MARRIAGE TO DIVORCE: FROM NAPKIN TO BUROFAX

On a cool May evening in 2014, Barcelona kicked off the last match of the season at the imposing Camp Nou. The equation was very simple: beat the league leaders Atletico Madrid and the "steal" La Liga from right under their nose. About a month earlier, Los Colchoneros comfortably drew 1-1 with Barça at Camp Nou and absolutely blitzed the Catalans at home in the return leg of the Champions league. Yet they could win only 1-0 but Barça did not look like getting a shot on target let alone score. 

By week 35, Atletico created a 4 point separation with Barcelona and 5 with Madrid. They needed just 1 win and 2 draws to end an 18 year drought. They say, paradoxically, one wins not by conquering the fear of losing but the fear of winning. Atletico had won some silverware in the previous years but the fear of winning still haunted them. They lost 2-0 to Levante but luckily Getafe scored an injury time equalizer in Camp Nou. Barcelona were held 0-0 by Elche in the penultimate round. Atleti's nerves were still frayed. They fell behind to Malaga but levelled with a little over a quarter of an hour to go. 

Injury time beckoned. Atleti's number 7 Adrian dropped his right shoulder and cut inside. Like arjuna looked at the bird's eye, the top corner was the only thing in his sight. Like the classic Thierry Henry goal, he bent it so that the ball would nestle itself in the top corner. Eighteen years of pain were over. The last partido at Camp Nou is now academic. Cholo would now have an extra week to plan the most Cholismo of his plans to become only the 3rd Spanish team to win the Champions League. Willy Caballero stretched his arm and palmed it away! Atletico had to now gain a point in one of Europe's most intimidating venues: Camp Nou.

Alexis Sanchez broke the deadlock with a fierce strike a couple of minutes after the half hour mark. Simeone was already forced to take Arda Turan and the mala leche-est of their team full of mala leches, Diego Costa due to injury. The capital city side, though, managed to keep the Cruijffian trident at bay till half-time. Whatever Simeone did at the interval clearly worked as El Capitan Diego Godin equalized in the most Diego Godinest fashion: header from a corner. The Blaugrana were now chasing the game.

Just after the hour mark, Messi found himself unmarked and volleyed home from close range but the goal was disallowed for offside. Was it offside? It was not cut and dry but it was not a blunder either. Atletico fans would say it was, Barça fans would say it was not but that was irrelevant. What was relevant that Messi did not even react. He just put his head down and went back without a murmur of protest. It was like he did not even care. It showed the uglier side of Barcelona's greatest player in their history.

Atletico comfortably played out the rest of the match, virtually in cruise mode, to seal their 10th La Liga title, first in 18 years but it was peripheral for Messi. It was his way of rebelling against what he felt was not right. For all his otherworldly abilities of football geometry, assisting teammates, scoring, finishing, this was his big Achilles heel. He started to become bigger than the team. It's almost as if Guardiola saw this coming and quit back in 2012.

A few months later after a loss in San Sebastian, Barcelona, now under another ex-legend Luis "Lucho" Enrique, were on the verge of imploding with rumours of the relationship between Messi & Lucho beyond repair. Xavi, an ex-teammate of Lucho, brokered peace between the two. Messi, now armed with spite, played like a madman through the rest of the season. Nothing exemplified this more than the match against Valencia at home.

Suarez scored in the 1st minutfe but Los Che came back furiously. Their captain Dani Parejo missed a penalty and they kept creating chance after chance. Messi, Suarez, Neymar kept hitting back. It was a miracle that the game was still 1-0 in second half injury time. The entire Valencian side was in Barcelona's half. Messi was up ahead. Neymar hit the ball in the open space. The Flea did not even have one ml of gas left in the tank and yet he huffed and puffed. He tried to chip the keeper but did not have the strength in his legs. The ball luckily fell back to him and he stabbed it past the keeper to seal the result 2-0. He ran behind the goal and fell down on the ground utterly spent.

In this faux author's (fauthor?) opinion, Messi is at his furious best when he's playing the classic right-sided inverted winger. Messi kept switching between wing and false 9 and Barcelona absolutely tore through Spain and Europe to seal their 2nd treble in 6 years. His 3 most memorable goals of the season, brace against Bayern & the unforgettable opener in the Copa Del Rey final came when he was on the wing. The following season began in somewhat of a stodgy fashion, Messi missed a few weeks due to injury but by spring Barcelona looked set to conquer a second treble in a row.

