#1 Lionel Messi combining well with Coutinho but the woodwork curse remains
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Shake a leg, Leo!
When players like Coutinho and Messi get into their groove, football is just great to watch. It was a treat watching Neymar and Messi wreaking havoc in Spain and gutting oppositions like ruthless trappers.
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Coutinho was always expected to fit in easily at Barcelona thanks to his impeccable technique and passing range. But what is really reassuring for the fans of the Cules will be how efficiently Lionel Messi has created an understanding with the Brazilian.
The duo was often seen playing off of each other and Messi seemed to easily understand what the Brazilian was up to more often than not. This is exactly what the doctor ordered at the Camp Nou in the aftermath of the much celebrated departure of Neymar.
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Messi enjoyed himself so much he even broke out into a disco routine rather surprisingly after scoring his goal, much to the amusement of the Camp Nou.
Meanwhile, Barcelona's woodwork curse looks like its here to stay. Though it came to their help 4 times over the 2 legs against Chelsea, it denied them thrice on the evening as Philippe Coutinho was denied twice and Paulinho once.
Barcelona have hit the woodwork a whopping 38 times this season with Lionel Messi being the unluckiest of the lot after being denied 16 times in all this season.
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If you missed it, here is Leo Messi having some twisted fun.
Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.
For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.
Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.
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