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It was a look we’d seen before: Lionel Messi staring in disbelief at Ousmane Dembele on a big night in the Champions League.
Tuesday night was the 28th minute when Messi, who had just put Barcelona 1-0 up, walked away from three PSG defenders in the area and knocked Dembélé down for what should have been 2-0 on the night.
Dembélé, whom Barcelona signed in place of Kylian Mbappé after they sold Neymar to PSG in 2017, was unmarked one meter from the penalty spot, but his weak shot went straight into the arms of Keylor Navas, indicating the Messi’s look of disdain.
Turn the clock back to May 2019 and to the Champions League semi-final against Liverpool. Barcelona had something of how they went 3-0 up front despite struggling with Liverpool’s intensity and Messi had left the fourth goal on a layup for Dembélé in the last minute. Once again his weak shot went straight to the goalkeeper, this time Messi fell to his knees in disbelieving disappointment.
Joe Cole’s suggestion on BT Sport that Messi seemed ‘disinterested’ and was not ’emotionally engaged’ as Barcelona was ripped apart by Mbappé doesn’t really fit in with that sequence of images from the first half.
Maybe in the second half, when the third and fourth goals came in, it faded, but really how was he supposed to act when Barcelona was humiliated again?
Should Messi show more passion in the moments of defeat?
It has never been his style to vocalize his feelings on the field. The microphones on the side of the field caught Piqué yelling: ‘We have to wake up for the love of God. More intensity. Not a single bloody possession spell. ‘
But that’s Piqué. Messi has always been about goals and assists. On Tuesday night there was a goal and the assistance would have continued if Dembélé had not finished so badly.
Does this embarrassment for the fourth time in a row in the Champions League make Messi more likely to leave in the summer?
In many ways, nothing changes. These scores may still have the power to shock the world of football at large, but Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman was preparing everyone for this kind of night last month when he said: “We are not in a position to do nothing special. “
The club’s players and fans know how bad things are and how touched they can be to play for the top team in the other major European leagues.
It is true that Barcelona’s form has improved and eight consecutive victories have put it back on track in LaLiga. But if they bring big guns from Europe, they can still do little more than capsize.
So Messi expected the worst when the first goal entered and resigned himself to the team’s fate when the floodgates opened in the second half. His future remains undecided and is so much in the hands of the clubs that they could offer him an alternative to Barcelona.
PSG cannot afford the luxury of Neymar, Mbappé and Messi. Not without breaking the rules. And does anyone think they will sell Mbappé after Tuesday night’s performance?
He could still refuse to sign a new contract and go free in 2022, but to get him out this summer, Real Madrid would have to pay more than £ 90 million and it is money they simply do not have.
If Mbappé stays it is impossible for Messi to move to Paris.
Messi to Manchester City?
Pep Guardiola would remain willing to offer his former player a way out of the Nou Nou. The most likely scenario this summer is that Messi will consider leaving for Pep or staying for another old friend, Joan Laporta, who is likely to win the March 7 presidential election.
It would be a shame if his last Champions League game with Barcelona was a 4-1 loss to PSG. On the other hand, if he had left in the summer, his last game would have been an 8-2 loss to Bayern. It could have been worse.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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