Messi (43 page)

Around that time the ex-Barcelona player Ronald de Boer was having breakfast with Frank Rijkaard when he dared to analyse the Argentinian. He’d only ever seen him on television. ‘I’ve seen this boy, Messi, but truthfully he doesn’t impress me.’ Rijkaard looked at him in astonishment. ‘You need to see him in training, Ronald. He does things that nobody else can do. We don’t even need to put ideas in his head. We can just leave him to do what he does. Instinctively.’

But Rijkaard only wanted to say that in private. At the end of one training session, Ten Cate stopped the journalist Roberto Martínez who followed Leo closely and wrote about him in
El Mundo Deportivo
. ‘Listen, Roberto, easy with the boy,’ Ten Cate said, hoping to calm things down. ‘He’s good, but not as good as some of the things that you are writing.’

But the brake that the coaches were trying to apply did not correspond to the opportunities that were presenting themselves: with the number 19 on his back Leo’s appearances meant that Giuly was no longer first choice. The Barcelona players received a bonus for playing 60 per cent of all matches and they all counted their appearances. ‘Sometimes one of the players would tell me: “Boss, I’m at 58 per cent, I need two more games, play me!”’ recalls Ten Cate. It became a joke asking Giuly what percentage he had played. ‘Forty-eight per cent!’ he told van Bronckhorst. ‘Lionel is playing.’

‘Then,’ Gio would add, ‘you’re twelve per cent short. Leo!! Leo!!! Giuly says he needs twelve per cent! Help him!’ the full-back and others used to shout at the Argentinian, laughing.

Ten days after signing his new contract, Messi was in the starting line-up to face Udinese in the second match of the Champions League group phase. Leo, following the performances against Juventus in the Gamper and Werder Bremen, had another storming game. This is how Ramón Besa in
El País
described it: ‘Shaken by Messi, the man of the match, Barcelona battered a Udinese side with the trigger of Ronaldinho in his role as chief sniper. The Argentinian dismantled the Italians’ plan with a supreme performance.’ Barcelona won by a convincing 4–1 scoreline.

In November he scored his first goal in the competition against
Panathinaikos. Rijkaard particularly liked the pressure he exerted to provoke a goalkeeping error: Leo stole the ball, then lifted it over the keeper before rounding him and scoring. It was the third goal in a convincing 5–0 victory.

Barcelona were now in the last 16 where they would face José Mourinho’s Chelsea.

But before that, his first appearance in the line-up of a
clásico
at the Bernabéu. So far that season he had only played two full matches, against Osasuna and Panathinaikos, and Rijkaard was trying to protect him and respect the status quo of each player within the squad. His assistants weren’t so sure any more that that was the right response to the appetite and quality he offered, and they told the Dutchman so: he was ready to start, even against Madrid, and it was time to forget the old order – Giuly was certainly a step down from Leo. Against his instincts and following the advice of his staff, Rijkaard decided to include him in the starting eleven against Real Madrid, although he didn’t tell him until two hours before the game, so as not to put too much pressure on him. Leo had thought he was going to be a substitute. ‘It was a surprise,’ he said afterwards.

All the
galácticos
were on display but Barcelona confirmed, in one of the greatest of all football settings, that they truly were the team of the moment. All eyes were on Ronaldinho who scored two goals and then received an unexpected present: a standing ovation from the Bernabéu. Barcelona’s frontmen of Ronnie, Eto’o and Messi were unstoppable, and the Argentinian, from the right wing, won his personal battle with Roberto Carlos. No longer would they debate who was the better among the new faces, Leo or Robinho. The 0–3 win put an end to all the verbal battles. In the fifty-ninth minute Iniesta came on as substitute for him. Yes, Leo was ready for the big matches.

On 13 December, in the Camp Nou, he received the Golden Boy award given out by Tuttosport to the best Under 21 player. Wayne Rooney was well behind in second place. Ronnie went up to Leo after he received the trophy to tell him that one day, in the not too distant future, they would be giving him the Ballon d’Or, the very trophy that just a few days later the Brazilian himself would receive.

It had been a triumphant year.

