Lionel Messi sets a new standard in Barcelona’s memorable win vs. Bayern

One of the greatest joys of watching Leo Messi, or reporting on him first-hand, is that just when you think you’ve probably seen excellence you’ll never see topped, he goes and produces golden moments that supersede his previous brilliance and completely take your breath away.

This is precisely what happened at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night as a belligerent, brilliantly organized, intelligent and hugely disciplined Bayern Munich were cut open with scalpel precision by this utterly astonishing Argentinian.

Before resorting to adjectives to try and capture his majestic night, I’d simply ask you to use the power of your own eyes and memory. When he celebrated each of his goals, it was with a volcanic passion, an explosive cocktail of joy, rage, relief and disbelief that makes such great viewing.

I tell you, he hasn’t celebrated a goal in that manner or to that degree since scoring the second against Manchester United at Wembley in 2011.

If the football world spent the late stages of that game shaking its head in affectionate disbelief at Messi’s exploits (and I swear it did), then just for a second think what it must be like to be Messi. You can do anything; literally anything you want with a football. You are the quickest-brained, the most technically gifted and the most driven player arguably to ever play the game.

Just imagine what that feels like. Over time, the hundreds and hundreds of goals begin to feel the same. It’s hard to sieve through them mentally and remember them in batches, never mind individually. So when a preternatural celebration like this comes along, it means that the event is celestial and something deep inside your psyche has been touched by the achievement.

Rather than worry too much about what the world’s media (including this column) says about Messi, just judge the exceptional nature of what he did by the way he reacted to it.

It’s part of human nature that the second goal, so difficult to produce given that he put Jerome Boateng on his backside and then lofted the ball past the best keeper in the world with his “weaker” foot, will probably receive greater garlands. To Barcelona fans and neutrals alike, that two-goal margin will also have felt very significant. Not definitive, but far beyond what most could have expected given the tense parity of the previous 79 minutes.

The third, too, will be put on a regal throne of its own. Bayern were up the field, Barcelona’s penalty area was being threatened, Pep Guardiola’s team had the cutlass between their teeth and weren’t willing to leave Fortress Camp Nou without something, an away goal to temper the rage of defeat.

Then, suddenly, the ball was headed clear.

Luis Suárez was awake to the possibilities of the “impossible” — a three-goal lead. The first tackler couldn’t put him down. The second did. So many referees err towards caution in such situations. A clear foul, late in the game with the world watching; many officials would blow the whistle and sort the consequences later. But not Nicola Rizzoli. He let play flow but his decision to do so came a second or two after Messi had already decided that he was going to take charge.

Pouncing on the loose ball like a starving cat on a lonely mouse, the Argentine was already preparing to send Neymar free on goal before Bayern, Rizzoli or the watching 95,000 fans had any inkling that this was going to be a three-goal win.

Neymar raced away and scored a goal of such laconic simplicity that it made the utter brilliance of Manuel Neuer’s first half one-on-one saves from Suárez and Dani Alves seem like mirages, like tricks of the mind. The two South Americans had put everything they had into finishing the chances and puncturing the first half tension yet the German World Champion excelled. His saves seemed to mock Barca’s attackers but in added time, there was added calm; Neymar didn’t even put the ball into the gaping spaces either side of Neuer. He just tucked it through him.

So, my argument remains, the commonly acclaimed goals will be numbers two and three. However I think that the first goal, the breakthrough moment, should be in the pantheon.

This game was like a cold-war thriller; a John Le Carré masterpiece. Tension crackled everywhere, everyone was looking over their shoulder. Who will crack first? Who will betray us? Not an inch was given, not a millimetre: 76 minutes of who’ll blink first. Nerve shredding.

Then three vital things happened. They seem coincidental to the casual eye, but they weren’t.

When Neymar fell in the box, Bayern spent a little bit of time and energy asking the Italian referee for a second yellow; they claim he dived. Finally realising that Rizzoli is neither interested in their claims nor in delaying the game any longer, Neuer is quickest to react.

Aside from the personal excellence of those remarkable whites-of-the-eye stops in the first half, one of Neuer’s signature moves is the lightning fast way in which he restarts a game.

“Find the dope,” Bob Paisley (he of three European Cup wins) used to tell his Liverpool players. “When the ball goes dead the lesser players will take a break: mental and physical. But if you are sharp you’ll catch that tiny pause when they relax and you can punish it.”

That’s the credo by which both Neuer, and his coach Guardiola, live. Thus Neuer restarted sharply, looking to help Juan Bernat, a thorn in Barcelona’s side all night, start a counter-attack. The only problem was that Alves ain’t no dope. Not even close. Differently wardrobed, yes; the Brazilian had arrived at the Camp Nou in a luminous red dinner jacket, bow tie, dress shirt and long shorts that reached his calf muscles and showed his tattoos. Only Dani.

Sartorial choices aside, Alves saw what was coming, anticipated what Bernat would do and he picked his pocket. The Brazilian sprinted into position, nicked the ball off the toes of the young Spaniard and, without a second’s hesitation, fed Messi.

At this stage, if real life could be paused then the actuarials among us would have said: “10 to 1 against Messi scoring from there.” But Messi is the odds breaker, not the odds maker. He skipped inside, onto the rocket launcher and buried the ball past Neuer into the bottom left-hand corner of the Bayern net.

It wasn’t an “impossible” goal but it was so, so unlikely.

Neuer is the best. Sometimes he seems unbeatable. In my life, I’ve only really seen his ilk when Peter Shilton, Peter Schmeichel and (occasionally) Gianluigi Buffon have been at their absolute peak. Both Iker Casillas and Victor Valdes have been stunningly good; brilliant at one-on-ones.

But those others seem to fill the goal and go through spells where opponents are cowed by them; it feels like they’ll never be beaten. Yet Messi just slotted it, from distance. And I judge that to be remarkable.

I interviewed the great man after the match and I can tell you he wasn’t exuberant, nor was he beaming that shy smile of his. Friendly, content and open, yes — but not even a scintilla of “we’ve got a foot and a half in Berlin already.”

That mood was matched by every single Barcelona player who spoke. On and off camera they were polite and firm, but also restrained. Before the match, Guardiola stated it would be impossible for Bayern to qualify for the final if they didn’t score at the Camp Nou. He didn’t quote the odds for not scoring and conceding three.

Clearly if they harass and overwhelm Barcelona like they did Porto in the quarterfinal second leg, then all bets are off.  What’s truly impossible is that if Messi does anything remotely like this again in just under a week, Bayern [or anyone for that matter] will be able to resist him.

There you are. Lionel Andres Messi. Simply irresistible.

 

espnfc.com

Maher Taki