What’s the story?
Argentina great and former Barcelona manager Luis Menotti has taken a strong stance on Barcelona’s performance this season. The Catalans are just a point behind Real Madrid in the race for the La Liga title.
Coming off an important victory over rivals Atletico Madrid, they are keeping the pressure on Los Blancos. But their former manager Luis Menotti has said that they rely too much on luck in winning games.
In his column on Sport he wrote, “Barcelona rely too much on luck, They keep winning without playing well and didn't play better than Atletico, yet they won.” Menotti feels Real Madrid are deservedly ahead in the league and the Catalan’s recent performances are raising more questions than answers.
In case you didn’t know...
Before Diego Maradona helped the Argentina national team to win the World Cup in 1986, Luis Menotti achieved the feat in 1978. He was by then a veteran striker and used his experience in helping his team defeat the Netherlands in the final.
That world cup was incidentally held in Argentina. Menotti also managed Barcelona from 1983 to 84’ winning the Copa Del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.
The heart of the matter
Despite Barcelona’s impressive run in La Liga so far there are still several question marks on whether the team can deliver in the crunch moments. The performances have definitely not been up to the mark and one man has probably been carrying the team over the line.
The dependency on Leo Messi this season has arguably been a lot more than we usually expect Barcelona to rely on him. Suarez and Neymar have not hit the heights of the last two seasons and more often than not Messi has bailed his team out in crucial moments.
Luis Enrique himself said that there is a lot of truth about how much the team needs Messi. In a way, Menotti has pointed out that the club are lucky to have a player like Messi to whom the other players can look up to as their savior.
What’s next
Barcelona have to keep pushing Real Madrid if they are to have any chance of winning La Liga this season. The best way to do this is to turn a blind eye to what’s happening off the pitch and focus on the most important thing and that is getting the three points.
They play Sporting Gijon at home tonight while Madrid host Las Palmas.
Sportskeeda’s take
Luis Menotti is right in pointing out the flaws in Barcelona’s performances but the wins are definitely not down to luck. It has more to do with the brilliance of Messi than anything. The man is sometimes just unplayable and Barcelona will continue to rely on him throughout this season.
