Messi (77 page)
Authors: Guillem Balague
It was the complete match by Messi and by the team. Exquisite in terms of link-up play and with Leo’s decisive influence. The Champions League had just been won by possibly the best team in history. And they did it through quality, but also intelligence. ‘Based on how the game was going, Pep would say to Leo: “Go down the middle” or whatever,’ says Pedro. ‘And we would change our shape straightaway, all very quickly. We worked really hard on tactics all that week which is why things came naturally to us.’
At Wembley, it was not about Messi’s usual game, diagonal runs or dribbling. His role in that game was to generate a numerical advantage in midfield with him, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta and Abidal when he pushed up on the wing. Leo helped Barcelona have 68 per cent possession and 22 shots on goal. Manchester United could only muster four. He scored the second goal and was involved in the third. ‘We played incredibly well. I don’t think we were aware of just what we were achieving today,’ said Leo that night.
Sir Alex Ferguson went onto the pitch to congratulate Leo.
‘We were never really able to control Messi, it was something we had already been warned about. We did not manage to close them down enough in midfield to neutralise them,’ he explained later.
PG: I have learned over time that the great coaches are people coaches. Tactics are very important, but the Fergusons, Mourinhos, and others are all great at dealing with the personalities they find in the dressing room.
GB: Despite two years of saying he knew how to play against Barcelona after the defeat in Rome, Ferguson didn’t know how to neutralise your game.
PG: They didn’t go out there to defend. When we were good, it was difficult to stop us. We would pass the ball around and gradually push them back. They did not decide to defend in their area, but we managed to push them back. Their idea was to press us on the ball which is how it was in the first 10 or 15 minutes both in Rome and London. But we knew how to create superiority and Manchester United, a great team, lost control of the match.
Guardiola went round hugging everyone and, when he came to Leo, he thanked him.
‘He’s the best player I’ve seen and will ever see,’ stated Guardiola about Messi in a press conference, repeating a statement which he had made at the Spanish Super Cup in August 2009. ‘We could compete at a very high level, but without him we would not make the jump in quality … I hope he doesn’t get bored and that we are capable of making him feel comfortable because when that happens, Leo doesn’t fail.’
Éric Abidal played the whole match. Carles Puyol lent him the captain’s armband so he could lift the European Cup, the fourth in the club’s history.
Messi was named man of the match and, after the celebrations on the pitch, he spoke to the press: ‘We want to carry on winning things. Today we were much better and deserved to win. Now we’re on holiday. Well, I’m going to the Copa América, but first let’s celebrate.’
Lionel Messi went to Argentina to rest, and then to suffer in the Copa América.
9. THE FIVE GOALS AGAINST BAYER LEVERKUSEN
A month and a half after Wembley, Leo Messi’s Argentina were beaten on penalties in the quarter-finals of the Copa América that took place on his home turf. ‘The Flea’ had scored 53 goals with Barcelona that season but not a single one with the national side since March 2009, more than two years ago. And the criticism became fierce; even former professionals had a field day with Leo: ‘Diego Maradona had a different personality, he was overwhelming, contagious; I can’t see that in Leo Messi,’ Gabriel Batistuta, Argentina’s historic goalscorer declared.
When the dismissal of Sergio Batista and the appointment of Alejandro Sabella were confirmed, the new national coach travelled to Barcelona to chat with Pep Guardiola who advised him to avoid too much conversation with Leo, to surround him with team-mates who respected him and would make his job easier, and to listen to the few words that he did say and never, ever, to substitute him, ‘not even to receive a standing ovation’.
Leo returned from his holiday a few days later due to his participation in the Copa América, to a Barcelona who had signed Cesc from Arsenal and Alexis from Udinese, and were to face José Mourinho’s Real Madrid, the same day that José decided to point a finger in the wrong place.
14 August 2011. Super Cup first leg. Real Madrid 2
–
2 Barcelona
Barcelona: Valdés; Alvés, Piqué, Abidal, Adriano, Xavi Hernández, Keita, Iniesta, Messi, Villa, Rodríguez.
Real Madrid: Casillas; Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho, Marcelo; Xabi Alonso, Khedira; Özil, Di María, Ronaldo; Benzema.
Goals: 1
–
0. 13th minute: Özil. 1
–
1 35th minute: Villa. 1
–
2. 45th minute: Messi. 2
–
2. 53rd minute: Xabi Alonso.
