Lionel Messi misses another penalty in Barcelona's victory over Levante in La Liga

Is the Argentine human after all?

Monday 21 September 2015 07:58 EDT

Lionel Messi missed a penalty for the 17th time in his career on Sunday (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Lionel Messi's patchy penalty-taking persisted during Barcelona's 4-1 home win over Levante on Sunday evening.

The Argentine scored twice, one a perfectly dispatched spot-kick, and notched an assist as his side maintained their 100 per cent start to the new La Liga season and remained two points clear at the league's summit.

However, Messi's performance was marred by his second penalty, which he blazed over the crossbar. The Ballon D'Or holder has now missed six of his 44 La Liga career spot kicks, and 17 of the 81 penalties he taken in all competitions during his professional career, including those in shoot-outs (79 per cent scored against 21 per cent missed).

The average player converts 77 per cent of his penalty kicks, meaning that Messi, whose statistics are otherwise extraordinary, is dangerously close to only being ordinary at one aspect of his game.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Luis Enrique dismissed suggestions that Messi's penalty-taking proved that the 28-year-old forward was 'human' after all, pointing to his invaluable contribution to Barça's victory.

"To miss penalties does not make Messi human," said Luis Enrique. "Then he scores two goals and gives an assist. There is very little human about Messi.

El Confidencial have become the first Spanish media outlet to question whether the Argentine should retain his spot-kick duties.

Although the daily newspaper believes it is time to hand the mantle over to one of the team's other superstars, it concedes that "no one will cough" and Messi will remain Luis Enrique's chosen penalty taker for some time to come.

The Independent has launched a new football app! Live scores, in-game stats, breaking news, videos and push notifications are just some of the many features. Use the links below to download and get more from Indy Football...

iPhone
http://ind.pn/iphonefootball

iPad
http://ind.pn/ipadfootball

Android
http://ind.pn/androidfootball