I had a weird ass dream, basically "woke up" in a dream and was watching a Barca match, they were playing against Real Betis and the score was 5-3 for us. Messi was on the scoresheet, along with Yamal.
1)That team would have chocked if a Real Madrid side were on their necks
Sure, like i said, our team was already heavy declining and having a dull and uninspiring coach like Valverde didn't helped either. But Leo, in isolation, was absolutely fantastic that season. A one man team army. For me, his best season was 14/15, because he still had that incredible accelaration( maybe just a tad slower), but he already matured in the other aspects of his game, like playmaking. And let's be honest, while Pep's teams were more complete, that team with MSN, especially in that season, was more fun to watch.True, I agree. I put 18/19 only behind 10/11, 14/15 and 11/12.
Though, to be honest (and this is a dig to Valverde and the rest of that sorry team, not Messi), this "we almost got the CL/treble" claim, is a little bit misplaced:
-In La Liga we literally faced by far the worst Real Madrid team during Messi's tenure. Atletico were also nowhere near those mid 2010s teams. So, we were basically playing alone (second team finished with 76 points, a stark contrast compared to some 90+ seasons!)
-In CL we faced some rather mediocre teams on the road to the final. Lyon for the R16 was an average opponent to be fair, though it is not rare to face a much more challenging team this early on. Then 2019 ManU in the quarters was also a rather average to below average opponent for this stage. Liverpool was the first great side we faced and we choked hard. This notion that 'we would win the CL' also heavily relies on the fact that we would face the ... mighty Spurs in the finalA historically weak opponent for the final.
So yeah, great season no doubt, but maybe the main reason it is considered better than e.g. 09/10, 16/17, 12/13 etc. is this great CL run and the La Liga title, which, when put in context, are not that huge of achievements after all.
In the following decades there'll come tens of players like Ronaldo but probably none like Messi, that's when people will come back to this debate and realise how pointless it wasWatching the state of football these days, his legend is just going to grow and grow. As time goes by, it's clear that he was more special than even we could have thought.
Today, they go crazy if a player does one thing against a pub team, that Messi used to do 5 times against a top team. We simply don't see those jaw dropping moments from any player these days that Messi used to deliver every game.
I still can't believe that during his time here, there were actual Barca fans that used to moan about him and call him the problem.
It just goes to show how he spoilt our fanbase rotten. Epitomised by the embarrassing moment he had to explain to the fans that Barca's league titles need to be valued.
both like each other