FC Barcelona - La Liga Creating a lot more now

Lionel Messi's career is not only full of trophies and impossible feats, but one of the most impressive aspects has been how he's adjusted to different positions.

From his debut under Frank Rijkaard on November 16, 2003, against Jose Mourinho's Porto to this season with Quique Setien at the helm, the Argentine has been asked to perform different roles at Barcelona.

His seasons in terms of goals and assists have varied depending on the position he has played during a season or game.

In the 2019/20 LaLiga Santander campaign, Messi scored 25 goals in 33 games, an impressive tally for most but for the six-time Ballon d'Or winner, it was his worst season in front of goal since Pep Guardiola's first year in charge in 2008/09, when he got 23 in 31 matches.

But there are some seasons, such as in 2011/12, when he netted 50 goals in 37 appearances or the following one when he got 46 in 32 games.

The significant statistic with Messi this season is the amount of assists he provided, having set up his teammates to score 21 times in LaLiga Santander.

This has been the 33-year-old's best campaign in terms of assists, with his previous best being 19 in 2010/11 and 17 in 2011/12, both of which were under Guardiola.

All of these changes have a reason. It is because, depending on the position that Messi has played, he has had to assume the role of goalscorer or assist provider.

Since his debut, Messi has occupied the right-hand side of the pitch so that he can come inside onto his stronger left foot and cause chaos in the final third, either with a final pass or by shooting himself.

His speed and dribbling ability made him a very dangerous winger, but there came a day when Guardiola realised that the Argentine could do more damage in a central position.

Messi's goalscoring figures at the time were impressive but by no means the alien-type numbers he would put up later.

In Rijkaard's last two years at the helm, he scored 14 goals in 2006/07 and 10 in 2007/08.

This, perhaps, is the match that changed the history of Guardiola's Barcelona and Messi's position.

In this game, the Argentine played as a false nine, in between Lassana Diarra and Fernando Gago and the Real Madrid centre-backs.

By having Messi in that role, with Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Yaya Toure as a midfield three behind, they were able to outnumber the Real Madrid's two men in the middle of the park and dominate things.

"Guardiola changed the system and told [Thierry] Henry to play between the centre-back and the full-back and [Samuel] Eto'o between the centre-back and full-back," Xavi recalled.

"Pep had realised that Madrid's central defenders never went out to pressure the No.9 of any team.

"That's how Henry's goal came about and a game that would change the future of the club the Argentine."

Everything that came after is history. The false nine became commonplace in Guardiola's system and it made Messi a more complete player and a better goalscorer.

That change in position led Messi to win three Ballon d'Ors (2009/10, 2011/12 and 2012/13).

After a disappointing campaign for all involved at Barcelona under Tata Martino in 2013/14, Messi's role as a false nine started to be questioned as the Catalans clearly missed having a No.9 who could be a reference point in attack and subsequently free up their future captain.

The signing of Luis Suarez caused Luis Enrique to think that the best decision was to have Messi in a hybrid winger-No.10 role, albeit slightly more to the right.

With Messi on the right of a front three with Luis Suarez in the middle and Neymar on the left, the famous MSN trident was born and Barcelona were able to once again dominate Europe.

His numbers in terms of goals and assists continued to be impressive, but he was overtaken by Cristiano Ronaldo goals-wise in the first season and by Luis Suarez in the second.

Since then, though, Messi has won the Pichichi Trophy every season.

That change of position to the right wing gave more opportunities to his two partners in attack, Neymar and Suarez, to score and create chances, although he kept scoring goals because it was in his blood.

When Xavi and Iniesta left Barcelona, two key components in the Catalan side's way of play went with them.

The club looked to sign players to be able to replace these two geniuses, such as Arthur Melo, Philippe Coutinho, Paulinho, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal, but it was an impossible task.

Ernesto Valverde was in charge by this point and he wanted to give Messi the freedom to play how he wanted to.

The lack of creativity in Barcelona's line-up was noticeable and it caused the forward to drop back into more of a midfield position to try and get things going for the Blaugrana.

In the long term, this has proved to be detrimental as Barcelona now rely on Messi to both create chances and finish off the moves.

While Barcelona have still been able to win LaLiga Santander and the Copa del Rey with Messi playing in this role, they have come short in the Champions League.

What's clear is that the Catalans are still looking to find replacements for Xavi and Iniesta at the same time that Messi is having to be Messi, Xavi and Iniesta in one.

Today, Messi continues to fulfil these roles and is more of a midfielder than a forward.

In the 2019/20 campaign, the Barcelona captain continued to score goals but was also tasked with starting moves, thinking how to find the back of the net with the help of his teammates and, more often than not, finding himself further back on the pitch than in previous years.

Messi's new role makes him a midfielder who assists, but who is a natural goalscorer.