Serie A legend hails Lionel Messi but slams Barcelona’s performance

The match between Barcelona and Granada saw Lionel Messi score the winner on Quique Setien’s debut as the manager of Barcelona.

Though the Catalan giants claimed a nervy 1-0 victory, AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini wasn’t convinced of their performance and said “It had not been a brilliant match, Barca has lacked depth” and believed that Messi did all the work as a leader.

One of the best ever to grace the football pitch, Messi has been in sublime form since the start of the season. Initially, his injury was a concern to the team which lacked intensity and since his return, he has scored 14 goals in 15 La Liga games.

If not for the 32-year-old, the Spanish giants could have been in deep trouble as the rest of the team has not lived up to the standards in the ongoing campaign.

Though Barcelona recorded 1005 passes in the game, they couldn’t create many goalscoring opportunities. Manager Setien’s philosophy of holding possession worked well but the Spanish outfit were not at their best.

Their only good moment came after the captain started and finished off a sweeping attacking move which gave them the breakthrough in the 76^th minute. Apart from that, youngster Riqui Puig had a decent game.

As Usual, Messi has been their saviour this season and Maldini was right in judging the Camp Nou outfit’s lack of depth in several key areas. He was clearly disappointed with their performance despite Barcelona taking control of the game as they failed to dominate their 10-man opponent in terms of goals.

Therefore, it clearly indicates that Setien has to make changes to his squad and bring in players who can support the attacking ranks. Especially with Suarez being sidelined, the Catalans surely need an established striker to bang in the goals regularly.