Messi and his Barcelona departure meant a lot in summer to the Catalans. The Argentine had a large part of the play in attack and, in fact, he was one of the best free-kick takers in the world.
It is a facet which Barcelona have struggled with all season, both with Koeman and Xavi Hernandez on the bench. Messi took the free kick goals away with him when he left Barca.
Memphis Depay and Ferran Torres have taken the most number of free-kicks close to the box, with six and three, respectively. However, the Dutch attacker was unable to find the back of the net. He has given the odd assist, but not scored.
Dembele also tried his luck on the odd occasion and despite being a good striker of the ball, he is no longer good at scoring from free-kicks. Messi's absence is being felt and it has been more than a year since the last goal from a free-kick.
It came on 2nd May 2021 in a La Liga match which saw Valencia play Barcelona on matchday 34. Leo Messi's goal made it 1-3 and the game ended 2-3.