Diego Torres,
El País
: The last thing known about Lionel Messi Cuccittini before catching up with the pre-season, on Monday of last week, was that he spent a few days with his girlfriend
Antonella on a yacht anchored in Formentera. Since then, exactly seven days have passed. Five training sessions were more than enough for him to get into shape to come to the Bernabéu and play in the Spanish Super Cup. Forget friendlies. Don’t mention summer tours. Let’s play proper games. That is exactly what he did.
Messi only did one thing in the first half-hour: a low pass to Villa in behind Ramos. The pass was perfect like a curved missile meeting the attacker who had lost his marker in a made-to-measure coupling. The referee blew the whistle for offside. In the thirty-fifth minute, Messi reloaded his left foot, this time from a more central position.
José Sámano,
El País:
When the omens predicted a storm for Barcelona, the game took an unexpected turn. Messi, until that point, had been invisible. But Messi who never needs much encouragement to play, finally turned up and Villa, with his side’s first shot, hit the ball with a banana-shaped trajectory. The ball took an impossible swerve, flying past Casillas, leaving Madrid bewildered and incredulous. Messi, cunning as he is, realised his rivals were tumbling and took advantage of the lack of co-ordination between Khedira and Pepe before scoring.
The matter would be concluded in the second leg.
17 August 2011. Super Cup second leg. Barcelona 3
–
2 Real Madrid
Barcelona: Valdés; Alvés, Piqué, Mascherano, Abidal, Busquets (Keita, 85th minute), Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro (Cesc, 82nd minute), Villa (Adriano, 73rd minute) and Messi.
Real Madrid: Casillas; Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho, Coentrao; Xabi Alonso, Khedira (Marcelo, 45th minute); Di María (Higuaín, 63rd minute), Özil (Kaká, 78th minute), Ronaldo; and Benzema.
Goals: 1
–
0, 15th mimute: Iniesta. 1
–
1, 19th minute: Ronaldo.
2
–
1, 44th minute: Messi. 2
–
2, 82nd minute: Benzema. 3
–
2, 88th minute: Messi.
José Sámano,
El País
: Messi is unique. The Argentinian resolved the Super Cup clash in Barcelona’s favour after a fierce duel with Madrid. No Madrid side at the moment can live with Messi, the best finisher in their history. Not even when Mourinho’s side apply themselves as never before against a Barcelona that is still a little stiff. But he is unique; with Messi up front, the
azulgrana
side plays with freedom.
Cayetano Ros,
El País
: Messi, angry, edgy, motivated, the Argentinian notched two more goals against his favourite rivals, avoiding extra time against a fresher Real Madrid. Seeing himself shackled by a man-marking exercise by Pepe, he dropped into midfield where he could take in some air. There he disengaged himself from Khedira before sending a pass to Iniesta who opened the game up, making it a priceless spectacle. Although not yet match fit, he still managed to find the breath to create another work of art with Piqué: the latter’s backheel left him one on one with Casillas. This time he resolved the matter with a neat little dink with his right foot over the outstretched body of the Madrid goalkeeper. Messi finished the job with a volley that is worthy of the Super Cup. Santiago Siguero,
Marca
: Messi beat Real Madrid. Practically on his own, the Argentinian once again destroyed a team that has found Messi to be its curse. The thing is it was a good Real Madrid this time, better collectively than Barcelona, but individually Messi wins the comparison with Cristiano Ronaldo. He is the Di Stéfano of FC Barcelona.
That season that had started so well became a time of bad news that left the squad emotionally exhausted. In November 2011 Tito Vilanova discovered that he had cancer of the parotid gland. In March of the following year, the club announced that Abidal would have to undergo a liver transplant following the return of a carcinogenic tumour. The full-back lost 19 kilos in weight and had to be
operated on no fewer than five times. But just a year later he was back on the pitch.
Leo also suffered in silence the news that a close family member had cancer. The contrast between the joy of winning titles and these reality checks was difficult to bear, but Messi did all he could to avoid the setbacks becoming apparent on the training ground. Suddenly the world had become a complex, grown-up place. He gravitated ever closer to his family and distanced himself from anything he considered trivial and unimportant. He also drew apart from some of Pep’s collaborators, who attempted to get close to him during that confusing period in his life.
