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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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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 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.
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FC Barcelona – Cesc Fabregas Loves it Without Lionel Messi
I’m sure Cesc Fabregas is a better player with Lionel Messi on the pitch, but for yet another week, he manages to do things, mostly score a goal, while the biggest star on the Barcelona squad takes another day off heading into more important matches, while the Spanish La Liga is not proving to be too much of a challenge, even on one of the most unimpressive displays from the soon-to-be-champions this season.
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FC Barcelona – Cesc Fabregas & Xavi Oversee the Substitutes
Garbage time for Barcelona doesn’t mean they’re planning on dropping points. Cesc Fabregas was back in the role of Lionel Messi while the real deal wasn’t even in the squad, while the ones who truly enjoyed a run in the lineup were Cristian Tello who finished with two goals and plenty of others, who’ll see quite a lot of La Liga action till the end of the season.
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Lionel Messi is What We’ll Remember From This Barcelona Dynasty
Many years from now, when people will look at the Barcelona run of titles from 2009 until who knows when it’ll stop, the names of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol will be an afterthought. Lionel Messi is all that’s going to remain for those not tedious enough to look at the small details, as every match he plays, even when he doesn’t score, serves to strengthen the myth and legend.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Makes Everything Look Much Better
It has to be frustrating for manager and players, knowing that sometimes, despite all the talent surrounding and within the football club of Barcelona, all it takes to really get things going is simply the presence of one Lionel Messi on the pitch, even if he’s not 100%, and doesn’t need more than 30-35 minutes on the pitch to make all the problems go away.
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FC Barcelona – Cesc Fabregas Can Fill in for Lionel Messi
Barcelona aren’t a better team without Lionel Messi – no one can be better than what they are with the best player in the world. On the other hand, they are not helpless without him, as Cesc Fabregas, who seems to be the player the coaches feel most comfortable moving around, did the ‘false-nine’ position in Messi’s absence, with the same amount of accuracy and clinical finishing Messi possesses on his good days.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi & David Villa on Same Wavelength
What a difference a big win makes for a team and its players. Not that Lionel Messi was lacking any confidence in his scoring ability before; and it’s not that David Villa forgot how to score goals at any point of his more frustrating moments this season. Still, Barcelona had the swagger it was missing in recent matches, until their Champions League turnaround.