While the ball was in trajectory towards Clermont’s box, Messi was busy positioning himself as if he was a fielder in a cricket match ready for a catch. With gravity as his partner, Messi gave Paredes’ pass a place to settle for a single moment -on his chest – bringing the ball fully under his thrall. A good footballer would have swivelled, turned and let loose a shot at the Clermont box that would have been goalkeeper Mory Diaw‘s to save or not. Messi did not attempt this. Instead, after chesting the ball, he simply dropped it to his left foot and pivoted his body in the air to kick it overhead into the unready Clermont net.
The ‘bicycle kick’ – named after the cycling motion – is a flashy, acrobatic manoeuvre. But what Messi executed at the Stade Gabriel-Montpied looked gentle, calibrated, choreographed like a waltz in outer space.