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Two-time World Cup winner Daniel Passarella, a center back on Argentina’s triumphant 1978 and 1986 squads, recently called out Lionel Messi for what he perceives to be a weakness in the captain’s leadership qualities: “The leader of the group is something different to the way you play and the talent of each player. I admire Messi, but I think his personality, his way of being, is withdrawn and timid.”
Honestly, where do people get this s***.
At the conclusion of Manchester City’s 3-1 drubbing of Barcelona, Messi reportedly approached the City dressing room in a way that was anything but ‘withdrawn and timid’. For the Citizens, it was their greatest European triumph of the modern era. For Messi and Barcelona, it was another frustrating evening with which to play the role of providers for a night of revelry.
Map Messi's run on this goal. Wow. He's now the #UCL's all-time top scorer in the group stage. @HeinekenSoccer https://t.co/nZrvkhcEoS
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 1, 2016
Messi is no stranger to the situation. Any time an opponent defeats Barcelona or Argentina it’s the equivalent of, or it actually is, winning a cup final. While it’s understandably a momentous occasion for opponents, Messi isn’t a competitor that approaches defeat spinelessly.
That’s why he continues to carry Argentina to major final after major final, that’s why he seemingly only gets better approaching his 30th birthday — an age by which many of the other all-time greats had significantly fallen off.
According to reports, a City player provoked Messi when leaving the pitch. From there, Messi is claimed to have called him an “imbecile” and while the player in question made further retorts from the dressing room, Messi allegedly shouted, “stupid, stupid come here and show your face, don’t hide."
This is when Argentine teammate Sergio Aguero emerged from the dressing room in an attempt to calm Messi down.
“Whenever you lose you’re not very happy,” said Aguero when asked about the spat. “I saw him there, he was feeling bad. I know him well enough to know when he’s bad, when he’s good. But when you lose, nobody’s good.
“I thought Messi said something to me but he didn’t, and then we talked about other stuff. It was nothing serious. I heard something but I don’t know what happened.
"When someone loses you have to respect them. Leo wasn’t in the mood to talk and I respect that.”
Aguero’s comments make it fairly obvious that, regardless of the degree of the spat, something happened that caused Messi to approach the City dressing room.
While Messi may not command the respect of Passarella, it’s clear that he has the respect of all the Argentine’s who featured last night: Javier Mascherano, Sergio Aguero, Nicolas Otamendi, Pablo Zabaleta and Willy Caballero.
While "withdrawn and timid" may more easily fit the stereotype of Messi off the field, it’s clear that Messi fears absolutely no one on, and around, the pitch.
Follow me on Twitter: @ConmanFleming
