He’s here... the shy, modest genius that is MESSI
add to the charm in a world where diamonds adorn the earlobes of teenage starlets before the ink is dry on their first professional contracts.
So embrace the world’s best footballer as he performs on these shores, lest we forget how rare these occasions can be.
Pele played only two competitive games in England, when he was kicked off the pitch by both Bulgaria and Portugal during the 1966 World Cup finals. Diego Maradona appeared in friendlies for Argentina at Wembley and Hampden Park.
Messi has toured the UK in the Champions League, performing at Anfield, Old Trafford, the Emirates, Celtic Park and Ibrox — and Wembley in last year’s final, when he scored his first goal on English soil.
This will be his fourth appearance at Stamford Bridge. His first was in February 2006, when he was branded an actor by Jose Mourinho because of his reaction to a foul which earned Asier del Horno a red card.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic raised the diving issue again after Milan’s defeat in the Nou Camp in the last round but in six years since he first appeared in England, Messi’s reputation has grown to the size where fear adds another dimension to his game, giving him the chance to influence proceedings without even touching the ball.
Roberto Di Matteo must plan to stop Messi, but how? Try to deny him time but his technique is so expert and his ability to execute difficult tasks cleanly under pressure is so skilled that he never appears hurried.
Try to minimise his touches around the penalty area and it opens spaces for others. Not only is Messi a rare talent but he finds himself by circumstance in a brilliant team which has evolved to maximise his strengths within a unique brand of football.
HIS position on the field is defined by him and Guardiola’s trust in his instinct to get himself on the ball in areas where he can inflict damage on opponents. He is rarely missing through injury, despite the physical attention he attracts from defenders, and he can no longer be accused of going missing in big games, or any game.
In the first leg of last year’s semi-final Messi silenced a hostile Bernabeu Stadium, whipped into a pre-match frenzy by Mourinho’s posturing, with two goals, one a sublime solo effort after a snake-hipped slalom.
It is October since he went more than one game without scoring and since February 14, he has scored 26 in 14 games, failing to make the score-sheet only once, in the first leg of the quarterfinal against AC Milan.
That brings us back to the figures, but enough of the figures. Just watch him. Celestine Babayaro, Asier del Horno and Didier Drogba have been sent off and the referee has been central to the plot more often than not. ‘I believe the referee will have a good game,’ said Di Matteo when asked about the role of Felix Brych from Germany. ‘What happened in the past has gone.’ It is vital that Chelsea are not trailing when they go to the Nou Camp next Tuesday because Guardiola’s team are unbeaten at home in 54 games.