Argentina superstar Lionel Messi sealed victory (and qualification to the knockout stage) for Barcelona in their Champions League group stage game against Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv yesterday with a late goal (2:1) taking his FTBL tally beyond the 200-point mark for the first time in the past 2 months.

Messi added 17.62 rating points to his score after the game in Kyiv yesterday and now has 204.26 points. He has consolidated (as we predicted) his lead in our world ranking of midfielders; his nearest rival, teammate and Spain international Xavi, trails by 20 rating points, at 186.91 points. Xavi scored the opener yesterday and was instrumental as well in the Catalans’ victory.

Messi could further add to his score after his next game; his plank to beat will amount to just 5.07 rating points. In the meantime, # 2 in the world ranking Xavi will face a tougher test with a plank of 15 rating points to beat.