LIONEL MESSI

LIONEL MESSI THE GOAT

Barcelona's Champions League dream is about to come to an end in Paris, thanks to Lionel Messi.

 Barcelona's Champions League dream is about to come to an end in Paris, thanks to Lionel Messi.

The Argentine is anxious to win another European crown for his team, but overcoming a 4-1 first-leg deficit to PSG is unlikely. Lionel Messi has only one ambition in life: to win the Champions League once more. That isn't a secret. The Barcelona captain gave a stirring speech on the pitch at Camp Nou at the opening of the 2018-19 season, declaring that the team was on a mission to conquer Europe. Messi felt forced to make amends for the Catalans' humiliating quarter-final defeat to Roma at the Stadium Olimpico just four months prior, when the Catalans conspired against themselves to lose 3-0 in the return match after blowing a 4-1 first-leg advantage. He had no idea what he was in for.

Messi had stayed defiant following the Liverpool defeat. He stated that he has no regrets for publicly expressing his wish to return the European Cup to Camp Nou. He was adamant that barca would try once more.

Bayern Munich, on the other hand, had beaten Barcelona into submission at the end of a gruelling season.

The skipper had had enough of the 2019-20 season.

He didn't say anything in public. Instead, he sent a burofax to the club, begging permission to quit.

Is it any surprise Messi sought to flee? Barcelona has squandered his best years in the second half of the last decade, as the team has fallen apart.

The club lost Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain, wasted €400 million (£342 million/$475 million) on Antoine Griezman, Philippe Coutinho, and Ousmane Dembele, and sunk into institutional chaos and financial ruin.

In 2016, and 2017, the team was eliminated from the Champions League by Atletico Madrid and Juventus, respectively, but it was in Rome that the club began to become a laughingstock. It was no longer a proper home for the six-time Ballon d'Or winner, probably the best player in football history.

Only recently, with Joan Laporta's appointment as club president to replace the disgraced.                                                                                              

The hand emerging from the grave at the climax of a horror film was Bartomeu's arrest last week, a final reminder of the club's sorry situation before the new era begins.

"To Paris, to launch a comeback!" exclaimed Laporta amid Sunday night's cava-fueled celebrations at Camp Nou.

That is where Messi's challenge continues, however with Barcelona behind 4-1 from the first leg against a Kylian Mbappe-inspired PSG, a miracle is required for the Catalans to advance to the quarter-finals.

That is exactly what they did in 2017, with that legendary 6-1 comeback, but they no longer have Messi's ideal sidekicks, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

Dembele has been Neymar's immediate substitute for over three years and has unable to show any consistency.

In reality, this is a team that is still coming to terms with Bartomeu's board's failures.

As Messi put it to Goal: "For a long time, there has been no project or anything similar. They simply juggle and fill in the gaps as they go."

Unfortunately, Barca's talisman has been left to spell out the bitter truth far too often.

He said following the 4-0 setback at Anfield two years ago, "We have to apologise." "Not because of the outcome, but because of how it appeared and the fact that we were not competing." It was one of the most traumatic moments of my professional life."

He was one of the few Barca players who didn't make a fool of himself that night, as he set up clear-cut chances for his teammates that went begging.