Messi swapped his shirt with Buffon at the end of the match. It was the only thing that the legendary Gigi, 42, gave the Argentine. Because Messi is down and his shots, some of them turned into passes, they did not even tickle the Italian legend. Messi's shots seem to have lost steam, like the blows of a retreating fighter. And while the Argentine shrunk with each shot, Cristiano became great. He made two goals. Penalty, yes. But he was the one who started to overturn the game looking for a rookie to tickleAraújo, who surely did not score a penalty, but fell into the trap of competing in the charge with a world star with many miles of career.
Unlike Messi, who tries to continue capitalizing at 33 years of the game (100 interventions, 23 losses, seven shots on goal), Cristiano Ronaldo's readjustment in his last years of career is exquisite. He does what is necessary. In the first half, he caused the 0-1 penalty that he himself transformed. Then he touched two more balls. In one, he put a perfect ball to Danilo, who finished off.
In another, he almost leaves Morata alone. While Messi assumes the entire game and, involuntarily but inevitably, mutilates the qualities of the rest of his teammates, forced to play at his own pace throughout the game. Cristiano has summed up his game. It barely has participation but it goes to the point. He continues to damage the rival and gave the feeling that he even dosed himself and could do more damage. In the last 17 games they have met at the Camp Nou, Cristiano has scored 14 goals. Messi, seven. Someone can analyze it as a casual fact, but Messi's scoring numbers are dwindling. The question is whether the Argentine, like Cristiano, is capable of readapting to doing something else. Or already think of something else. “I have never seen Messi as a rival,” said CR at the end of the match. Messi did not speak.