Messi under pressure at Wembley

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.

They were so much better than the rest that many predicted a decade of European dominance after that mesmerising display.

Messi had scored his side’s second. Barcelona bounced in front of the photographers, the club’s name carved into the trophy for a fourth time. For the 23-year-old Messi at the front, it was a 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 been crowned European champions four times and three times in a row since 2016.

Messi returns to Wembley to face Tottenham on Wednesday with all this weighing on his shoulders. For most players, four Champions League titles is unthinkable but for Messi, playing through this era of Barcelona, it feels light.

“It’s time we won the Champions League,” Messi told Catalunya Radio in September.

The club feel it too. Winning La Liga has become more routine than remarkable. Even last season’s double failed to touch the disappointment of a third straight quarterfinal exit, after a collapse at Roma.

Ernesto Valverde bore the brunt of the criticism, mostly that he exhausted the players in a league that had long been won, but also that he had relied too much on Messi.

It burst to the surface last week when Barca failed to record a win in three consecutive league games. They drew at home to Girona and lost to bottom club Leganes.

Messi came on off the bench against Athletic Bilbao and set up the equaliser, but that only boosted the argument Barca cannot do without him. –

For most players, four Champions League titles is unthinkable but for Messi, playing through this era of Barcelona, it feels light