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What's the story?
Former Barcelona star Juan Antonio Pizzi believes Barcelona are too dependent on Lionel Messi.
In case you didn't know...
Lionel Messi will be turning 32 in the coming month but the Argentine maestro is showing no signs of slowing down. The five time Ballon d'Or winner has racked up 50 goals in the campaign yet again and leads the race for European Golden Shoe with 36 league goals. As a result of his exploits, Messi secured his sixth Pichichi trophy and leads the scoring charts in the UEFA Champions League in the current season.
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The Argentine wizard has constantly proved that he is few notches above any of his competitors in the current campaign. It goes without saying that his impact at Barcelona remains unparalleled. Messi has helped the Catalan giants secure their 8th LaLiga title in 11 years but could not prevent Barcelona's shock exit from the Champions League semi-finals.
The heart of the matter
Pizzi believes that Champions League defeat will have a huge impact on Barcelona.
Speaking in an interview with Marca, former Barcelona star said:
"Undoubtedly, the Champions League blow can have a big impact on them but I think they've performed very well this season. They won LaLiga Santander with games to spare and got to the Copa del Rey final."
"If you look at the squad you see some of the best players in the wold around Messi, but it's true that they've been completely dependant on him at times. He's central for them."
Pizzi was Chile's coach when they defeated Argentina in the Copa Del Rey finals and he was happy to explain how his team stopped Messi.
"We knew that we had to be careful with him and we played them the year before, so knew how to isolate and control him."
What's next?
Barcelona will regret missing out the Champions League but they will have to give their best to beat Valencia in the Copa Del Rey finals. The Catalan giants will be facing Valencia this Sunday, hoping to secure their consecutive domestic double.
