Xavi and Andrea Pirlo’s last Champions League final; Neymar and Paul Pogba’s first; Argentina team-mates Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano going head-to-head; Luis Suarez against Patrice Evra; the grand old man of goalkeeping, Gigi Buffon, facing young pretender Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
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Saturday night’s Champions League final certainly possesses enough storylines to keep us all fascinated. But let’s not kid ourselves. Really, we all know that the presence of one man is looming large over this final, sending everyone else into the shade – Lionel Messi.
For the last five months, Messi has been so brilliant it is virtually impossible to find the appropriate adjectives.
Maldini: “Messi makes the difference. “I think he reached and surpassed the level of Maradona.” #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/rneM3U6eqX
— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) June 5, 2015
To an extent, statistics can be cited to illustrate his splendour: since January, he has scored 35 goals and registered 16 assists, figures achieved by very few players in an entire season. Those numbers are the biggest single factor behind Barca’s sensational run of form, which has already seen them defeat all-comers including Atletico and Real Madrid, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.
Messi’s post-January La Liga statistics also compare very favourably to his previous productivity: 15 league goals and seven assists before Christmas, against 28 goals and 11 assists since New Year’s Day. It appears, then, that he is simply playing much better now than he was in December.
But in reality the situation is more complex, because the Argentine has been performing well all season, right from the word go in August, looking a fitter and hungrier player than the tired, struggling shadow of himself who laboured through the previous campaign.
The great difference lies in Barca’s team structure, which was conspicuous by its absence in the early months of the campaign while new manager Luis Enrique chopped and changed his line-ups and tactics during a fragmented and frustrating early tenure.
Throughout that period, Messi’s individual brilliance was one of the team’s few saving graces. At home against local rivals Espanyol in early December, for example, Barca were little short of atrocious in the first half and trailed 1-0 as half-time approached. Then Messi took over, equalising just before the break and going on to complete his hat-trick in a 5-1 victory.
Barca did not deserve to win that game by four goals and only did so because of Messi. But the lack of team structure meant the appearance of his brilliance was random and haphazard, rather than directed and channelled – he was, for example, powerless to prevent his team from dropping points in a 0-0 draw against lowly Getafe.
It is already well documented that everything changed following a 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad at the start of January, which prompted a week of angry soul-searching.
From that moment, Barca were transformed as they – finally – adopted a consistent approach, a key part of which was Messi’s new position on the right wing.
Now, the team knows what it is doing and how it can get the most out of Messi, allowing the Argentine to apply his talents in service of the team rather than having to do everything on his own.
Messi’s magic – like the team – is now focused. He is playing with purpose rather than mere hope, allowing the full extent of his genius to shine. And if the team comes together again on Saturday night, Juve’s chances of stopping him are minimal.
