Player in Focus: Lionel Messi
Let’s not kid ourselves: in what was unquestionably Barça’s biggest game of the season, was it ever going to be anybody else?
With today’s headlines and social media awash with praise for the little man, in what has been labelled as one of the all-time great Champions League performances, there’s no need for pretences: Barça’s number 10 had a magnificent evening, and hardly put a foot wrong during the encounter.
To commemorate such a unique performance, Player in Focus is going to stray from the type. Rather than analyzing La Pulga‘s performance in the abstract, attention is going to be diverted on chronologically seeing the games through the Argentine’s lens over the course of 94 minutes of football.
Strap in your seatbelts, we’re going for a ride.
The Three-Man Gambit
Never one to shy away from a tactical innovation or risk, Pep Guardiola rather surprisingly elected to start a three-man back line against his old side, with ex-Real Madrid man Xabi Alonso situated in-front of the defence in a regista role.
This pitted Messi up against Brazilian fullback Rafinha, who found himself starting in an unfamiliar left-back position.
The idea was to go man-for-man against Barça’s formidable trident, with Alonso screening the runner on the ball until support arrived in the form of Thiago Alcántara, Juan Bernat or Bastian Schweinsteiger (pictured below).
Messi’s first touch of the game came here (2:22), slipping into the space between the lines for Neymar Jr.
By doubling up in this manner, Messi’s only option was to play the ball laterally for Ivan Rakitić, as Bayern’s formation rapidly transitioned into a 4-4-2 after a few blaugrana touches on the ball.
Guardiola’s decision to employ a high-line was perhaps intended to mitigate Messi’s effectiveness by pushing him as far back as possible, yet the Argentine’s impeccable close control laid waste to the Catalan’s plans at 5:54:
Messi’s unique skill-set allows him to wriggle his way through challenges, offload the ball to Sergio Busquets – his only option – and then distribute out wide to Rakitić after having gotten the ball back. A minute later, it became apparent that the high backline was near suicidal. Stopping the ball dead with his first touch, Messi ensures Boateng has to commit, which leaves Luis Suárez in a frankly scandalous amount of space.
The chance served as both Barça’s first registered shot on target of the evening, as well as Messi’s first created chance for his teammates.
With Suárez’s running pulling the backline out of shape, Messi was content to offload the ball into space for Rakitić (pictured below at 9:40) and Busquets, which had Bayern reeling within the opening 10 minutes.
From the resulting opportunity, a few rare instance of miscontrol and a ricochet following a desperate lunge from Mehdi Benatia was all that kept Messi from carving out an opportunity at goal.
It’s rarely mentioned, but despite Messi’s short statute, the Argentine is rather proficient in the air. A commanding header over Rafinha – which set off Suárez in acres of space – would’ve resulted in an assist for the Argentine but for Manuel Neuer’s brilliance at 11:15.
In what a recurrent feature of the first half, Messi atypically pressed high, and hard, best demonstrated by the scything challenge which brought Alonso to ground at 13:07.
One of the most common accusations levelled against the Argentine is his perceived disinterest and nonchalance – “he walks on the pitch” – but this is a disservice to Messi: he knows where, and more importantly, when to press as illustrated in the passage of play between 32:44 and 34:01 where he won the ball thrice.
Four at the back
Realizing he’d got things horribly wrong, Guardiola rejigged his side 15 minutes into the game, adopting a more regular – not to mention deeper – four-man backline, with Rafinha restored to his natural right back role.
This put Messi up against ex-Valencia prodigy Juan Bernat, but the 23 year old might as well have not been there, as Messi nonchalantly skipped past him at 16:04.
The resulting ball from Messi on his weaker foot wasn’t great, though the Argentine’s pausa to allow Neymar to make the run in was commendable. Messi adjusted his game accordingly, dropping deeper in an effort to get more time on the ball. By tucking in, the onus was on Neymar to drift in and drag Rafinha with him, thereby opening up Bayern for the lofted diagonal, bringing Jordi Alba into play – this is exactly what happened at 19:12 after Messi held off both Alonso and Schweinsteiger.
Lio kept Bayern guessing too, as barely a minute later, he attempted a scarcely believable dribble past 4 opposition players which ended in a cross-cum-shot wide of Neuer’s far post .
Put yourself in a defender’s shoes: is he going to stop dead in his tracks and ping a cross-field pass, or is he going to take me on? What’s Jeromé Boateng supposed to do below (25:04)?
There’s simply no way of knowing, and that’s why Messi’s taken his game to another level this season (though this would not have been possible with partners of Neymar and Suárez’s calibre).
Half-time Report
By the time Nicola Rizzolli blew the half-time whistle, Messi had completed 7 dribbles** on his own, which was 6 more than the whole Bayern side.
Possession purists can argue that the corollary of this was Messi losing the ball on several occasions, though such burdens will almost always be outweighed by the benefits.
The personal duel with Alonso was also heavily in Messi’s favour, with the deep-lying playmaker being booked after cynically bringing down the Argentine at 34:15.
