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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Needs His Teammates to Score
Even through Barcelona did get the job done for the most part, it was impossible to shake the feeling of slight disappointment from the overall performance and especially upfront, where Lionel Messi set up his teammates numerous times with comfortable opportunities that should have been easily converted.
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FC Barcelona – Fabregas Can’t Always Fill in For Messi
Some matches require more than just close to your best, even if the opponents don’t have the most impressive of names. Lionel Messi came on too late to change anything for Barcelona, who failed in their attempts to be led by Cesc Fabregas and Neymar as they failed to win for the first time this season, heading into one of the more difficult weeks they’ve had in quite a while.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Came Back Hungrier Than Ever
Maybe it was about the players showing their new manager they don’t care if he didn’t come from “within”, or maybe it was about Lionel Messi showing Neymar how it’s done at Barcelona, which means trying to score and finish off the match as early as possible.
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FC Barcelona – Cesc Fabregas is Never Going to Be Lionel Messi
No matter how many times Barcelona use Cesc Fabregas in the false 9 position, there’s just too much of a gap between him and Lionel Messi. It didn’t prevent Barca from winning and staying on course for the 100 league points that would make for a club record, but the ongoing presence of Andres Iniesta and Xavi keeps pushing Fabregas away from where he feels most comfortable on the pitch.
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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 – Lionel Messi Was Abandoned By Tito Vilanova
To some it felt like giving up. Tito Vilanova forgot he has a bench, but worst, he failed to realize Lionel Messi, the man his entire game plan is based on, wasn’t really fit for the match, thus sending Barcelona on something close to a hopeless mission, from which they return home battered and bruised like never before.
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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 – Lionel Messi Records Mean Nothing Sometimes
Who cares about breaking records when your team keeps losing in every big match? Lionel Messi now has more goals than anyone else (except for one player) in Clasico matches, ever, but Barcelona keep losing to their biggest rivals and the confidence and belief at least form the outside, seems shattered.
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FC Barcelona – Lionel Messi Needs More of David Villa
The matches Barcelona have left until their second leg in the Champions Leg comes up aren’t necessarily about winning and advancing, but more as ways to find how to gain the confidence back on offense against an excellent defense and stop conceding goals. Lionel Messi, hopefully playing next to David Villa, can help take care of one of the two.