Of course....I was saying it with tongue firmly in cheek. Unless there is a football miracle of biblical proportions, Barca are most definitely out.
It should be obvious to anyone that he isn't fit. His acceleration isn't there. He made mincemeat out of Martinez when he came up against Bilbao in La Liga. When Argentina played Germany last year he in combination with Kun, Di Maria and Higuain toyed with their defence. Mr. Schweinsteiger and Mr.Boateng for instance couldn't get anywhere near him. And so the talismanic figure that he is it affected Barcelona as a whole. A fully fit Messi and it's another story. One goal that should never have been given, the other marginally offside not to mention Bartra's shocker. Yet they were still fouling Messi a fair amount of the time or Iniesta. Barca as a club have become too reliant on Messi. As for Bayern they also have their nasty players. For Busquets or Alba you have Schweinhund and Muller. Both commit nasty fouls and often get away with it. They are always into the officials face and their whining for penalties was abominable. They have about much love in Germany as Manchester United do here. Now they have only gone and purchased Gotze for next season as well. It's all over as a tie. I'd rather anyone win it than they do. Dortmund is a much nicer club.
Managed to score a decent goal against Bilbao. Barcelona were a shambles before he came on. Susaeta hit the bar and Bilbao should have been 2-0 up before the equalizer. So still not looking good for Wednesday. It will be a miracle if they can beat Bayern by four clear goals. Mission Impossible. [video=youtube;_-j4qP9vtyE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_-j4qP9vtyE[/video]
Another interesting season has passed for Messi. Not one of his best hampered by injury late on in the season at a crucial time in Barcelona's CL campaign. Ever since getting a tattoo of his son Thiago's hands injury seems to be plaguing the player who is again ruled out for the next month or so. Or perhaps a clever ploy from Barcelona to prevent him playing for Argentina who have qualified for the World Cup in their last two qualifiers. PR wise it has been a bad summer. The Spanish tabloids have been trying to highlight him shouting at other players on the pitch, photoshopped Messi apparently with a stripper in Las Vegas which turned out to be fake. Messi and Friends World Tour in the US was also something of a damp squib. The press tried to pin the blame on Messi for a no show in Los Angeles and then not turning up to greet members of the public who had paid $2500 to meet him after a match in Chicago. Something which Messi had never agreed to or known about apparently. But there is some pernicious desire to knock Messi off his pedestal in the Spanish media. Messi and his father Jorge did make an appearance at court in the Gava suburb of Barcelona to answer charges of tax evasion for which Jorge Messi takes the rap in setting up offshore companies to handle the revenues from image contracts and endorsements. http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/27/lionel-messi-tax-fraud-court-barcelona The monies owed with interest have been paid in full but given the economic situation within Spain the prosecutors want to see due process is followed. His new house seems to follow the lead of Gary Neville being designed with the greatest sympathy to environmental needs in terms of power generation and water provision and a nod to his chosen profession. On the pitch despite the injuries late in the season Leo once again showed he is still numero uno on the world stage and how important he is as the talisman for Barcelona. Without him they are far less menacing as evidenced by the statistics in terms of goals scored and chances created. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNymXZmcMik [video=youtube;Q3G2rkOYO_w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3G2rkOYO_w[/video]
So the folly of playing a clearly injured player strikes again. This would not have happened under Guardiola. This time it's a hamstring tear which rules him out for at least eight weeks apparently. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...hout-the-argentina-international-8932936.html He is clearly not himself and is probably out of contention for the Ballon d'Or but his mind is more focused on winning next years World Cup. Fingers crossed Barcelona don't make a mess of his rehabilitation rushing him back from injury against PSG last year and doing the same this season. He won't be a happy bunny otherwise. Just a reminder of what he is capable of when he is fit and has been for several seasons: [video=youtube;l0UWajMcnIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0UWajMcnIA[/video]
