Barcelona’s star, Messi and manager, Ernesto Valverde, has been attacked by Spanish press following the Catalan’s Champions League exit.
Spanish press are blaming the club for surrendering a 4-1 first leg advantage to lose 3-0 in Rome.
Barca had crashed out on away goals, after 4-4 Tuesday’s game.
While the press was blaming Valverde’s tactics for the loss, fingers were also pointed at Messi for his poor performance and lack of leadership quality.
“The final whistle in Rome not only signified Barcelona’s Champions’ League capitulation but also that of Lionel Messi, who lost possession 19 times, shot only two of his five efforts on target, and failed to score throughout the entire tie,” wrote Marca.
“From being such an integral part of the win over Chelsea in the last 16, the Argentine arrived at a round in which he has tended to struggle, and that factor became far more than a coincidence as he went missing once again in the quarter-final
“There is a clear parallel between Messi’s drop-off in the competition and his club’s. With just one title in the last seven years, the Catalans are starved of continental success and the startling way in which their big players go missing on these occasions is really taking its toll,” it added.
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