It was another mid-week night where my carnal pleasures of the footballing kind were being satiated, although it was a not a joyride by any means. FC Barcelona hosted the new kids on the block, PSG and quite a lot of pundits, including me, assumed that the former would run away with the tie with tremendous ease considering that they were carrying with them the luxury of 2 away goals from the first leg. In fact, even the think-tank at FCB were mulling of sidelining the irreplaceable genius in Messi for the reverse leg. Such was the confidence of fans, analysts and the FCB training staff, especially after Barcelona’s epic comeback against Milan last month. However, any sensible aficionado of the sport would know that upsets and miracles have become misnomers as they transpire once too often in this pre-eminent competition. Just on the eve of this tie, we all witnessed a nerve-wracking encounter between Malaga and Borussia Dortmund, which had more twists and turns than a mountain railroad. Bottom-line is that, once we enter this business end of the competition, all teams will have to remember that smugness and overconfidence will take them far, all the way to their graveyards.
When Messi was substituted in the game against PSG, I, just like most avid followers of this great man, started tracking his recuperation and was elated to see him in the squad on the day of the match. Though I was supremely confident that FCB would pip their rivals to the post, there was always more than a shred of doubt in my mind about the scoreline and the fashion in which Barcelona would qualify for the next round. In the game against Mallorca during the weekend, the Catalans simply overpowered their opponents and with a first ever hat-trick from Cesc and a brace from the struggling Alexis, things were looking quite rosy for the club and I even believed that Messi would not be missed after all.
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