5th June, 2015
Barcelona’s talismanic Lionel Messi remains the driving force of a talented side on the brink of repeating 2009’s historic treble despite a change in their coach and style of football, not to mention a host of players.
The Argentine provided the magic and invention six years ago when Barca became the first Primera Liga team to win the UEFA Champions League and Spanish league and Cup in the same season and he is playing with the same panache as they seek to repeat the feat.
The Catalan giants already have the Primera Liga title and the King’s Cup in the bag and their focus is now on Saturday’s Champions League final against Juventus in Berlin.
Messi was described as unstoppable by former Barca coach Pep Guardiola, whose Bayern Munich side were eliminated by the Spaniards in the semi-finals, and similar superlatives have been used by others tasked with trying to thwart the South American genius.
After a disappointing 2014, when Messi failed in his mission to win the World Cup for Argentina and often looked distant and uninterested on the pitch, he is once again playing with a smile on his face.
He put Barca on course to win the King’s Cup last weekend with the opening goal, the first of a double, which will go down among the best he has ever scored, when he left four players trailing in his wake with a mazy run.
If Barcelona are victorious this weekend in Berlin they will have overcome last year’s French, English, German and Italian Champions to lift the trophy. Messi on the other hand would be celebrating his fourth champions League cup victory. So to win it for a fourth time and to play a major role in a third victory will take Messi to another level.
Meanwhile, Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has revealed that he does not have anything up his sleeve for Messi in Saturday’s final.
Allegri, whose Juve side are underdogs for the crown, feels that dedicating time and energy to combating Messi would prove a futile gesture when his teammates are similarly as lethal.
“To man-mark Messi is almost impossible, we just need to do a good job and work around him. But besides limiting Messi, Barca have Neymar and Luis Suarez,” he told the club’s official website.
“They have so many technical players that we will need to play a game with a lot of courage, knowing that we will have difficult times during the match and moments where we will have opportunities.
“We just have one more game and we need to be clever and bring home the trophy. We also need to be fortunate.”