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#1 Champions League leader
Barcelona lack leaders. Messi is no leader. It is as simple as that. And that is okay – it is not right to expect EVERYTHING from one player. What else do you want Messi to do? Fly with his hands or walk on water?
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The Argentine already does superficial things on the pitch, but sometimes it is not enough due to the lack of leaders on the pitch. Barcelona, for two years in a row, let a team get the better of them in a return leg despite having a 3-goal cushion.
Can you imagine Barcelona giving away such a lead if Puyol or even Xavi was on the pitch?
This is where Cristiano Ronaldo is so superior. He is a leader and galvanizes his troops when the chips are down. Case in point, Juventus were leading 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu last season after losing the first-leg 3-0 in Turin.
Real Madrid, like Barcelona, wasted the 3-goal cushion. However, unlike Barcelona, Real Madrid made it to the next round because Ronaldo scored at the very last moment of the game.
Even in the losing cause against Ajax this season, Ronaldo had a goal in the game in which Juventus got eliminated.
Because that is what leaders do.
And Ronaldo is a leader. A Champions League leader.
He is Mr. Champions League.
