Lionel Messi wrong-foots goalie to nail his third free kick in 3 days

Manu Fernandez/AP

Lionel Messi can’t stop scoring free kick goals.

Late in the second half against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, the FC Barcelona superstar curled in a low direct kick that totally wrong-footed the Bilbao keeper, giving him his third free kick goal in three games.

The goal, which nearly grazed Gerard Pique’s ducking head before finding the back of the net off the right post, gave Barca a 3-1 lead and put his team ahead 4-3 on aggregate in the Copa Del Rey Round of 16 match-up.

Here’s the Argentine’s effort:

As you can tell from the way the wall had set up, and from the way the Bilbao keeper immediately loses his footing, the more obvious free location here for a lefty is the top left corner. Messi, though, is simply too good for conventional wisdom.