Messi’s Champions League fiasco: He waited 8 years for the trophy, only made it to the semi-finals once

Lionel Messi is considered by many to be the best footballer in the world. But he hasn’t been proving it in the Champions League in recent years. He has been waiting for the most important trophy for 8 years, and in the meantime he has had to swallow several bitter defeats.

Messi and Ronaldo are the two best footballers of our time. Each has his own strengths, the Argentine is perhaps a little better in football skills, the Portuguese on the other hand clearly has the upper hand in leadership and can take the blame when the team is not doing well. There are countless matches in the Champions League where he practically single-handedly turned around an unfavourable result.

Messi has virtually failed to do that in the Champions League in recent years. He has been waiting for the trophy for 8 years, the last time he lifted the Eared Cup above his head in 2015, Messi was 27 years old and Barcelona’s current driving forces, Pedro and Gavi, were 13 and 11 years old.

Since then, Messi has had nothing but disappointments in the Champions League. He has only reached the semi-finals once, twice crashed out in the eighth round and four times he has said goodbye to the best club competition in the quarter-finals.

Moreover, in the knockout matches where Messi’s teams crashed out, the Argentine only made it through two double matches. He scored only against Liverpool and then against PSG, otherwise he was nullified in all the eliminations.

2015/16 – quarter-finals – Collapse with Atlético

In the season when Barcelona defended their trophy, they were big favourites. They met Atlético Madrid in the quarter-finals and although they were 0-1 down, Fernando Torres saw a red card in the 35th minute and the Blaugranas played a long powerplay. Luis Suárez took advantage with two goals and Barcelona won 2:1 and were in a good position for the rematch.

In a thunderous rematch at the Vicente Calderon, Barcelona flattered the home stands, let in two goals from Antoine Griezmann and were eliminated.

2016/17 – Quarter-finals – A washout with Juventus

Barcelona were already on the ropes in the semi-final, first losing 0:4 to PSG, but heroically turning it around in the rematch to 6:5. But in the quarter-final they went to Juventus and got a big slap in the face.

After a very poor performance, they lost 0:3, and could have scored even more goals. Juventus were clearly the better team then. A 0:0 home draw didn’t change anything.

2017/18 – Quarter-final – Disgrace to AS Roma

In the first leg, Barcelona won safely 4: 1 after goals from Piqué, Suárez and own goals from Manolas and De Rossi and it seemed that they had already got promotion in the bag and the rematch looked like it was going to go accordingly.

But that didn’t pay off handsomely for the Catalans. Džeko sent AS into the lead at the Stadio Olimpico, De Rossi added a second goal in the 58th minute and suddenly Barcelona were on the brink. Kostas Manolas’ unforgettable header in the 82nd minute put them on the brink and Messi registered another fiasco.

2018/19 – semi-final – Liverpool fiasco

After four years, Barcelona made it to the semi-finals and were one step away from the final when they beat Liverpool 3-0 in the first leg. Messi, who hadn’t scored for the previous three years, finally showed up at the stage where Barcelona crashed out.

But Barcelona, just like a year ago with AS, underestimated the rematch. Already in the seventh minute Divock Origi started the Catalans, Georginio Wijnaldum then added two goals in the second half within two minutes to equalise. Trent Alexander Arnold finished off Barcelona’s disastrous defence with a corner taken quickly and Origi’s second goal.

2019/20 – Quarter-finals – colossal drubbing by Bayern

The 2019/20 season was specific in that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was played in the summer and the knockout phase was played on neutral ground for only one match. Barcelona can actually be glad for that, because after the drubbing with Bayern, they might not even want to play a rematch.

The Bavarian side saw off Messi and co. 8:2, with only Suárez and an own goal by Alaba scoring for Barcelona.

2020/21 – Eight-finals – another nail-biter with PSG

Only the second double where Messi’s team went out and he contributed a goal. Against PSG, he sent Barcelona into the lead from a penalty, but Kylian Mbappé then turned the score around with a hat-trick and it was 4-1 after another Moise Keane goal.

In the return leg, Mbappé opened the scoring, then Messi equalised and could have made the game even more dramatic, only to give away a penalty before half-time. The match ended 5-1 to PSG and Messi had to say goodbye in the eighth round.

2021/22 – Eighth Final – Real Madrid’s turnaround

When Messi fell out with PSG, he joined them, confident in Paris that they had brought in the right man to deliver the Champions League. Only, Messi’s fiasco in the knockout stages continues. In the first leg of the eighth-final against Real Madrid, the Argentine had a penalty, but threw it away. At least Mbappé had his back and scored in the last minute.

In the return leg, the Frenchman scored again and PSG led 2-0. But a mistake by Donnarumma threw the whole team for a loop and the star attack of Mbappé – Neymar – Messi was invisible from then on. Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick in 17 minutes to send PSG out of the competition and Messi once again had to endure being knocked out in the eighth round.

2022/23 – Bayern ?

Messi now has another chance to atone for the previous Champions League fiasco. However, it won’t be easy, as PSG will face Bayern Munich in the eighth round. In the event of relegation, the Argentine would be saying goodbye to the top club competition for the third time in a row in the eighth round. How will the expected clash play out?

Source: UEFA