Messi's harangue at halftime: “If we play quietly, we'll put eight on them”

Leo Messi not only led the team on the field but also off the pitch in Saturday's victory over Napoli (3-1). Some images captured by the Argentine journalist Matias Errecalde, and later posted on his twitter account, perfectly capture Messi's leadership ability. A few minutes before taking the field in the second half and while the players are lined up in the tunnel of the dressing room the figure of the captain appears to harangue his teammates in a way that is as vehement as it is convincing.

“We are going to come out strong, let's not be assholes that we have two goals ahead“Messi began his speech,”now we have to be calmer than ever, We have two goals ahead “, he added. And to finish encouraging the team, he sentenced his speech with an anthological phrase: “Let's play quietly, let's make them eight”.

The merit of Leo is that He also made the harangue with a sore ankle after receiving a huge kick from Koulibaly a few minutes before. However, his battered state not only did not prevent him from jumping onto the pitch and helping the team to reach the Champions League quarterfinals, but he also had enough strength to act as captain when the team needed it most.

During Messi's harangue, other players also participated actively, including Luis Suárez and Jordi Alba. The Uruguayan forward insisted on avoiding getting into trouble, “Let's not get into any quilombo ourselves, go ahead, go ahead!”, while the Spanish side was much more revealing tactically, “when we recover and throw it back, try not to throw it at the goalkeeper.” Gerard Piqué ended up adding the international's comment: “Yes, let's not all get into the area.”

A document, undoubtedly revealing, that shows the intensity with which the group faces this final phase of the Champions League, the last bullet the team has in the chamber to win a title this season.