Keep an eye on Arthur and other Barcelona v Inter Milan talking points

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  • Arthur

    Barcelona are without you-know-who on Wednesday, while a nobody at Camp Nou who became a somebody in Italy shall be returning to the club that rejected him.

    As for Arthur – who does he remind you of? It’s all in the talking points ahead of a fascinating Champions League clash that sees Inter Milan travel to Catalonia.

    Only the collective can replace Lionel Messi

    FC Barcelona v Sevilla FC - La Liga

    Barcelona have bombarded their media channels with statistics that paint a pretty flattering picture of their history without one Lionel Messi in the side.

    What that doesn’t take into account, of course, is the matches in which he was rested for dead rubbers, or the years in which the Blaugrana could lean on the brilliance of players such as Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Neymar. This side is perfectly capable of winning the Champions League, but it’s stretching it to call them a vintage crop.

    Which is why any side that takes to the field on Wednesday will exude a mortality right through its core. Forget Messi for a second – the loss of Samuel Umtiti and demise of Gerard Pique has already cost Barca dearly this season.

    Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets are imperious yet, despite the incessant hype, Arthur is not quite yet Xavi or Iniesta.

    No side would turn down the services of Philippe Coutinho and a revitalised Luis Suarez. But without Messi, the fear factor plummets from bone-chilling to merely troubling.

    Much of the narrative has revolved around the need for Ousmane Dembele to ‘step up’ in place of Messi with his pace and directness on the right. Ernesto Valverde would rather the emphasis be taken off the individual – for once.

    Mauro Icardi can make a point

    Every kid born within sight of Rosario’s outskirts dreams of following in Lionel Messi’s footsteps.

    For a time Mauro Icardi could feasibly claim to have done so. In 2007, when Icardi was 14 and around about the time Messi had eviscerated Getafe with that goal.

    A fusillade of clubs and sponsors flashed money at Icardi but he only had eyes for Barca, where he eventually would sign on until 2013. Or so he thought.

    When Icardi was ready to break through a few years later, strong and classical No.9s weren’t in vogue under Pep Guardiola, Samuel Eto’o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic had already found this out, so the Argentine, then 19, bravely took the matter into his own hands and left for Sampdoria.

    His Italian odyssey took him to Milan and into the hearts of the Nerazzurri – well, most of them – where the outspoken Icardi has spoken loudest through his goal tally. A total of 104 goals from 166 appearances for Inter in Serie A, the last of which was the last-gasp winner against AC Milan on Sunday, suggests a ropy Clement Lenglet and ropier Pique are in for a tough time if Icardi can get the service.

    Ironically, all the direct and feisty qualities he possesses – that Barca deemed expendable at the time of his departure – could come back to bite them.

    Arthur’s second UCL chance

    Ernesto Valverde has been pilloried by the Catalan press for much of this season, but Arthur is one decision he can chalk up on his win column.

    Messi sets mouths a-frothing at Wembley, yet it was the boy from Brazil shouldn’t be an afterthought from that game. Take his Wikipedia page away and it is scarcely believable that he has a Brazilian passport, such is his measured and tidy style of play compared to the flair of many of his forefathers.

    Indeed, it’d be interesting to know whether he grew up in Goias pretending to wear the jerseys of Xavi and Iniesta rather than Ronaldinho and Kaka.

    If the 22-year-old can build on his mature performance at Tottenham and help the Blaugrana keep cool without their rocket from Rosario, it’ll be time to stop the talk of Arthur’s potential and focus solely on a the ability of a player who seems born to play at Camp Nou.

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