Argentina Is An Ordinary Team Without Messi

The numbers which reveal Argentina are atrocious without Messi Messi won all the qualifiers he's played in and Argentina have struggled...

The numbers which reveal Argentina are atrocious without Messi

Messi won all the qualifiers he's played in and Argentina have struggled without him.

Argentina's numbers without Lionel Messi are atrocious. They have 16 points in their World Cup qualifying group and the majority of them have been earned with the Barcelona star in their side, even though he has only played three games.

The statistics are frightening. Argentina have won three games out of three with Messi. And without him they've won just once, drawing four games and losing two more. That means that they win 100 percent of their matches with Messi and just 14 per cent without him. In addition, add in that of the last three games they've played the've picked up just two points (out of nine) against teams who are in the bottom half of the South American qualification table (Peru, Venezuela and Paraguay).

BAD START
Messi was not available for the first four qualifiers due to an injury. The results were awful: a defeat to Ecuador, a draw with Paraguay and then an improvement in a draw with Brazil. Their first win came in their fourth game, against Colombia.

Messi's return was a relief for Argentina, who beat Chile in Santiago and then won against Bolivia. It was then that Tata Martino left his role and Edgardo Bauza took over. The new coach's debut was a win over Uruguay (1-0) thanks to a Lionel Messi goal. Then Messi got injured again and things have gone down hill.

With Messi, it's been nine points out of nine. Without him? Just seven from a possible 21.