The 2013 Champions League season may not have gone according to plan for Barcelona, as they were bounced from the tournament last week by Bayern Munich during the semi-final round.
Battling injury, Lionel Messi was forced to watch his Barca teammates fall out of contention in Champions League play as they were thoroughly beaten by a talented Munich squad in both legs of the semi's.
All is not lost for Barcelona and their star forward however.
With a 4-2 victory over Real Betis this past weekend, Barcelona came one step closer to claiming another Spanish League title.
While the victory for Barca and club manager Tita Vilanova is the ultimate achievement, the performance of their star forward will certainly excite both the Barcelona club and it's extremely loyal and passionate fan base.
Coming off the bench in a crucial moment of the match, Messi netted 2 goals in a span of 15 minutes, launching Barca to a 4-2 Spanish League victory. The performance by the three-time Ballon d'Or winner left no doubt in the minds of his teammates that Messi is indeed the game's premier talent.
"We know Messi is the best," Barca star defender Gerard Pique told Yahoo Sports. "We know every time he comes on he will give us something."
That something provided was 2 much-needed goals in the blink of an eye. Barca was forced to play catch-up multiple times throughout the match and the boost from their leader put them comfortably ahead of Betis and gave the squad room to breathe.
Messi's talent level is so unbelievable at times that even opposing coaches have to applaud his superior skillset.
"Against Messi, you can't do anything," Betis coach Pepe Mel told reporters from the Times Colonist. "The first ball he touches he puts it right inside the corner of the goalframe. It was like it had been scripted. It was suddenly a big party and went down from there."
The goals from Messi helped him claim his 20th multi-goal game of the season as he now brings Barca one step closer to claiming their 22nd Spanish La Liga title in club history. Barca finished second to Real Madrid during the 2011-2012 League campaign.
Since joining the legendary Barcelona club in 2004, Messi has established himself as one of the premier scorers in the long history of La Liga.
Currently 7th in All-time goal scoring with 215 goals in league play, Messi sits behind greats such as Hugo Sanchez, Cesar Rodriguez and the all-time leader in goals Telmo Zarra.
At only 26-years-old, the native of Rosario, Argentina is still developing his game.
Even though the forward is not at 100% as the season continues, Messi is still able to contribute in a significant way as evidenced by his recent performance against Real Betis.
Watch the highlights from Messi and Barcelona's victory over Real Betis:
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