Why FC Barcelona's overdependency on Messi can spell danger for the Blaugrana
Early goals from Valencia saw them into 2-0 first-half lead at against Barcelona in the last weekend. Valencia were restless and pushed the Blaugrana on the backfoot from the first minute. The night was set out to be a nightmare for the Catalan giants but instead, it turned into a testament to Lionel Messi’s genius.
The Argentine magician did what he does best- his brace last night salvaged a point for Barcelona. He became the first player in Europe's top five leagues to score 20 goals or more this season. This also means that Messi has now scored 20 goals or more for 11 consecutive seasons, with his prolific run starting in 2008/09.
People at Barcelona will be relieved with last Saturday's hard-fought draw but it also depicted how much Barcelona rely on Leo Messi. Luis Suarez was obviously instrumental when Messi was out with injury for a few weeks in the first half of the season and the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho are back in form, too. But everyone is well aware of the fact that the rest of players in the world are behind Leo Messi and cannot possibly cover the impact of Argentinian talisman.
Leo Messi was instrumental in Barcelona's Copa Del Rey matches, as usual, helping them overcome teams like Sevilla. Moreover, Leo Messi picked up a knock in the dying emphasis of the match which seems to be a minor obstacle. But Barcelona face a crucial test as they will play against Real Madrid three times in the span of a month amidst their Champions League fixtures.
What we tend to forget is that despite his superhuman abilities on the pitch, Messi is still human and is not getting any younger. It is obvious that playing game after game with little rest will take a toll on the player.
Lionel Messi has been involved in 47.4% of Barcelona's total goals this season. Although the statistic is quite staggering, Ernesto Valverde, will be wary of what the over dependency on one man can cost as we progress to the end of the season. Fatigue will obviously be a cause of major concern as the season progresses as Valverde would want a player like Messi to be at the top of his game as the business end of the season approaches.
For instance, Roma dealt a huge blow in last year's Champions League when they knocked out Barcelona by defeating them 3-0 in the second leg. Barcelona were ahead by a three-goal margin but their players failed to show up at Rome which ended their hopes of conquering Europe.
Having a player of Lionel Messi's extraterrestrial caliber at one's disposal is obviously a privilege but rest of the Barcelona teammates needs to share responsibilities at crunch times. Barcelona will obviously look to win every competition they are a part of to maintain their sky-high standards and over dependency on one man's genius can be harmful.