Lionel Messi (with the ball) scored 3 goals in Real Madrid’s 5:0 drubbing of Tenerife in La Liga last Sunday and was rewarded with a solid 48.85 rating points, the biggest gain of the week, in the FTBL system, continuing the rise he initiated last year. He now has a tally of 299.79 points.

Such huge gains always have to be paid back down the road in the FTBL system, and Messi’s time is fast-coming: the lowest plank to beat in his next 5 games is 25.64 points, while the upper limit is a plank of 54.30 points to beat! In the 5 games, the Argentine prodigy will have to collect something in the neighborhood of 175 points in our system.

This means he will certainly drop in score. His leadership in the FTBL absolute world ranking is also under threat: he is very likely to lose that leadership in February.