Blessed to worship at the feet of Messiah Messi

As I start writing this sentence, Lionel Messi has just brought his goal tally for 2012 to 90 but by the time I’ve finished it, there’s every chance he’ll have increased it by another one or, more likely, two.

It’s not only befuddled defenders who are left trailing by the greatest player in the world; hacks and statisticians have a job keeping up too.

It’s become a commonplace now for people to hold their hands up and admit defeat in their efforts to find words to do justice to the genius of the little Argentinian, those routine superlatives as exhausted as every opponent who has ever been tasked with the mission impossible of keeping tabs on a footballing will o’ the wisp.