What Messi says

The fate of Barça in the final phase of the Champions League that will be played next week in Lisbon is linked more than ever to the performance of Leo Messi. To a large extent, it can be said that Barça will go as far as Messi goes.

After his gigantic performance in the first half against Naples in which he pulled the Blaugrana car to later allow the resistance of the team against the push of the Neapolitans, It is clear that Leo is the silver bullet of Setién's team in Lisbon.

The Argentine was the first to detect the shortcomings of Barcelona when he said that “playing like this will not reach us for the Champions League” and even predicted that if many things did not change the tie against Naples would be compromised. Those words caused a disagreement with Setién through the media that was finally put on hold after the meeting held by both after the painful defeat at the Camp Nou against Osasuna that definitively removed the Blaugrana team from the league title.

Far from denouncing deficiencies and moving away from focus, Leo served as captain and was the first to get down to work to solve the problem. Messi has never denied that the Champions League is a challenge that he is passionate about and after the team's mediocre season, the top continental competition appeared as the perfect lifeline.

Messi did not fail on the day that Barça wanted to stay alive in the competition or set the club on fire in a crisis of uncontrollable dimensions.

From the start of the match against Naples it was seen that the Argentine was plugged in and pulled the car, adding to the cause the rest of his teammates. He almost ate Lenglet in the hug he gave him when the Frenchman scored the first goal, he scored a second astonishing goal, they annulled a third that was a delight and caused the penalty of the third goal, which he did not shoot because he was sore from Koulibaly's kick.

The condition of his ankle was cause for concern for the Barça technicians, who nevertheless kept him on the pitch for 90 minutes. At the end of the match, Setién reported that it was a very strong blow that surely today, once cold, will hurt more, but that his participation in the quarter-final match of Friday against Bayern is assured. He will be resting for 48 hours with anti-inflammatories and on Tuesday he could go back to training normally.

The Bavarian team is one of those that especially motivates Messi, who five years ago separated them from the final in Berlin with a tremendous display at the Camp Nou in which he scored two goals.

Messi's leadership is accentuated as the years go by and this team knows very well what Messi will say, which is the one that once again marked the way in Europe.