It's over. It's finally over.
Before November, the fine, upstanding judges of La Liga's player of the month competition decided that no Barcelona player had ever been deserving of the accolade. We say 'ever' but it must be said that the award has only been awarded since September 2013.
Nonetheless, 20 months went past and still there was not a single Barcelona winner of the award during a time when they brought together one of the most impressive group of players in the history of football. It was one of those bits of trivia that came up every now and again to the extent that it just became annoying. Things obviously got to the point where the judges were simply just taking the piss and seeing how long they could hold out for.
November 2015 was the end of it when Neymar was given the award after a rather decent month in which he scored 14 goals in all competitions. But those sneaky judges knew things weren't over however. The blatant trolling quickly moved over to Lionel Messi and his legion of indignant fans.
Derby County failure Alberto Bueno had won the award but the world's greatest player hadn't. Those judges must have got together every month and thought they were fecking hilarious. Well finally, their reign of terror is at an end. January 2016 and finally Messi gets the one trophy he's always coveted.
Lionel Messi named Liga BBVA Player of the Month for January https://t.co/vlWPW0bfaj #LaLiga pic.twitter.com/GRQ3pc5ZS1
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) February 12, 2016
The official press release to go along with the win is rather enjoyable considering the performances that have been overlooked over the past few years.
Messi's remarkably consistent form is a constant reminder of exactly why he is such a key figure in Luis Enrique's side. The Argentine constitutes one part of one of the most feared attacking trios in Liga BBVA history alongside Neymar and Luis Suarez: the MSN.
Barcelona's start to the calendar year was almost flawless, with four wins and a draw, in which the 28-year-old scored six times, including a hat-trick against Granada CF as well as important strikes against Atletico Madrid, Athletic Club and Malaga CF.
In announcing the award, Barcelona's official website have done a rather good job of summing up the indignation.
While it may be almost impossible to believe, Messi has finally been named the La Liga Player of the Month. The award has been given out since the beginning of the 2013/14 season and, this January, after 22 other players had been deemed more worthy in past editions, it was finally given to the world's best player.
We're always on the side of anyone who's doing anything to just mildly annoy as many people as they can so all we have to say is 'bravo, judges of the La Liga player of the month award. It was fun while it lasted and you won't be forgotten any time soon'.
And speaking of irritating pieces of trivia, have you heard that Lionel Messi has only ever won one La Liga player of the month award.