What was notable however was that despite wreaking havoc and creating for others, Messi was starved off clear-cut chances himself. Undoubtedly a concern for Luis Enrique, and a success for Guardiola
The calm before the storm
With Bayern ominously growing into the game just before the break, it came as little surprise that the Bavarian started the second half as the better of two sides, circulating the ball sharply and swiftly, thereby limiting Messi’s presence.
“If your opponents don’t have the ball, they can’t hurt you” goes the Guardiola truism, and so it proved. For the opening ten minutes, Messi was utterly deprived of the ball.
When Barça more than content to counter, this meant that every time the blaugrana won the ball back, Messi was free to operate in acres of space. It doesn’t matter if it’s five on three, because Messi not only has the feet to take him past players, but the presence of mind to always exercise the right option.
La Pulga knows when to lay off the ball (54:51):
Or go it alone, using his acceleration and burst of pace to win a foul (resulting in a yellow for Bernat at 55:41).
At 56:56, Messi was allowed to test Neuer for the first time in the match, exchanged passes with Neymar at the edge of the box and rifling a shot at goal.
The pair demonstrated their telepathic understanding again the next time the Argentine found the ball at his feet (59:05), with Messi sending the Brazilian through on goal with a lofted diagonal only just cut out by the on-rushing Neuer.
The Explosion
And now here comes the fun part.
If you want answers as to how Messi visualized and executed both goals, you’re going to be disappointed as there’s no way I can possibly provide those – trying to rationalize, process and put into words what the Argentine does is one of life’s most fruitless endeavours. That being said, it’s possible to pick up on a few elements which facilitated the Argentine’s first goal.
First and foremost, in the build-up to the opener, Messi raises his arms and calls for possession the second Dani Alves wins back possession:
It’s something that’s been gradually phased out of the game, as you unduly draw attention unto yourself from the opposition backline, but it lets Alves know there’s only truly one real option to pick.
Luis Suárez also needs to be credited for re-adjusting and making a last-minute run, which means Benatia has to plant himself and hope for the best: either Messi takes on the shot as he does, or he slips in Luisito.
In the end the finish had shades of Wembley 2011 written all over it, and a ferocious and well-placed strike meant the previously infallible Neuer had to pick the ball out of the back of his net for the first time in the tie. It wasn’t to be the last.
Words won’t ever do the second goal justice; watch it for yourself, and if you already have, watch it again.
Finally, in a move that’s been seen dozens of times this season and twice earlier in the game – so Bayern can’t say they weren’t warned – Messi slips Neymar through with a wonderfully weighted ball, and that’s 3-0.
With today’s headlines and social media awash with praise for the little man, in what has been labelled as one of the all-time great Champions League performances, there’s no need for pretences: Barça’s number 10 had a magnificent evening, and hardly put a foot wrong during the encounter.
To commemorate such a unique performance, Player in Focus is going to stray from the type. Rather than analyzing La Pulga‘s performance in the abstract, attention is going to be diverted on chronologically seeing the games through the Argentine’s lens over the course of 94 minutes of football.
Strap in your seatbelts, we’re going for a ride.
The Three-Man Gambit
Never one to shy away from a tactical innovation or risk, Pep Guardiola rather surprisingly elected to start a three-man back line against his old side, with ex-Real Madrid man Xabi Alonso situated in-front of the defence in a regista role.
This pitted Messi up against Brazilian fullback Rafinha, who found himself starting in an unfamiliar left-back position.
The idea was to go man-for-man against Barça’s formidable trident, with Alonso screening the runner on the ball until support arrived in the form of Thiago Alcántara, Juan Bernat or Bastian Schweinsteiger (pictured below).
Messi’s first touch of the game came here (2:22), slipping into the space between the lines for Neymar Jr.
By doubling up in this manner, Messi’s only option was to play the ball laterally for Ivan Rakitić, as Bayern’s formation rapidly transitioned into a 4-4-2 after a few blaugrana touches on the ball.
Guardiola’s decision to employ a high-line was perhaps intended to mitigate Messi’s effectiveness by pushing him as far back as possible, yet the Argentine’s impeccable close control laid waste to the Catalan’s plans at 5:54:
Messi’s unique skill-set allows him to wriggle his way through challenges, offload the ball to Sergio Busquets – his only option – and then distribute out wide to Rakitić after having gotten the ball back. A minute later, it became apparent that the high backline was near suicidal. Stopping the ball dead with his first touch, Messi ensures Boateng has to commit, which leaves Luis Suárez in a frankly scandalous amount of space.
The chance served as both Barça’s first registered shot on target of the evening, as well as Messi’s first created chance for his teammates.
With Suárez’s running pulling the backline out of shape, Messi was content to offload the ball into space for Rakitić (pictured below at 9:40) and Busquets, which had Bayern reeling within the opening 10 minutes.
From the resulting opportunity, a few rare instance of miscontrol and a ricochet following a desperate lunge from Mehdi Benatia was all that kept Messi from carving out an opportunity at goal.
