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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Put His Health, Body on the Line for a Championship
Would’ve Barcelona won the La Liga trophy this season without Lionel Messi playing in the last few matches? Probably, but it would have taken a little longer to secure it, possibly. It would have given Real Madrid a little bit of encouragement and belief that it is possible to do the impossible. But Messi, who hasn’t been 100% for quite some time, wasn’t going to let something minor (or maybe it was a little bit worse than that) slow him down, and prevent him from winning another league championship.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Doesn’t Dive For the Last Time This Season
Something Barcelona and Lionel Messi fans are extremely proud of is the whole “Lionel Messi doesn’t dive” issue, taking it as another example that sets the best player in the world apart from others, and especially Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi might have grown a bit more ruder to referees over the last couple of seasons, but the habit of diving or even falling down when tacking a clib from a defender still hasn’t been embedded in him, taking to the ground only when he actually has lost his balance.
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Lionel Messi Won’t Be Part of the Barcelona Garbage Time
It’s so rare to have Lionel Messi start and play an entire La Liga match for Barcelona without scoring even once, but at this stage of the season, with the title officially secured, what’s the point? Tito Vilanova didn’t ask too much of his players, who some of them, like Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas, need to show in the final moments that they deserve to be entrusted with his faith for next season, but they delivered three more points anyway, as Messi played his final match before he officially begins his summer vacation.
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Lionel Messi & Barcelona Face Impossible Expectations
How many is it now? Barcelona, without the need to play, clinched their fourth league title in five seasons. Yes, the streets in Catalonia were alive with the sound of music, but there seems to be a sense of slight disappointment, just like last year. When you’re Lionel Messi, nothing less than spectacular, every match, every season, is expected of you. Same goes for Barcelona, who always seem like they’ve disappointed someone when they don’t win all the possible titles.
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FC Barcelona – Tito Vilanova Turns Lionel Messi Into a Super Sub
Maybe this is going to be the new thing for Barcelona heading into next season – starting Lionel Messi on the bench, and then throwing him into the match when he’s most needed, just to show his brilliance and scoring ability in a much narrower window of time. Tito Vilanova has used that “trick” more than once this season, and it seems to have worked every time.
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Lionel Messi Scoring 90 Goals a Year Isn’t Good for Barcelona
The one-man team concept blew up in the face of Barcelona and all of its supporters, always sure that any season without them making the Champions League final is just a small bug in the system, instead of a sign that they’re trotting in the same spot of mud for too long a time, and their growing emphasis on Lionel Messi being the only finisher has taken them backwards instead of strengthened their dominance against other European teams.
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Real Madrid – Cristiano Ronaldo Ends Another Season With Nothing
Some players, without too many opportunities to win titles through their careers, cherish their opportunities when a national cup competition is the one to bring them glory. For clubs like Real Madrid, and superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo, falling back on those kind of trophies after missing out yet again on the league championship and the Champions League isn’t something that gives him too much joy.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Can’t Be the Only Plan for Tito Vilanova
The questions of whether or not such a season, with such an exit from the most prestigious tournament, is a failure or not, will soon come. Lionel Messi spent 90 minutes on the bench, next to a helpless Tito Vilanova, as they watched Barcelona crash and burn at the Camp Nou in what has been their most painful and humbling loss at the biggest stage of all.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi With a Chance For His Greatest Performance Ever
On paper, there’s nothing left for Lionel Messi to achieve with Barcelona. Spanish champion, Champions League titles, Pichichi awards, goal records, FIFA awards and Ballon d’Ors. And yet with the impossible second leg in the Champions League semifinal with Bayern Munich coming up, he has a chance to accomplish his greatest feat ever.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Shouldn’t be This Important
It shouldn’t be this way, not for a huge club like Barcelona. Things shouldn’t hinge on the amount of minutes one player, as talented as he may be, plays each time. And yet once more Lionel Messi came on for a cameo appearance to save his team from defeat with one wonder goal and another assist, although eventually it wasn’t enough for more than a meaningless draw.