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Barcelona legend slams Lionel Messi for star man’s failure at the Camp Nou

By Atharva Khadilkar

SEVILLIA, SPAIN - MAY 25: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona during the Spanish Copa del Rey match between FC Barcelona v Valencia at the Benito Villamarin Stadium on May 25, 2019 in Sevillia Spain (Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)
SEVILLIA, SPAIN - MAY 25: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona during the Spanish Copa del Rey match between FC Barcelona v Valencia at the Benito Villamarin Stadium on May 25, 2019 in Sevillia Spain (Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images) /
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One of Barcelona’s legends and Ballon d’Or winners has blamed Lionel Messi for Philippe Coutinho’s failures at the Camp Nou.

Philippe Coutinho’s substandard spell at Barcelona has come to an end at least temporarily after the Catalans agreed to loan the Brazil international out of Bayern Munich this summer. Coutinho will be at the Allianz Arena and the Bundesliga giants will have the option to buy the former Liverpool winger for a reported sum of 120 million euros.

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Barcelona had spent 142 million euros on signing Coutinho eighteen months ago when the winger forced a move to Catalonia from the Anfield. Coutinho on his part failed to live up to the hype or the price tag and flopped at the Camp Nou to say the least, but to give him the benefit of the doubt, he was never the biggest star in Spain as opposed to his Liverpool days. He would always be under the shadows of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

One of the Catalans’ legends in Rivaldo has blamed Lionel Messi as one of the integral forces behind Philippe Coutinho’s failure in the Blaugrana shirt. As per Fox Sports, he said:

"“I always believed that Philippe Coutinho had the ability to succeed at Barcelona, but things were taking too much time and both parties agreed on a transfer to Bayern Munich, I’m a little disappointed about his failure in gaining a regular place in the first team, but perhaps he was no longer confident about it and unhappy, so he opted for a move to another big club trying to finally recover his best football from his time at Liverpool, It’s never easy to find your space in a team where Lionel Messi constantly takes all the credit and responsibility. There are few players in the world capable of reaching such situation and imposing themselves, and maybe Coutinho didn’t have enough patience to find his spot in the team, the Argentinian star is the team leader and will keep playing at his best level for about three or four more years, so it is difficult to see other players shining at their best at Barcelona.”"

While Lionel Messi may or may not have played a big role in influencing Philippe Coutinho’s departure to Bayern Munich, the Blaugrana made a hasty decision with him. Antoine Griezmann is not suited to be a left winger and is more of a central forward- a replacement to Luis Suarez.

Ousmane Dembele’s struggles with injury, form and discipline have not stopped in the last two years. With Malcom and Philippe Coutinho’s departure, the France international may ease of due to the lack of competition and Barcelona will be the biggest losers out of this. On a side note, there seems to be no good news for them regarding even Neymar’s potential move.

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