Everything Barca
Fansided

Lionel Messi’s final attempt to win Champions League with Barcelona

By Nishant Narayanan

Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona with Champions League trophy during the UEFA Champions League final match between Barcelona and Juventus on June 6, 2015 at the Olympic stadium in Berlin, Germany.(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images)
Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona with Champions League trophy during the UEFA Champions League final match between Barcelona and Juventus on June 6, 2015 at the Olympic stadium in Berlin, Germany.(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Barcelona and Lionel Messi’s final attempt at Champions League together.

Lionel Messi understands that this might be his last chance to win the UEFA Champions League with Barcelona. The Argentine star will be most likely heading towards the English Premier League next season and thus this will be the final dance with his beloved club.

More from Everything Barca

The 33-year-old decided to move away from the club after their embarrassing 8-2 loss against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals last season, however, that was not the only reason as to why he chose to submit an official request to depart from the Spanish giants. Barca as a club had been losing their identity ever since their midfield duo of Xavi and Iniesta broke. Their defence was also not as strong as it used to be under the captainship of Carles Puyol. Their only saving grace was the amazing trio of Messi, Neymar and Suarez in their attack. The forward line was so potent that they could break any defence in the world and oftentimes the three would have to rescue the whole team. The most notable example would be their second leg match against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals of the 2016/17 season.

Once Neymar departed from the club however, the club started to struggle to keep playing at the same pace and when Iniesta decided to retire from the club to move to Japan, the Barca as we once knew, was over. The club was still performing but were also making the same mistakes over and over again which made many people wonder what was going wrong with the club. They let go of two good Champions League first-leg leads two years in succession and their last season’s disaster was the final straw for Messi.

The Argentine wanted to leave the club where he spent 16 years but due to legal complications, he decided to honour his last season with the club. However, his decision is still unknown as to whether he’ll leave the club at the end of the season or not.

The fact that Messi, the world’s greatest player, has not won a Champions League trophy for five years is ridiculous and the chances of him winning it this year is also minuscule. The club is going through some big changes as new manager, Ronald Koeman has decided to completely reinvent the club. The old players such as Suarez, Vidal and Rakatic were all allowed to leave the club as the Dutch manager decided to build his team on the youths of the clubs and Messi will have to work with the likes of Ansu Fati and Rique Puig to win the coveted trophy.

The chances are not great and Barcelona will certainly not have a big presence like they usually do but as this is Messi’s last dance, he will be willing to give it his all and even Koeman has confirmed that the club legend is giving it his best for the club in training and in matches.

Ronaldinho ranked higher than Lionel Messi. dark. Next

Will Messi lift the Champions League trophy with Barca one more time?

Home/FC Barcelona News