It’s rarely mentioned, but despite Messi’s short statute, the Argentine is rather proficient in the air. A commanding header over Rafinha – which set off Suárez in acres of space – would’ve resulted in an assist for the Argentine but for Manuel Neuer’s brilliance at 11:15.
In what a recurrent feature of the first half, Messi atypically pressed high, and hard, best demonstrated by the scything challenge which brought Alonso to ground at 13:07.
One of the most common accusations levelled against the Argentine is his perceived disinterest and nonchalance – “he walks on the pitch” – but this is a disservice to Messi: he knows where, and more importantly, when to press as illustrated in the passage of play between 32:44 and 34:01 where he won the ball thrice.
Four at the back
Realizing he’d got things horribly wrong, Guardiola rejigged his side 15 minutes into the game, adopting a more regular – not to mention deeper – four-man backline, with Rafinha restored to his natural right back role.
This put Messi up against ex-Valencia prodigy Juan Bernat, but the 23 year old might as well have not been there, as Messi nonchalantly skipped past him at 16:04.
The resulting ball from Messi on his weaker foot wasn’t great, though the Argentine’s pausa to allow Neymar to make the run in was commendable. Messi adjusted his game accordingly, dropping deeper in an effort to get more time on the ball. By tucking in, the onus was on Neymar to drift in and drag Rafinha with him, thereby opening up Bayern for the lofted diagonal, bringing Jordi Alba into play – this is exactly what happened at 19:12 after Messi held off both Alonso and Schweinsteiger.
Lio kept Bayern guessing too, as barely a minute later, he attempted a scarcely believable dribble past 4 opposition players which ended in a cross-cum-shot wide of Neuer’s far post .
Put yourself in a defender’s shoes: is he going to stop dead in his tracks and ping a cross-field pass, or is he going to take me on? What’s Jeromé Boateng supposed to do below (25:04)?
There’s simply no way of knowing, and that’s why Messi’s taken his game to another level this season (though this would not have been possible with partners of Neymar and Suárez’s calibre).
Half-time Report
By the time Nicola Rizzolli blew the half-time whistle, Messi had completed 7 dribbles** on his own, which was 6 more than the whole Bayern side.
Possession purists can argue that the corollary of this was Messi losing the ball on several occasions, though such burdens will almost always be outweighed by the benefits.
The personal duel with Alonso was also heavily in Messi’s favour, with the deep-lying playmaker being booked after cynically bringing down the Argentine at 34:15.
What was notable however was that despite wreaking havoc and creating for others, Messi was starved off clear-cut chances himself. Undoubtedly a concern for Luis Enrique, and a success for Guardiola
The calm before the storm
With Bayern ominously growing into the game just before the break, it came as little surprise that the Bavarian started the second half as the better of two sides, circulating the ball sharply and swiftly, thereby limiting Messi’s presence.
“If your opponents don’t have the ball, they can’t hurt you” goes the Guardiola truism, and so it proved. For the opening ten minutes, Messi was utterly deprived of the ball.
When Barça more than content to counter, this meant that every time the blaugrana won the ball back, Messi was free to operate in acres of space. It doesn’t matter if it’s five on three, because Messi not only has the feet to take him past players, but the presence of mind to always exercise the right option.
La Pulga knows when to lay off the ball (54:51):
Or go it alone, using his acceleration and burst of pace to win a foul (resulting in a yellow for Bernat at 55:41).
At 56:56, Messi was allowed to test Neuer for the first time in the match, exchanged passes with Neymar at the edge of the box and rifling a shot at goal.
The pair demonstrated their telepathic understanding again the next time the Argentine found the ball at his feet (59:05), with Messi sending the Brazilian through on goal with a lofted diagonal only just cut out by the on-rushing Neuer.
The Explosion
And now here comes the fun part.
If you want answers as to how Messi visualized and executed both goals, you’re going to be disappointed as there’s no way I can possibly provide those – trying to rationalize, process and put into words what the Argentine does is one of life’s most fruitless endeavours. That being said, it’s possible to pick up on a few elements which facilitated the Argentine’s first goal.
First and foremost, in the build-up to the opener, Messi raises his arms and calls for possession the second Dani Alves wins back possession:
It’s something that’s been gradually phased out of the game, as you unduly draw attention unto yourself from the opposition backline, but it lets Alves know there’s only truly one real option to pick.
Luis Suárez also needs to be credited for re-adjusting and making a last-minute run, which means Benatia has to plant himself and hope for the best: either Messi takes on the shot as he does, or he slips in Luisito.
In the end the finish had shades of Wembley 2011 written all over it, and a ferocious and well-placed strike meant the previously infallible Neuer had to pick the ball out of the back of his net for the first time in the tie. It wasn’t to be the last.
Words won’t ever do the second goal justice; watch it for yourself, and if you already have, watch it again.
Finally, in a move that’s been seen dozens of times this season and twice earlier in the game – so Bayern can’t say they weren’t warned – Messi slips Neymar through with a wonderfully weighted ball, and that’s 3-0.
Comments
Post a Comment