Lionel Messi must be hoping Barcelona sign Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho

David Cooper - Writer 11:42 17/08/2017
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  • Barcelona would have been hoping for another star performance from talisman Lionel Messi as they sought to overturn a 3-1 deficit in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup.

    The little Argentinian had, after all, scored twice, including a last-gasp winner, on his last visit to the Bernabeu in April, but even he was powerless to stop Madrid claiming an emphatic 5-1 aggregate victory.

    Here, we assesses how he fared:

    GOAL THREAT

    Messi has bagged a record-breaking 25 El Clasico goals against his club’s arch rivals, so was understandably given precious little breathing room by Real’s defenders. He was nigh-on anonymous in the first half but flickered into life shortly after the resumption by ghosting past a couple of defenders and clipping the underside of the crossbar, while a venomous drive was beaten away by Keylor Navas a little later on.

    CREATIVITY

    Moments of magic were few and far between for Messi, who seemed a shadow of himself as the game drifted past him in a listless opening 45 minutes, both for himself and Barcelona. Switched from the right to a more central role after the interval and showed the occasional brilliance that has marked him out as arguably the greatest player of his generation, but a stout Real defence came out on top of this latest meeting.

    Lionel Messi (L) vies with Mateo Kovacic

    Lionel Messi (L) vies with Mateo Kovacic

    LINK-UP PLAY

    Starved of service early on as Real set the tone from the off thanks to first-half goals from Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema, Messi was unable to assert his authority in the game until the tie was all but over as a contest. Tracked back in an effort to impose himself and was always looking to play in Luis Suarez but there is no doubting that the shock departure of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain has left Barca looking a little bereft going forwards.

    A painful night for Messi

    A painful night for Messi

    OVERALL

    Messi’s past two visits to the Spanish capital could hardly be more stark, following up his match-winning effort earlier this year with a largely subdued display on Wednesday night. However, there is a deeper feeling of malaise within Barcelona following Neymar’s record-breaking transfer and Messi must be hoping the club’s efforts in pursuing reported targets such as Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho bear fruit in the coming weeks after Madrid delivered an almighty wake-up call on the eve of the La Liga season.

    Provided by Press Association Sport

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