While Leo kicks his heels and at last takes a well deserved rest (although Barcelona are clearly missing him) to fully recover from the spate of niggles in the wake of the folly of playing against PSG injured I thought Luke might be interested in the watching the skills of Maradona with whom he will become an equal should he lead Argentina to triumph next year in Brazil. Diego came from extreme poverty in Villa Fiorito and while a kid used to perform footballing tricks at half time at the Bombonera for the spectators. Something he never has lost the touch for. While most freestylers are usually rather poor footballers in the sporting sense Diego combined the two at the highest level at times: [video=youtube;TSn_vzI0aQk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSn_vzI0aQk[/video]
Finally, commentary to match Messi's sublime ability [video=youtube;9TQaxme_Sug]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TQaxme_Sug[/video]
The New Year dawns and hopefully Leo is fully recovered from the niggling injuries which plagued him for most of last year. This is the year that will define Messi as a player. If he takes Argentina to glory in Brazil they will canonize and open churches for him and set him on the same plinth that Diego Maradona currently occupies. [video=youtube;vpjXpBLImyk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpjXpBLImyk[/video]
Third maybe even fourth best player in the world. Once his physical attributes decline he'll be done for. [video=youtube;XqeF6D0DxqU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqeF6D0DxqU[/video]
Well there seems to be one player whose physical attributes have declined in the past year and that is Messi. Perhaps all those drugs he took to build himself up when he was younger have finally had an impact on his body
Messi and Ronaldo are undoubtedly the best 2 in the world... however CR7 is the best at the minute.. Will be interesting to see how this injury will affect Messi when he comes back but at the minute, Ronaldo has to be number 1
Who would you put above him except Doyley? His dismantling of Sweeden was just amazing, he was literally saying 'give me the ball and I will score'. Another 2 last night, best player alive.
A patch of form doesn't suddenly mean he is the best player around because the actual best player in the world has been out for a while. Ronaldo is the product of intense practice and training and less innate talent than Messi. His free kick and shooting accuracy is pretty average and he is a rather selfish player. Messi's vision, passing accuracy and setpiece taking despite the hype surrounding Egonaldo's free kicks is superior. Allied to that ego I'd steer clear of him as a player. I'd take Iniesta, Aguero and Ibrahimovic despite his ego before him and Suarez is equally as good.
He does that in every match. He is extremely selfish. It's all about him. Even against Celta he likes to celebrate alone.
I respect how much you know on everything but that bottom statement was baffling - when Suarez or Aguero score 42 goals in a single season playing in England then I'll consider that opinion. As for Ibra well Sweeden v Portgual proved that didn't it? Ronaldo has proven he can do it in either leagues, he scored all 19 English teams in the league and all 19 Spanish teams. Ronaldo doesn't have the supporting cast of Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas. Arguably the best support in the world. Ronaldo has scored more albeit not a better strike rate. Ronaldo is a generous man when it comes to charity He was MOTM in all 3 of his group matches at the 2010 World Cup. Was in the team of the tournament Euro 2004 and Euro 2012. There is so so little between them but you can't put him 5th?
Someone has pulled together a factual and judgement account of Messi against Ronaldo http://messivsronaldo.net/ Looks to me that Ronaldo has the edge over Messi from a stats point of view. What goes in Messi's favour is the amount of silverware he has won and I suppose thats what stands him out over Ronaldo. In fact you could say that Ronaldo was better off at Man Utd from the trophy point of view.
regular 50+ goals in a season...hmmm those stats just prove what a rubbish 2 horse race La Liga really is
Just as Athletico take the lead in La Liga..... [video=youtube;EOr2GjGX-lQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOr2GjGX-lQ[/video] Should such an offence merit a red card ? It was a good cover tackle in rugby. The Basques have always been rather nifty at rugby union.....
£164m bid. It's probably *******s, but Barca would accept that I think. http://www.express.co.uk/sport/foot...re-164m-Lionel-Messi-in-world-record-transfer
