Olympiastadion but had a hand in all of the Blaugrana's goals in their 3-1 win
over Juventus, thus underlining his incredible influence.
Every expert was asked
in the lead-up to the
Champions League
final: how does one stop
Lionel Messi? Typically, Marco Materazzi gave
the most brutally honest answer. "In my
opinion, you should pray and then commit a foul on him,!" the former Italy and Inter defender told Goal.
The truth is, though, that there is no way of nullifying the diminutive No.10. Whenever he is fouled, he simply picks himself back up without complaint and gets on with the game.
His game. And that’s the other thing: there’s no point in asking for Divine intervention when it comes to Lionel Messi. As Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini admitted before the
final, "Messi is now the God of football.”
Chiellini, of course, had claimed that Messi
would never have scored the kind of
sensational solo strike he produced in the
Copa del Rey final if he were up against
Italian defenders. And Juventus certainly did a
decent job on curbing the Argentine’s
attacking threat in Berlin. But they could not
contain him.
True, Messi did not score, but his
contributions were once again crucial. Indeed,
he was involved in all of Barca’s goals in their
3-1 win. It was his pass which picked out
Jordi Alba on the left-hand side in the lead-up
to Ivan Rakitic’s wonderfully worked opener, a
perfect example of the playmaking
responsibilities which he has embraced so
wholeheartedly for the good of both Barcelona
and Argentina.
Messi is a fantastic individual but he’s also a
great team player. As evidenced by the way in
which he handed over a penalty to Neymar in
the Liga rout at Cordoba. Messi was on a hat-
trick and fighting for the Pichichi with
Cristiano Ronaldo but Neymar had yet to net.
Consequently, Messi selflessly stepped aside.
Yet it is the way in which he has so
consistently stepped up that prompts one to
herald Barcelona’s treble triumph as Messi’s
treble triumph. He has been the difference this
year. In every game that mattered.
It was he who side-stepped his way through
the Atletico Madrid defence to dethrone the
reigning Spanish champions in their own
backyard. It was he who left four men trailing
in his wake before opening the scoring with a
sensational goal in the Copa del Rey final win
over Athletic Bilbao. It was he who booked
Barcelona’s ticket for Berlin with a stunning
double in the semi-final first-leg win over
Bayern Munich.
Make no mistake about it, he has been
wonderfully aided by Neymar and Luis Suarez,
who both scored against Juve. Messi now has
a supporting cast befitting his remarkable
talent.
But it is Messi who lifts Barcelona when they
are down. Indeed, they were being bossed in
Berlin for 10 minutes after Alvaro Morata’s
equaliser but then Messi intervened, charging
forward towards the Bianconeri defence before
deftly side-stepping Andrea Barzagli and then
unleashing a low drive that Gianluigi Buffon
could only parry into the path of Suarez.
Messi even played his part in the third goal by
releasing Neymar in midfield, merely
underlining that he is the key component in
what is a fantastic Barcelona team.
Messi told Times of India beforehand, “Last
year I had an inconsistent season. I was out
for a long time due to injuries and I missed a
lot of matches. When I returned to the field I
never felt right. Thankfully, now I feel very
good.”
And what this 2014-15 campaign has
emphasised is that when Lionel Messi feels good, he is simply too good for everyone else in the game.
