Lionel Messi was awarded the UEFA Goal of the Season award on Thursday for the second consecutive year. Messi received the award for his goal against AS Roma in the UEFA Champions League in November. Portuguese player Ricardinho's effort during the Futsal Euro 2016 came in second place while Switzerland's Xherdan Shaqiri's acrobatic goal against Poland during Euro 2016 came third.
It was the interplay of Barcelona's top three that stood out in Messi's goal, more than the goal itself (video above). The build-up to the goal had the lethal front three of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar work in tandem. Neymar played a one-two pass with the Argentinian and the ball swiftly moved to Suarez in front of him. Meanwhile, Messi had already sneaked his way past the Roma backline and Suarez, with one touch, scooped the ball over the defence. Messi controlled the ball, took a run and dinked it over the onrushing goalkeeper, as the ball rolled into the net.
Last year, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner had won the award, courtesy a tremendous solo effort against Bayern Munich. The game against Roma ended up being a landslide win for the Catalan giants, who won the match 6-1 with Messi scoring a brace. The 29-year-old scored 41 goals from 49 games and played a major role in leading Barcelona to the Spanish La Liga title and the Copa del Rey.
