Lionel Messi - Performances

I think if he is not keen with the new coach , we might have a word there this or next season , depending on his connection with Mou .
 
If Iniesta scored from that pass, we'd be all sitting here marvelling over that pass.
 
I think if he is not keen with the new coach , we might have a word there this or next season , depending on his connection with Mou .

Are you talking about Luis Enrique? If that's the case it's very probable things are going smoothly with him. It was reported there was a meeting between Luis Enrique and Barcelona team, excluding Neymar and Messi. There is also the lack of discipline of Messi staying in the right flank and dropping to wander on the middle and sometimes overlap with Suárez. I'm not saying Messi is the responsible but the way the team set ups is a mess at times and for one reason or another Luis Enrique is incapable of managing Messi like at the beginning when the front three showed more tactical discipline.

If Iniesta scored from that pass, we'd be all sitting here marvelling over that pass.

Oh yeah, that pass was unreal and very accurate but what was even better was Buffon's reaction. I don't think Iniesta did anything wrong and it was more merit of Buffon reading the play and pulling and spectacular save.
 
The midfield were able to give him a clean ball. Now, because of how subpar their atracking structure is he can go almost 10 minutes without touching the ball if he doesn't drop into midfield directly or sometimes pick the ball from a defender directly.

It's the antithesis of the position game for a player to have to dribble 4-5 players to score a goal. Everyone packs the centre so he is a lot easier to defend.

He has lost a bit of his burst of pace but he is still one of the best dribblers alongside Hazard.

If he is not creating chances then the team look completely lost. It is the biggest one man team I have seen this season. Luis Enrique is a terrible coach for the club and that treble was possibly the worst thing for the clubs future.

Pretty much.

He's lost some pace, but he's still excellent at beating players. It's just harder from deep compared to more advanced positions.

They need to reinforce the team badly in the summer.
 
Are you talking about Luis Enrique? If that's the case it's very probable things are going smoothly with him. It was reported there was a meeting between Luis Enrique and Barcelona team, excluding Neymar and Messi. There is also the lack of discipline of Messi staying in the right flank and dropping to wander on the middle and sometimes overlap with Suárez. I'm not saying Messi is the responsible but the way the team set ups is a mess at times and for one reason or another Luis Enrique is incapable of managing Messi like at the beginning when the front three showed more tactical discipline.



Oh yeah, that pass was unreal and very accurate but what was even better was Buffon's reaction. I don't think Iniesta did anything wrong and it was more merit of Buffon reading the play and pulling and spectacular save.

I meant that if the new coach after Luis is not supported by Messi , he might really leave
 
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Most goals from outside the box in Europe's top 5 leagues since 2012/13:

Lionel Messi (31)
Cristiano Ronaldo (23)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (19)

Ronaldo took almost a 100 more shots
 
More goals from outside the area Laliga in the last 30 years ...

⚽️51 Messi
⚽️41 Cristiano Ronaldo
⚽️ 32 Roberto Carlos
⚽️ 27 Rivaldo

This is once again with Ronaldo almost taking double the shots. The only area Ronaldo has superiority to Lionel Messi is in his aerial prowess. Messi is better anf far more effecient in every other area.
 
Ronaldo is an incredible footballer, a freak physical specimen and a testament to how far you can make it if you really work hard and train like a demon. His commitment to his professionalism is an inspiration for any young kid, and he will be remembered as one of the very best players of the past 40 years easily.

But Messi is simply a better player, and anyone who doesn't see that is either lying to themselves or is Cristiano's mum.
 
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Disappointing from Messi.

Some bad finishing. That 1 awful cross. He's just not been influential enough in the CL in the big games the past 2 seasons now.

The next manager of Barcelona has some work to do. Do you play Messi behind Suarez and get a right sided attacker? Or do you try and get Messi to operate more from the right with a new RB?
 
Ronaldo is an incredible footballer, a freak physical specimen and a testament to how far you can make it if you really work hard and train like a demon. His commitment to his professionalism is an inspiration for any young kid, and he will be remembered as one of the very best players of the past 40 years easily.

But Messi is simply a better player, and anyone who doesn't see that is either lying to themselves or is Cristiano's mum.

:lol:

Anyway, he really under-performed in this quarter-final. Maybe he needs to retire from international football again to focus on his club career?
 
No excuse for those two misses. They were shocking. That being said, they do need to do something about their midfield so he doesn't need to drop as deep as he's had to off late to do everything on his own.
 
Barca side is so unbalanced. Needs rebuilt. Poor midfield and Roberto is a poor right back.
 
Why do you have to be so childish when it comes to Messi & Ronaldo? You're like some weird PS4 or Xbox fanboy. Why not appreciate them both?
Cos the Messi fans always blame everyone but him whenever anything goes wrong. It was the manager, it was Maradona, it was Higuain, etc etc etc...
 
