Is FC Barcelona a one man team?

The Champions League quarterfinals have come to a conclusion and we have a semifinal line up comprising of two Germans teams in the form of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich and two Spanish and European giants FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for all of them, except Bayern Munich. Dortmund pulled off a miracle by scoring twice in stoppage time. Madridistas must have also had their hearts in their mouths when Drogba and Sneijder scored in quick succession for Galatasaray before Cristiano Ronaldo scored again in stoppage time to ensure Madrid reached the semifinals.

Now, the main focus of contention is the game between PSG and FC Barcelona. There was a stark contrast in the two legs. The first leg at Parc de Princes saw Barcelona at their best and they dominated PSG. Had it not been for a Valdes error, they would have taken a 2-1 lead back to the Nou Camp. But it ended 2-2. The second leg saw Barcelona dominate in terms of possession, which isn’t a surprise, but what was shocking was their performance in the final third as they struggled to score.

The difference between the two legs was a certain Lionel Messi, who was not on the pitch in the 2^nd leg. As soon as Vilanova introduced Messi in the 62^nd minute, it looked as if a different Barcelona were playing. Even the atmosphere around the stadium changed, which brings us to the question: Is FC Barcelona really a one man team?

There is absolutely no doubt about the class which Barcelona possesses, with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Villa, Fabregas and the list can go on and on. But will the Barcelona without Messi still be as dominant a force as it is today? Will it be the most feared side in world football? For me the answer is No.

Barcelona seems to struggle to score without Messi. Xavi and Iniesta are great players but they need assistance from Lionel Messi when it comes to scoring. Many people think it’s the other way round but Messi has proved that he can score goals when Iniesta and Xavi aren’t in the starting lineup. Messi is the catalyst which Barcelona needs to perform. This can also be proven if we look at last year’s semi final, where Chelsea successfully kept Lionel Messi quiet and didn’t let him score, which ultimately led to Barcelona falling apart and also exiting the competition

And if we look at Real Madrid’s success, or for that matter any other team’s success against Barcelona, it has largely been down to Messi performing like a mere mortal rather than a superhuman which he performs like day in and day out. Lionel Messi hasn’t scored against Chelsea yet and Chelsea has had a great record against Barcelona in the recent years. Even in the quarter final 1^st leg against Milan, Messi was not at his best. But his 2^nd leg performance was absolutely brilliant and the result was there for all of us to see.

Many people might argue that Messi is such a world class player that he will automatically affect the team performance, no matter which team he plays for. This might be true, but doesn’t this automatically prove the fact that Barcelona are over-dependent on Messi to perform? And the day his performance dips, the whole team’s performance dips. This surely has to be a point to worry for even the most ardent of Barcelona fans. Even though he is just 25 years old, Messi won’t be there forever. And players like him don’t come around often.

FC Barcelona is already being called the greatest team ever to play football, even better than the Brazilian team of 60s and 70s and the Milan team in the 90s and 2000s. These teams performed even when their star players were missing. For Barcelona to be counted amongst the greatest of all time, I believe they need to play well without Lionel Messi; they need to start winning as dominantly without him as they do with him to keep their critics quiet. Otherwise, Barcelona might always be remembered as a great team but one that was always dependent on Lionel Messi.