Xavi: “I told the president that Messi return makes sense. No doubts at all, he is perfect for our system and idea. I’ve the tactical plan in mind with Leo”, told Sport. “It’s up to Leo. I think he has to decide, it’s up to him… I’m speaking with Leo, yes”,
Quite hilarious considering he hasn't even had any sort of tactical plan without Messi the past 2 seasons.
Maybe his genius plan is to have Messi walk around for 90 minutes vs top European sides and have the absolutely exhausted midfield, who have been covering him all season at this point, continue to cover him and be overrun.
There is no other top European club run like ours where signings are so political and nonsensical. Signing players because they are Catalan or Spanish, signing players from preferred "friendly" agents or scrubs from Brazil for no reason.
I love Messi, and I think he's the best player to ever live and was unplayable in his prime, but he will make our starting 11 worse now, not better. Dembele and Raphinha might not be as useful going forward as Messi on a good day, but they help defensively and press....and over the course of an entire season, especially in Europe, I value that more than Messi's output at his current age.