine penalties for Barca in the competition.

Although maybe it was the Diego Lopez factor - not only he is the only Espanyol goalkeeper to have saved a Messi penalty - he’s actually saved from the little genius twice.

1 - Diego López is the only Espanyol goalkeeper to have saved a penalty taken by Lionel Messi in all competitions. Giant.

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 17, 2018

2 - Diego Lopez has saved more penalties against Lionel Messi than any other goalkeeper (all competitions). Titan.

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 17, 2018

So what do we reckon? Is Messi still the man for the occasion? Or should Barcelona be thinking about a new penalty-taker? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Source: barcablaugranes.com