(Reuters) - With a Barcelona shirt on, pretty much everything has gone right for Lionel Messi in the past four seasons, a run of form that has helped the Catalan club to 13 trophies and the Argentine to three World Player of the Year awards.
Messi, who is yet to convince many of his compatriots he is the true heir to Diego Maradona, had scored an astonishing 63 goals in all competitions this season before he took to the field in London last week for the Champions League semi-final first leg against Chelsea.
However, unlike in recent times, when Barca's season reached the crucial moment, his scoring touch - and luck - deserted him.
He failed to find the net in either leg of the semi-final, meaning he has now been unable to score against Chelsea in eight outings, by far his worst record against any club, and suffered the ignominy of seeing his second-half penalty crash off the bar on Tuesday at the Nou Camp.
He also drew a blank on Saturday when Barca slipped to a 2-1 La Liga defeat at home to arch rivals Real Madrid which all-but ended their bid for a fourth straight title.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the only man who has come close to matching Messi's scoring feats, rubbed salt in the wounds by netting the winner, helping him shed the tag of a player who does not produce in big games.
If Real, who trail Bayern Munich 2-1 ahead of the second leg in Madrid on Wednesday, can win the Champions League and the Portuguese performs well at Euro 2012 he is likely to claim back the World Player award he won in 2008 before Messi's three-straight successes.
FEW BAD HOURS
Messi's coach Pep Guardiola has repeatedly pointed out that Barca's recent success has in large part been down to the brilliance of the softly-spoken, shy little lad from Rosario known as 'the flea'.
He rallied behind his charge after Tuesday's bitter setback.
"We have got this far thanks to this kid," the former midfielder told a news conference.
"More than ever I want to thank him for what he's done," added the 41-year-old.
"My admiration for him knows no limits. He is an example for all of us, his competitiveness inspires us.
"He's daring, he's brave and he plays fantastically well in all kinds of different conditions.
"I don't doubt he will have a few bad hours now but football is like this.
"Sometimes you smile and sometimes you are sad and it's our turn to be sad and someone else is going to the final in Munich and we have to come back next year."
Messi still has a chance to help Barca to another trophy when they take on Athletic Bilbao in next month's King's Cup final in Madrid.
For now, the 24-year-old, already the club's all-time top scorer and the only man to have scored five goals in a Champions League game, will have to deal with the feelings of disappointment that he and his team mates have rarely tasted since Guardiola took over in 2008.
-Reuters
Barcelona: Champions League Failure Reveals over Dependence on Messi
Messi, who is yet to convince many of his compatriots he is the true heir to Diego Maradona, had scored an astonishing 63 goals in all competitions this season before he took to the field in London last week for the Champions League semi-final first leg against Chelsea.
However, unlike in recent times, when Barca's season reached the crucial moment, his scoring touch - and luck - deserted him.
He failed to find the net in either leg of the semi-final, meaning he has now been unable to score against Chelsea in eight outings, by far his worst record against any club, and suffered the ignominy of seeing his second-half penalty crash off the bar on Tuesday at the Nou Camp.
He also drew a blank on Saturday when Barca slipped to a 2-1 La Liga defeat at home to arch rivals Real Madrid which all-but ended their bid for a fourth straight title.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the only man who has come close to matching Messi's scoring feats, rubbed salt in the wounds by netting the winner, helping him shed the tag of a player who does not produce in big games.
If Real, who trail Bayern Munich 2-1 ahead of the second leg in Madrid on Wednesday, can win the Champions League and the Portuguese performs well at Euro 2012 he is likely to claim back the World Player award he won in 2008 before Messi's three-straight successes.
FEW BAD HOURS
Messi's coach Pep Guardiola has repeatedly pointed out that Barca's recent success has in large part been down to the brilliance of the softly-spoken, shy little lad from Rosario known as 'the flea'.
He rallied behind his charge after Tuesday's bitter setback.
"We have got this far thanks to this kid," the former midfielder told a news conference.
"More than ever I want to thank him for what he's done," added the 41-year-old.
"My admiration for him knows no limits. He is an example for all of us, his competitiveness inspires us.
"He's daring, he's brave and he plays fantastically well in all kinds of different conditions.
"I don't doubt he will have a few bad hours now but football is like this.
"Sometimes you smile and sometimes you are sad and it's our turn to be sad and someone else is going to the final in Munich and we have to come back next year."
Messi still has a chance to help Barca to another trophy when they take on Athletic Bilbao in next month's King's Cup final in Madrid.
For now, the 24-year-old, already the club's all-time top scorer and the only man to have scored five goals in a Champions League game, will have to deal with the feelings of disappointment that he and his team mates have rarely tasted since Guardiola took over in 2008.
-Reuters
Barcelona: Champions League Failure Reveals over Dependence on Messi
Chelsea fans around the world rejoiced as Fernando Torres put away the goal that guaranteed Chelsea's spot in the finals.
Playing against the reigning champions, Chelsea's victory was also sweet revenge as they beat a Barcelona side that has troubled them incessantly in the past. Now Barcelona have to be asking what went wrong.
The answer is simple.
Barcelona are far too dependent on the play of Lionel Messi. In three straight huge games, Messi has failed to find the back of the net. His play has generally been poor for the past few games.
Perhaps most importantly, he is cracking under pressure.
Lionel Messi has not been clutch lately. He's squandered opportunities, taking 13 shots in the last three games and failing to score with any of them. Real Madrid was able to hold Messi to a single shot. Worse still, Messi missed a spot kick in second leg of the Chelsea match up that could have decided the tie. Another big penalty, another miss from the Argentine. Just like his penalty chance against Sevilla in October, he failed to convert when Barca needed it the most.
Messi has missed seven of 34 chances from the spot for a conversion rate of 79.4%. That's absolutely dismal.
Messi might be one of the world's best finishers and players, but he has failed to score from the penalty too many times for Barcelona to continue calling upon him.
It's time to give someone more reliable a chance.
Messi's poor play, however, isn't just a reflection on himself. Barcelona are entirely too dependent on their false nine. Many fans consider Arsenal overly reliant on Robin van Persie to score, and rightly so considering he accounts for 40% of his team's goals. Messi accounts for 43% of Barcelona's.
On top of that, Messi is also Barcelona's top assist man, tied for second in La Liga with Real Madrid's Angel Di Maria and behind Mesut Özil. You might think it's fantastic that the little man is able to score so much and still contribute to his team, but it raises a big question: What happens when Messi underperforms?
The last string of matches have made painfully obvious that Barcelona cannot rely only on Messi. He's scored over 70% of his goals at home and picked up over twice as many assists from Camp Nou. On the road, he is relatively poor and by extension so is Barcelona.
In today's match, Messi was less than his best.
He didn't have a bad game, but he wasn't the player you need in a big match against one of England's best sides. He completed 74% of his passes, a much lower rate than his usual 84%. He picked up a foolish yellow card and, of course, could not score despite so many chances. He has no excuse for not finding the back of the net against a ten man side. He has no excuse for failing to score from twelve yards away. Chelsea's core defenders were not even in for half the game, and still the backups were able to stop Messi.
Obviously in the last three matches, Barcelona was able to score even when Messi didn't. That doesn't change anything. The fact of the matter is, when Messi plays poorly, so does the rest of Barcelona.
With only the Copa del Rey left to win, Barcelona might of learned a lesson far too late.
-Bleacher Report
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