This article addresses the impressive statistics of our attacking front, the “trident”, or also called MVP (Messi-Villa-Pedro). The original was extracted from Diari El Punt and can be found here.
* Barça’s legend gets bigger thanks to the excellent performance of the MVP trident
* Messi, Villa and Pedro have scored 56 times, more than any other team in La Liga
* The trident has scored 75% of Barça’s goals this season and is heading to outperform the Messi, Eto’o and Henry performance in 2008/09 season
* The trident has scored 83 times considering all competitions Barça is involved in.
What an Asturian, an Argentinian and a Canarian do? This phrase could be part of a classic joke, but it reflects the identity of the most deadly attacking front in Barça’s history to date. And what they do is to score. They score again and again, until exhaustion, non stop. Messi, Villa and Pedro (MVP) are like performers in a choreography set in a football ground, which resembles an opera stage. Those “three tenors” have made each of their appearance a complete recital.
They are the end point of the team, the ones that make a superlative difference. They are the ones that change the script of the games and to martyr their rivals. Obviously, the Trident would be nothing without its team mates, but the importance they have in the team is tremendous. This trio is the catalyst of the Barça game. Their performance could be resembled to the final touches of a meal, the perfect cooking point, the pinch of salt, the thing that makes the difference. The dish would still be good without them, but it won’t be an excellent meal. With them, it becomes an exquisite dish that tickles the palate. They gave an extra dimension to Barça’s game, making it tri-dimensional. They give the depth and width the team needs to continue being successful.
If the deadliest trident in Barça history is in good shape, there is no impossible challenge for the team to beat. But Barça was getting some criticism at the beginning of the season, for the lack of effectiveness in front. Villa was going through the typical adaptation process, following a road map planned by Pep Guardiola, Messi was recovering from the WC in South Africa and Pedro, as well as Villa, had not completed the typical preseason training programme because of the WC. Also, he was assuming the challenge of overcoming his best season. However, the trident has been working step by step, with methodical parsimony, at low heat, in order to achieve an impressive run. Right now, Barça can be compared to a football producing machine, thanks to this perfectly assembled trio.
The importance of the scorer trio was shown, once again, in Mallorca. The three of them scored at the Iberostar Stadium. It was the third league match in which this circumstance was repeated (La Coruña and Getafe were the others). It was a difficult game for Barça since they had high profile absences, such as Xavi, Valdez, Puyol and Dani Alves. But the “three tenors” did not fail. Messi was in charge of opening the can, with a genius goal. The argentine gently touched the ball with his chest and took advantage of the rebound to then head it to beat Mallorca’s keeper. The game was about to finish its first part and Messi’s goal calmed the nerves down in a discrete first part. This goal was like a vitamin injection to the game. It was Messi’s 26th goal in La Liga, who has 42 goals this season alone, in all competitions. A superb player, who is surrounded by two “small” geniuses that are also prone on being excellent with the ball. Then, Villa appeared to score the second after a fantastic run from midfield and a face to face definition with Mallorca’s keeper. It was the fourth game in a row that Villa scored (Mallorca, Athletic, Arsenal and Sporting), achieving 17 goals in La Liga and 21 in total this season. On the other hand, Pedro was the one in charge of closing the show with a poisoned shot that put end to a month drought for him. The small striker reached his 13th goal of the championship, leaving behind his 12 goals last season mark. The three of them are breaking their own records. The trident ended the anguish produced by the missing players. They did it the day the team needed it the most. Madrid only drew at Riazor because of their own lack of effectiveness, which shows a reality that is quite opposite to Barça’s current form. This is Barça’s magic key. The goal law is the one that decides the fate of a team. And Barça, according the statistics of its top three strikers, has everything in favour. Messi, Villa and Pedro have scored 56 times in La Liga. They accumulate 75% of Barça’s goals, that has scored 76 goals in the Spanish league, in total.
The trident stats do not stand comparison with anyone. They are amazing. The entire Madrid squad has scored 55 goals in the league and other teams are light years away from the trio’s numbers. They are the ones who will be writing history at Barça in the upcoming months. Winning trophies this season depends on them keeping their current performance. Their potential also can be extended to other competitions, since they have scored 83 times this season overall. This figure could be heading to overpass the previous record of 100 goals in one season, held by the previous trident formed by Messi, Eto’o and Henry in 2008/09 course. That was the treble year, a historical year full of titles. Now an Argentinian, an Asturian and a Canarian are expanding Barça’s legend and might break the 100 goals per season barrier. If they do, another brilliant year is assured.
Editor’s note: This article was written before the Valencia encounter. Messi has added 1 goal to his own and the MVP’s tallies since then.
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