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Lionel Messi’s first season as a full-time Barcelona captain has ended in the most bizarre fashion as the Catalan giants succumbed to a 2-1 defeat against Valencia in the final of Copa del Rey.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner played an influential role in Barcelona’s doddle towards their 26th LaLiga crown as the Catalan giants lifted the domestic title for the 8th time in the last 11 years. With 36 goals in the league, the Argentine wizard not only won the Pichichi award, but also secured his 6th European Golden Shoe in the process.
However, in Europe’s elite competition, Lionel Messi has once again failed to stir Barcelona to their 6th Champions League victory. Barcelona bowed out of the competition after blowing off a 3-goal advantage from the first leg and handed Liverpool their second Champions League final appearance in successive years.
So, without further ado, here are the four solid reasons why Lionel Messi’s season with Barcelona will go down as an unsuccessful one.
#4 Failure to complete the domestic double
Barcelona have been dominating their land in the recent past, as they won two domestic double in the last three years. However, this time on, the Blaugranas did secure their league crown but failed in the final hurdle of Copa del Rey. Messi and Co. came second best in the final against Valencia, as they were humbled 2-1 in the final of Copa del Rey.
Although, the Barcelona skipper did manage to find the back of the net on the night, he failed as a leader to uplift the morale of his teammates as they all looked tired mentally, especially after the disastrous Anfield outing.
Messi himself looked a little bit lost and gave away position numerous times, which certainly didn’t help his colleagues. Despite having 12 shots on the night, the mercurial Argentine was unsuccessful to mastermind a comeback after going 2-0 down in the first half.
Messi has to bear the responsibilities not only because he is an important part of the Barcelona spine, but also because of the fact that he is the spiritual leader of this team on and off the field.
#3 Failure to make an impact on big occasions
There is no denying the fact that Messi has rescued Barcelona several times from the jaws of defeat during the course of the season. But, in the business half of the season, when it mattered the most, Lionel Messi has failed big time to bail out the Catalan giants from the jail.
Messi was far from influential in one of Barcelona’s most humiliating European nights at Anfield. The blue-eyed-boy of Barcelona looked pale all the time and lacked confidence whenever he got the ball.
Messi missed a golden opportunity in the first half of the miserable Liverpool return leg to put the tie into bed, which in turn, not only cost Barcelona the game, but also the tie in the end.
Messi has been accused of the same in the past when he somehow managed to bottle it up on several big occasions for Barcelona and Argentina, especially when he missed a huge one v one opening against Manuel Neuer of Germany in the final of 2014 FIFA World Cup.
#2 Decreasing Ballon d’Or odds
Lionel Messi had been an overwhelming favourite to lift this year’s Ballon d’Or in the beginning of the month of May. But his chances of lifting the most prestigious personal accolade faded away with each passing day.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner looked all set to make it six, when he crashed Liverpool single-handedly in the first leg of the Champions League. But since then, Messi’s chances of lifting the famous accolade only toned down after the Champions League exit at Liverpool.
If recent history is anything to be taken into consideration, only the Champions League winners have received the honour of collecting the highly-coveted individual accolade.
Should Liverpool win the Champions League at Madrid on the 1st of June, then the chances of any of the Liverpool trio, Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, to go on and lift Ballon d’Or are immense.
#1 Champions League debacle
Barcelona and Messi’s season crumbled after their shocking exit from the Champions League at Anfield. In fact, Messi has himself admitted the fact that both Barcelona and his season on personal terms, has been ruined after the inexplicable defeat.
Despite scoring 12 goals this season in Europe’s elite competition, Messi endured a terrible night at Anfield. The Barcelona captain couldn’t do anything to prevent Liverpool from making an historic comeback.
Messi’s yet another vain attempt to stir Barcelona to the Champions League glory will go down as a huge disappointment for the Catalan faithfuls.
Messi and Co. have been dreadful in the recent past in Europe’s most prestigious competition. With their recent Champions League disaster, Barcelona have now failed in four successive attempts to reach the final, having lifted the Champions League trophy back in 2014-15 season.
From making a pledge at the beginning of the season in his first ever captain’s speech to bring the famous trophy to Camp Nou, to facing the harsh reality of Champions League failure, Messi’s first season as a Barcelona captain will be remembered as an unsuccessful one.