While the tumour was growing inside him, Abidal was named as a starter for the World Club final against the Santos of Neymar Jr, who, it was said, could very soon become one of the greatest players in the world. Messi had another target: to maintain the status quo. Partly because of the arrival of Cesc Fàbregas, Guardiola looked for the maximum expression of his football ideal in putting on five midfielders and Messi, who was becoming a mixture of a number 8 (a creator), a 9 (scorer) and a 10 (assistant). Dani Alvés and Thiago would play as false wingers in a footballing hall of mirrors in which no one was what they seemed to be.
18 December 2011. FIFA Club World Cup final. Santos 0
–
4 Barcelona. Yokohama
Barcelona: Valdés; Puyol (Fontás, 85th minute), Piqué (Mascherano, 56th minute), Abidal; Alvés, Busquets, Xavi, Thiago (Pedro, 78th minute); Iniesta, Cesc; and Messi.
Santos: Cabral; Danilo (Elano, 30th minute), Drácena, Rodrigo, Durval, Leo; Henrique, Arouca, Ganso (Ibson, 83rd minute); Borges (Kardec, 78th minute) and Neymar.
Goals: 1
–
0, 17th minute: Messi. 2
–
0. 24th minute: Xavi. 3
–
0, 45th minute: Cesc. 4
–
0. 82nd minute: Messi.
Luis Martín,
El País
: ‘Let history judge him,’ pleaded Mascherano
when talking about Messi, who yesterday demonstrated once again just why he will surely receive his third consecutive Ballon d’Or on 9 January. Messi, named man of the match and man of the tournament, today has no rival able to match his talent. Neymar did not manage to do it when put face to face with the miracle that is ‘the Flea’.
FIFA were cross with Barcelona because Messi did not appear all week to promote the final. He did not go to the press area after victory in the semi-finals nor did he take part in the official press conference on Saturday… He trained, rested, went for a stroll with his family and then went out to supper with them and his girlfriend on days when he had permission. But he didn’t speak until yesterday. On the pitch. And in another final. Barcelona won their thirteenth title out of a possible 16 since Pep Guardiola sat himself on the
azulgrana
bench. And Messi once again scored on another big occasion, as always. He’s now scored 17 times in finals in all competitions.
Martí Perarnau,
Sport
: The first half-hour of this final was the very apotheosis of the
rondo
, the piggy in the middle concept, the very sublimation of the swapping of roles. A swarm of small wasps took control of the ball, stinging Brazil’s Santos, who were a shadow of themselves. Just like someone suffering post-traumatic shock, Neymar summed it up in a simple sentence. ‘Today we learned how to play football.’
Barcelona had gained their tenth victory in 11 finals. And Messi had equalled Pedro’s record set two years earlier of scoring in all competitions: there did not seem to be any record beyond his reach and striving for them also fed his ambitions. He got another: he provided assists in all competitions so it could be said that he had surpassed his team-mate. Leo’s successes were heading into the stratosphere.
Messi met Neymar at the award presentation ceremony and they had a conversation around which was formed the basis of their future relationship. Leo, who was aware of Barcelona’s interest in the Brazilian, asked him to come to the club. Neymar assured him
that was his dream, but the truth was the Brazilian already had an agreement in place with the Catalans.
After the World Club Cup final, Messi went to Rosario for a rest, where among other things, he was updated on the status of the Leo Messi Foundation that has channelled money to promote projects for young children and adolescents at risk since 2007. During that period, when they asked Guardiola why he gave Messi more days holiday, the coach would only give half-answers, conscious of Leo’s concerns about the illness of his close family member: ‘I decide, they don’t. There are reasons. Leo is sensitive about a number of personal issues and I want him to be with his family for the New Year.’
Coming back after Christmas and with the return of the Champions League, Messi continued with his tactical progress and excellent statistics: he scored again for Argentina and in March became, at just 24, the highest goalscorer in Barça’s history, overtaking the record of César Rodríguez’s 232 goals in an
azulgrana
shirt.
However, some things never change. Before certain games, Leo still suffers from nausea and vomiting. ‘It’s quite common. There are a lot of players who go through this,’ says Pedro. ‘Sometimes they start retching. It’s the adrenaline, the tension just before a game. From the outside you don’t see any of this. We always have the obligation to win and to do well, to be physically well. And it isn’t always like that. But that’s how it is and you have to be prepared for everything.’