*

Leo had played one game at number 10, behind the striker, with Frank Rijkaard. Three months after his debut against Porto, a Barcelona, full of substitutes and youngsters from the B team, organised a friendly behind closed doors against Bernd Schuster’s Shakhtar Donetsk. Leo replaced Luis García, and Ten Cate suggested letting him play a free role. Aged just 16, he obliged. But he went back to Barcelona’s second team and when, months later, he returned to the first team, he did so to play on the wing. It was designed to get him away from the maelstrom in the centre of the pitch, and they were also looking to make the most of his speed when faced by the full-backs, to make diagonal runs cutting inside, which drew defenders to him and created more space for others. But even Rijkaard knew that his time spent on the wing would only be temporary
.

And that his position on the wing was not just a tactical move
.

Leo’s transition into the Barcelona first team had gone through various stages of evolution: one was tactical and the other was to do with his role within the squad. The two go hand in hand. When Rijkaard began to allow him his passage into the elite, the starting eleven was full of stars. The nucleus was formed by Ronaldinho, Deco and Eto’o. Leo added his own quality to this group. Rijkaard was not prepared to change the established order, those invisible and yet so powerful and essential checks and balances that govern a team. One that was clearly lighting up the world. Messi played on the right wing and, like all youngsters who reach the top, he was prepared to obey orders, did as he was told with the same level of commitment he showed at all levels of La Masía. Without being a typical winger, and despite being left-footed, he immediately showed his value. And the weakest link was sacrificed – Ludovic Giuly
.

Leo was growing into his small role on the confines of the wings, but very soon he began to look for more space, to attempt moves more suited to his understanding of the game, away from the flanks. The second stage of his tactical evolution was beginning to take shape
.

Good coaches know that if a player keeps on knocking at the door, demanding more space, you’re going to have to open it and let him in. But in that eco-system that is a group of footballers, if a new boy wants to invade others’ territory, he might well find that those who might be affected are not about to let him demonstrate
his superiority, or the coach might decide to clip his wings, because he doesn’t want to destabilise the overall collective
.

Rijkaard had promised Messi that he would eventually let him play in the centre, but in the first years with the first team he was not given that opportunity. In fact, he had to wait for the arrival of Pep Guardiola before that second tactical evolution took place properly
.

The game most representative of the Rijkaard era involving Leo Messi in a starting role but on the flank was the Chelsea−Barcelona Champions League fixture played in February and March 2006
.

The year before, Chelsea had eliminated Barcelona at the start of hostilities between the two clubs who ended up facing each other three times in three consecutive seasons. On that occasion, the
blaugranas
had won the first leg 2-1 but Chelsea manager José Mourinho accused Frank Rijkaard of speaking to the referee, Anders Frisk, at the interval. The death threats that followed Frisk sending off Didier Drogba compelled Frisk to terminate his refereeing career. Mourinho was suspended for two games. In the return leg at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea beat the Catalans 4–2, after a spectacular start that saw the Londoners go into a 3–0 lead. Terry’s goal in the last seconds of the game, despite a foul on Víctor Valdés by Ricardo Carvalho that was not acknowledged by the referee, decided the game. ‘Barcelona is a great club, but it’s only won one Champions League once in a hundred years,’ said Mourinho, raising the stakes for any future encounters. ‘I’ve only spent a few years coaching, and I’ve already won it.’

On 22 February 2006, in the first leg of the last 16, there was talk of revenge in the match between possibly the two best teams in Europe at the time, both of whom had two distinct ways of playing and two very different types of coaches. ‘There was a tense atmosphere. Everybody felt it,’ remembers Asier del Horno, the Chelsea left-back at that time. The Portuguese manager, as usual, laid down the conditions as to how the game should be played: the sprinklers left the pitch like a mudbath, the ball hardly rolled at all and the teams seemed prepared to cancel each other out. Perhaps for that reason Iniesta was left on the bench and the Barcelona midfield contained a lot of muscle: Deco, Edmilson and Motta. The three forwards were as expected. Ronaldinho on the left but with licence to move around, Eto’o would be the striker and Leo Messi on the right wing
.

