Barcelona’s reliance on Messi underlined in escape act at Villarreal

FC Barcelona’s thrilling 4-4 draw with Villarreal on Tuesday has been hailed as the game of the season in Spain but yet again it showed the La Liga leaders’ vulnerability.

It has exposed the fact that FC Barcelona can be vulnerable whenever they try to give Lionel Messi a breather.

With a top-of-the-table showdown against Atletico Madrid and two UEFA Champions League quarter-final games against Manchester United coming up, Barca coach Ernesto Valverde understandably opted to rest his talisman.

Messi sat on the bench alongside Ivan Rakitic and Gerard Pique and, although Barca got off to a flying start with two early goals, they were pegged back by struggling Villarreal.

It simply prompted Valverde to turn to him with the score tied at 2-2.

No sooner had Messi come on and Villarreal took a shock lead before making it 4-2.

But, not for the first time this season, Barca’s captain spearheaded their comeback.

The Argentine smashed a freekick in off the post at the start of stoppage time, paving the way for Luis Suarez’s last-gasp equaliser.

“Football is incredible,” hailed the front cover of Spanish newspaper Marca, while daily Mundo Deportivo said Suarez’s late strike was “a goal that is worth the league title”.

But Messi’s role in Barca’s latest escape act was the third time in the league this season when he has been called upon to get them out of trouble.

It again raised the question of whether Barca suffers from `Messi-dependence’.

“Of course, Messi-dependence exists, it will exist in any other team in the world,” said Barca coach Valverde.

“But when he is there we also have to play. The first 15 minutes (when Barca was 2-0 up) we didn’t need him, in the last 15 we really did. We all accept this.”


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