European pressure on Messi
Barca eager to return to glory as they face Spurs
Barcelona – As Lionel Messi lay on the Wembley grass, his left hand grasping the Champions League trophy and his right pumping the air, he must have thought there would be many more European glory nights to come.
It was 2011 and Barca had beaten Manchester United 3-1. “No one has given us a hiding like that,” Alex Ferguson said.
They were so much better than the rest and many predicted they would dominate European soccer for a decade after that mesmerising display. “We have a challenge with Barcelona, we all do,” Ferguson said.
Messi had scored his side’s second. For the 23-year-old, as he paused at the front for a team photo, it was his third Champions League triumph in six years.
But there has been only one in the seven seasons since, when Luis Enrique led his 2015 Barca to a brilliant treble.
To make matters worse, archrivals Real Madrid have won it four times, with three in a row since 2016.
“They have made history and it’s a thorn in our side,” Luis Suarez said.
Messi returns to Wembley to face Tottenham today with happy memories but all of this weighing on his shoulders.
For most players, four Champions League titles is unthinkable but for Messi, playing through this era of Barca, it feels light.
“It’s time we won the Champions League,” Messi told Catalunya Radio last month.
The club feels it too. Winning La Liga has become more routine. Even last season’s double barely soothed the disappointment of a third straight quarterfinal exit, following a collapse at Roma when the Italian side overturned 4-1 first leg defeat.
Ernesto Valverde bore the brunt of the criticism, mostly that he had exhausted the players in a league that had long been won and that he had relied too much on Messi.
Both have bubbled ever since and then burst to the surface last week when Barca, with key players rested, failed to record a win in three consecutive league games. – AFP
Tonight’s fixtures
(9pm unless stated)
Lokomotiv Moscow v Schalke, 6.55pm; PSG v Crvena Zvezda, 6.55pm; Borussia Dortmundv Monaco; Napoli v Liverpool; PSV
v Inter; Tottenham v Barcelona; Porto v Galatasaray; Atlético Madrid v Club Brugge