Barca’s era will never be over as long as Messi is there

Andy West 08:57 24/04/2017
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  • Lionel Messi.

    When Barcelona were dumped out of the Champions League by Juventus last week, we were widely told that the comprehensive 3-0 aggregate defeat signalled the end of an era.

    We’d heard that before, though.

    We had heard it, for instance, back in 2012, when Pep Guardiola departed Camp Nou following four magnificent years in charge.

    We heard it as well the following season, when Barca suffered the humiliation of a 7-0 aggregate thumping against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final.

    Yet Barca won La Liga at the end of that season, so maybe they weren’t struggling too much.

    Still, the end of an era was again proclaimed 12 months later, in the summer of 2014, when the Catalan club suffered a rare trophy-less season under the ill-fated stewardship of Tata Martino.

    But fast-forward another year, and almost exactly the same group of players won not just La Liga, but also the Copa del Rey and also the Champions League for a historic treble – which was followed by a domestic league and cup double last season.

    So when the latest announcement that Barca had reached ‘the end of an era’ were issued in the aftermath of the quarter-final exit to Juventus, it was fair to react with scepticism.

    And so it proved, because less than 100 hours later they came out on top in last night’s unforgettable Clasico victory at Real Madrid, which keeps their hopes of securing a third consecutive league title well and truly alive.

    You don’t have to look very far to identify the common thread throughout Barca’s period of dominance, which started in earnest 11 years ago when they defeated Arsenal to win their second Champions League title.

    Various managers have come and gone since then, with Frank  Rijkaard being replaced by Guardiola, the late Tito Vilanova, Martino and Luis Enrique.

    Brilliant players have also been in and out, with the Catalan crowd wowed by superstars like Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Thierry Henry, David Villa, Luis Suarez and Neymar.

    One of the greatest players for much of the last decade, and certainly the most important in defining the team’s style, was Xavi, the midfield pass master around whom everything revolved.

    Similarly, Andres Iniesta has also been a joy to watch, determining so many games with his elusive dribbling skills and his ability to control the tempo of a game.

    But Xavi is now long gone and Iniesta is on the wane, exerting a much lesser influence on the
    action than he used to. And still Barca keep on winning, and will keep on winning, for one very simple reason: they have Lionel Messi.

    Sunday night’s Clasico victory, which was settled by Messi’s brilliant goal with just 12 seconds of
    injury time remaining, offered vivid proof that the Argentine is still by far the best player in the world.

    He was surrounded by a lot of talent on the Bernabeu turf, and there was plenty to admire in the play of both sides. But then, standing head and shoulders above the fray, operating on a separate plane from everything else around him, was Messi.

    He was literally unstoppable, to the extent that Sergio Ramos was sent off in trying to do so, Casemiro should have been sent off in trying to do so, while Mateo Kovacic earned the most obvious yellow card you’ll ever see for deciding that the only way to stop him was to kick him.

    And when Jordi Alba cut back his cross and time stood still as Messi prepared to shoot, you simply knew what was going to happen next. He would score…and he did.

    So the next time Barca lose and you hear talk of it being the end of their era, shake your head and walk away. Their era of dominance did not belong to Guardiola, or Xavi, or Enrique, or anyone else. This is absolutely Lionel Messi’s era. And only when he retires, or returns to Argentina to spend his twilight years with his beloved Newell’s Old Boys, only then will the era be over.

    Until then – and we should all be grateful for this – his era is alive and kicking. With its left foot.

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