Match Focus: Masterful Messi Leaves Guardiola & Bayern Hopes in Tatters

By now, there are no new words to describe him, apparently no new ways to stop him and - as a consequence of all that - no realistic hope for Bayern Munich.

Leo Messi levelled the Germans, somehow lifting himself up to even greater heights at the same time. After all the build-up, all the history, all the tactical intrigue, that’s what this semi-final first leg came down to. The Argentine did it best, then his compatriot Javier Mascherano put it best: “we have Messi”.

It’s very difficult not to distil the 3-0 difference at Camp Nou down to Barcelona’s number-10, the perfect 10.

Because, although Pep Guardiola had initially got his defensive set-up wrong with that staggering gambit of three at the back man-to-man marking, his reshuffle did rebalance the game. It was tight and tense. A 0-0 final score wouldn’t exactly have been an unfair reflection on the period between the 13th and 76th minute.

It was at that point, though, that Messi just decided to impose his will on the game. He was going to force the issue and effectively finish the contest. The sheer power of his 77th-minute goal was both a reflection of his drive and the most brutally brilliant application of it.

It was also reminiscent in style and circumstance of his key strike in the 2011 Champions League final, that put Barca ahead against Manchester United for the fateful final time. When an elite fixture was at its most exacting point, Messi was going to elevate himself above it all. He asked more of such a game than it did of him.

It’s almost a case study for sports psychology, and one reason why he may be the best ever, that focus.

Yet, if that first goal was the most complete illustration of his mentality, the second fully displayed the more fundamental side of his greatness: that magic talent, and why it’s at a level above virtually everyone in history.

Messi took four touches to steady himself, one more to utterly humiliate Jerome Boateng, and then a last one to put it past Manuel Neuer in precisely the way most managers and scouts suggest is most difficult to beat the German goalkeeper - to chip him. That those final two touches had such dimensions beyond just scoring a goal is fitting, not least because they were so unsullied and so unhurried. All four of his efforts on goal were on target, while Bayern failed to test the opposing keeper with a single one.

This is what’s really worth considering with Messi. Virtually everything he does on a pitch is so clean and clinically efficient. He has no need to add frills or flights of fancy or sleights of feet because almost every touch is as close to perfection as pretty much any player has managed. Messi’s touches generally do exactly what they need to do. It’s hard to think of anyone that has been so gloriously minimalist but so frequently produced maximum effect.

He figures out the most direct route to goal and then calculates how close he can get to it, which tends to be very close. That was someway revealed in his comment about the second goal, which reminded of Diego Maradona talking about how he recalled which way Peter Shilton tended to dive just before rounding the England goalkeeper in Mexico 1986. “I thought he would cover my best foot,” Messi smiled. “So I went the other way.”

His approach to passing is similar. Even with those geniuses considered the best passers of all time, the majority tend to have to go around or over defences because they don’t quite have the genuinely elite ability to more regularly go through. That is not the case with Messi. He almost always opts for a through ball, attempting 4 such passes in this game. Of the 5 successful through balls on the night, Messi was responsible for 3. He threads the needle.

As if to add a final flourish to this display, and emphasise that he has now well and truly moved on from the perceptions three years ago that he was supposedly all about goals, Messi then set up Barca's third strike with a slide-rule ball to Neymar. It was also the third time the Argentine had supplied the Brazilian for a goal in this season’s Champions League, which is the most common combination in the 2014/15 competition.

It meant that another list grew too. Messi has been devastating in high-profile matches against virtually all of the best managers in the last decade: Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Diego Simeone, Arsene Wenger, Diego Simeone, Carlo Ancelotti and now Guardiola.

Not even they could figure him out, proving right Guardiola's comment on the eve of the game. Messi is “unstoppable” when he’s in the mood, and he clearly was here. There was just no hesitation. He wanted to take command, which is emphasised by how he completed 10 dribbles during this first leg. In comparison the entire Bayern side completed just 3. His average in the Champions League this season is 7.4 dribbles per game and his average in the Spanish league is 4.5.

Here, he played above even his average level of performance, which is exceedingly high. He also lifted Barcelona to the Champions League final in Berlin. There’s no two ways about it.

Were it not for Messi, Guardiola’s risky game plan would likely have just about worked, and the tie would still in the balance. The Argentine tilted that balance.

Of course, that does not mean that the final coronation will come. A second leg must be navigated, and a final won. Anything can happen in a one-off game. It’s just Messi himself is a one-off who can do almost anything on a pitch.

Is Lionel Messi the best of all time? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below