A combination of travel to South America, emotion of Johan Cruijff's death, lack of bench strength due a transfer ban caused Barça to be knocked out of Europe by their European bête noire, Atletico Madrid and almost lost out on La Liga after 3 defeats in a row. The ship was steadied and a double was sealed by the end of the season. The following season saw another set of seesawing fortunes, though there were a couple of unforgettable moments like Messi standing with his arm aloft after miraculously knocking out Paris St Germain and with his shirt in Santiago Bernabeu. All Culers want to forget what happened in the last 3 seasons.

In hindsight, the treble was the worst thing to happen to Barcelona. It kept the hopelessly out of depth Bartomeu as president. He's the second coming of Joan Gaspart. They say history keeps repeating itself and repeat itself it did. While Gaspart probably had little to do with Figo leaving for Madrid, the way he wasted the money on the likes of Petit, Overmars, Rochemback, Geovanni etc eerily played out in the same fashion with Bartomeu wasting €222 million received for Neymar, on the likes of Dembele, Coutinho, Paulinho, Arturo Vidal etc. 

The only reason why Barcelona haven't seen a repeat of the very long dry spell (trophy-less between 1999-2005) is Messi. Paradoxically, Messi is also the reason why Barça have struggled in Europe, especially away from home. Messi has two modes of playing. In mode one, he's giving his all. Harrying defenders like crazy, making repeated runs from the deep, sitting deep and hitting runners left and right with a work-rate that would put the likes of Gattuso to shame. Then, there's a second energy conservation mode where Messi doesn't track back, sits in the middle, spreads play and finishes moves.

Most of the last 5 seasons have seen Messi spent majority of time in mode 2 than mode 1. This mode 2 is more than enough to win the league title where consistency is rewarded but in knockout competition, the whimsies take over. No Barcelona manager has managed to convince Messi like Zidane was able to convince Cristiano. Messi needs to introspect and take blame for this situation but his gigantic ego refuses to do so. His situation is exacerbated by the dreadfully unbalanced recruitment by the front office. 

In order to teach Bartomeu a lesson, Messi has decided to quit Barcelona. This is a terrible move by La Pulga for a multitude of reasons. Barcelona have placated him for at least 8 years now. This season has seen the odd mistake here and there but Barça have backed him to the hilt more often than not. He is virtually the sole reason for the massive wage bill that is almost as high as the club's income. Every Barcelona-tard in their hatred for Bartomeu fail to see Messi's culpability in the current state of affairs. 

By the look of things, he doesn't even have a club lined up where he can fit in easily. Is his body of 700+ matches' mileage ready to take the physical beatings by the big English centrebacks on soggy pitches? Or does he want to take it easy by going to Paris and relax before getting knocked out in Europe due to lack of weekly competition? Which team, other than Juventus, in Serie A is ready-made for a 33 year old to instantly win Champions League? All this bitter stuff out in the open, when Bartomeu apparently cannot even run for President in March 2021!

Messi is the sole reason why Barcelona were so successful in the last 12 years. Unfortunately, his exit with the club in its current state, is all set to make La Liga a competition for 2nd place like Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1. He has to take blame for that. Fire cooks tasty meals but it can also burn down houses. That is its nature. One can't wish that away. As a Barça fan who became one in the middle of one of their worst spells, I cannot wish bad things to happen to Messi. Wherever he goes, I want him to be as happy and as successful as he wants to be. This day was always upon us, might as well get over it with. Hopefully one day when the tempers are cooled, Messi and Barcelona kiss and make up like Brett Favre and Packers did. 

Charley Rexach signed a 13 year old shy Rosario teenager needing growth hormones on a napkin 20 years ago. Messi has been responsible for 29 of the 94 titles Barcelona have won since he became their franchise player, to quote an Americanism, in 2008. It took Barcelona just 109 years to win 65 titles but just 12 to win the following 29. Ronaldinho left, Henry left, Villa left, Xavi left, Dani left, Don Andres left, Neymar left and the trophies continued unabated. All due to one man. That man has thrown the napkin away and for reasons best know to him, sent the burofax to end things.

Adios y hasta luego Señor Lionel Andres Messi Cuccittini. Te extrañaré.