He wasn't that bad today created and missed a few chances himself. But overall Juve defended valiantly.
 
He wasn't that bad today created and missed a few chances himself. But overall Juve defended valiantly.

He actually looked a bit short on confidence in the second half I thought.

Cos the Messi fans always blame everyone but him whenever anything goes wrong. It was the manager, it was Maradona, it was Higuain, etc etc etc...
Good stuff, really interesting.....
 
Cos the Messi fans always blame everyone but him whenever anything goes wrong. It was the manager, it was Maradona, it was Higuain, etc etc etc...

He was decent today but no one man can break blocks. I actually think he is a bit naive and his lack of strategic thinking is a black mark against him. it makes no sense to carry on running through the centre when you have 2 blocks there and Juventus wisely ceded the flanks because Barcelona have no tall players and Chiellini and Bonnucci are excellent in aerial situations.

He would have been better staying on the right a bit more to open up the centre because he wasn't getting a clean ball from the midfield. Overall he has to do far too much for the team and the fact that he has to drop that deep for any play to be initiated shows that he does not trust his team.

Juventus where excellent and the only team that I can see with a chance of knocking out Madrid.
 
I thought he was decent, first half especially. Suarez on the other hand was a complete nonentity who's first touch was terrible.
 
Cos the Messi fans always blame everyone but him whenever anything goes wrong. It was the manager, it was Maradona, it was Higuain, etc etc etc...
Why the Ronaldo fans feel the need to constantly shit on Messi?
 
Cos the Messi fans always blame everyone but him whenever anything goes wrong. It was the manager, it was Maradona, it was Higuain, etc etc etc...
He's literally Barca's only creative spark and they rely on him for most of their attacks. If he is not getting on the ball in midfield Barca won't create anything
 
Played well, but probably not up to his extremely high standard. I do think we're starting to see his incredible consistency through the years gone a bit...maybe he's not enjoying it as much...
I'm just glad to have witnessed Messi. Don't think there'll be another player like him in my lifetime (which is the same I thought about Maradona so I'm probably wrong).
 
I have never believed that Messi (brilliant passer that he is) can drop back and dictate a game, in the way a Xavi or Scholes or Pirlo could. It goes beyond having the ability to make the good looking defense splitting pass. So many other skills go into being able to dictate the tempo of a game, skills I've never seen Messi display before on a consistent basis.

Messi always needs to be on the front line, or immediately behind it.

This is not a reaction to this game by the way.
 
Barcelona are going to need some serious investment to get the best out of him I feel. They seem to need a right back, maybe a left back? A creative, game controlling central midfielder and a replacement for Iniesta. As well as good back ups off the bench for MSN.

Pjanic would probably be very good for them. I don't know whether or not they've got these kinds of players already in their rank but they need to be introduced sooner rather than later.
 
Played well, but probably not up to his extremely high standard. I do think we're starting to see his incredible consistency through the years gone a bit...maybe he's not enjoying it as much...
I'm just glad to have witnessed Messi. Don't think there'll be another player like him in my lifetime (which is the same I thought about Maradona so I'm probably wrong).

I honestly think the hunger and motivation just isn't what it was. He's still got more ability than anyone else but that extra few percent that had him playing on a God tier previously unwitnessed has left.

It's no surprise really, he's won everything at club level and been unlucky at NATIONAL LEVEL.

The difference between him and Ronaldo is that while Messi was at the very peak of his powers, his team dominated. Ronaldo is a little bit lucky in that his team is starting to dominate as he declines and he is perhaps finding it easier to motivate himself playing for a team riding high and full of an appetite to be back on the throne of Spanish football.
 
Its a bit sad as it seems the Messi and Ronaldo era is coming to an end :( they're both probably still in top 5 players at the moment, but they're now comparable to other active players. I hope they both bow out near the top like Lahm.
 
Its a bit sad as it seems the Messi and Ronaldo era is coming to an end :( they're both probably still in top 5 players at the moment, but they're now comparable to other active players. I hope they both bow out near the top like Lahm.
They are nr 1 and 2
 
Its a bit sad as it seems the Messi and Ronaldo era is coming to an end :( they're both probably still in top 5 players at the moment, but they're now comparable to other active players. I hope they both bow out near the top like Lahm.

Didn't Ronnie get 3 last night?
 
They are nr 1 and 2
Maybe. But it's definitely not as clear cut as it used to be. There a lot of emerging talents and if you read through the ronaldo thread, many don't think he's in the top 2.
 
I dont blame Messi, compare the Madrid team and the current Barca team. Bayerns current defence and midfield is a mess, especially their midfield, nowhere near their past levels
 
Two of the goals were offside :p Don't get me wrong, they're still both class. The point is though that they no longer at Godlike levels IMO.

That's the amazing thing about the pair of them really. They're merely incredibly talented mortals now they're past their peaks.