That game was the perfect, graphic example of the Argentinian’s game under Rijkaard. From the very first minute he showed himself to be on the offensive, looking for the one vs ones, very wide. And the team were looking for him even though, with him being only just 18, others should have taken more responsibility. Messi, wearing the number 31 on his back, responded with the first shot at goal, creating the first moment of danger for Chelsea, and pressing whenever he lost possession, as he converted himself into public enemy number one for the Chelsea defence
.

Del Horno knew from the very beginning that he was facing a fast running and bold opponent
.

‘Tactically we were well-organised,’ explains del Horno. ‘Mourinho had prepared the match in detail, with the intention of blocking the movement of Barcelona. In midfield there were people like Makelele, Lampard and Essien who covered the defence, but Messi still got through. He faced up to me two or three times and I tried to stop him with my experience and whatever resources I had.’

On one occasion, Leo got past him and the following time del Horno stopped him with a brutal knee-high tackle that left his stud marks on the Argentinian’s right leg. The referee did not caution the defender
.

‘He didn’t retaliate. He said nothing. There is retaliation in football between defenders and forwards but not in this case,’ confirms del Horno
.

And then came the event that the whole world remembers. The one that marked the whole encounter
.

Thirty-sixth minute
.

Leo received the ball on the right-hand side around halfway. A heavy touch made Robben think that the ball would go over the line. But Messi had other ideas
.

‘The Flea’ set off at speed to fight for the ball about three metres from the corner flag. Where wingers live and die. Robben was protecting it while Leo tried to get through on Robben’s right, then on his left. The Dutch winger attempted a badly miscalculated shoulder charge and lost his balance and Leo took advantage to outrun him on the left
.

Leo regained the ball in the quarter circle of the corner
.

Robben dived in with two feet, but a smooth touch from the
Argentinian turned the manoeuvre into a nutmeg. With the Chelsea player on the floor, Leo hurried after the ball when …

‘I saw the defender coming towards me, aggressively, with bad intentions…’ (Leo)

‘I tried to stop him …’ (del Horno)

‘…and I jumped …’ (Leo)

‘… and he went past me …’ (del Horno)

‘… and that’s why he didn’t get me …’ (Leo)

‘He started to roll around the ground and I was sent off’ (del Horno)
.

A melee ensued and with Puyol and Robben unable to understand what the other was saying, plus the tension, they almost came to blows. After a few seconds the referee, Terje Hauge, showed a red card to the Chelsea full-back
.

‘Messi was clever, he was intelligent, it looked like it had been a terrible tackle but in reality it was nothing … Lionel exaggerated, without doubt.’

‘The saddest thing about the game is that they said that it wasn’t a foul,’ says Silvinho. ‘It’s quite clear, del Horno had lost the plot and was going for Leo at full pelt. It was a red card.’

‘It was lunacy’ is how Henk ten Cate described it
.

‘But Leo behaved impeccably,’ remembers Silvinho. ‘If it’s a foul, it’s a foul, if it’s red, it’s red and that’s it.’

‘I didn’t say anything to the defender. Him to me neither. It was all part of the game, that is football. He tried to do the best for his team,’ Messi explains now. ‘It was that incident where it all took off but after that the match continued normally.’

Yes. The game continued
.

Leo didn’t hide after the incident, despite being booed by the Stamford Bridge crowd every time he touched the ball. He hadn’t said a word during that clash, or throughout the game. The atmosphere, electric after half an hour’s play, was feeding him. He wanted the ball. He went in search of his new rival, Paulo Ferreira, who had moved over onto the left of the defence, with Geremi, who had replaced Joe Cole, on the other side
.

The sending-off had given Mourinho the necessary excuse to defend deep in search of a goalless draw. Messi wanted to change the plan but his team was not with him
.

Lampard hit a free-kick, Valdés made a mistake in coming out and the ball hit Motta. Own goal. The game was turning Chelsea’s way
.

Leo carried on demanding the ball. He was the most dominant of all the forwards, continuing to look for the weaknesses in the opposition so as to turn the tie around, giving depth and bravery to the team. The referee ignored a penalty for a foul on ‘the Flea’
.