Messi has three times more free-kick goals than anyone else in Europe

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Leo Messi is back. He started the season slowly, well off of his best, but in recent weeks he has shone in every game. His free-kicks are more proof of that: he has gone from going six months without a goal from a free-kick to scoring two of his last four. That is his normal ratio in recent years. 

With what he achieved against Athletic Bilbao, the Argentine scored his 24th goal in that fashion in the last five seasons. Those next in the race are on just 8. 

Aleksandar Kolarov, James Ward-Prowse and Dani Parejo have all scored eight free-kick goals in the same amount of time. Good numbers, but not enough to even close to Messi. 

Paulo Dybala and Iago Aspas on seven goals each are joint fifth. They are two brilliant left-footed free-kick takers. 

Funnily enough, despite the fact Messi has shown that a free-kick for him is almost as good as a penalty, he has still scored less free-kicks than Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the Portuguese star has played almost 150 matches more than him.

Despite details of his multi-million euro contract being leaked to the media, Messi once again left his talking for the pitch.