Luis Enrique, Barcelona Magically Make Lionel Messi Disappear

Lionel Messi’s problem is that he’s only 99 percent perfect. For the rest of us mortals that would be pretty good, but unlike Messi, we’re not expected to be flawless.

When he has subpar performances—only one goal and two assists in a match, for example—critics are quick to call the slight dip in form a major issue and launch into speculation about club politics, the heavy weight of the Argentine’s talismanic mantle and Cristiano Ronaldo’s abs, for some reason (because we can’t seem to go five minutes without mentioning CR7 in any Messi discussion). 

For someone like Messi, who has the world media attention of a pop star and the additional responsibility of being a team leader and an ambassador for his sport, talk of that 1 percent failure can balloon in a hurry. It is for this reason that Messi—the go-to guy for Barca and Argentina, the magician who can single-handedly turn a game on its head, arguably the greatest player ever—needs to disappear.

Let me explain.

Against APOEL, Luis Enrique left Neymar on the bench in favor of an attacking trio of Pedro, Luis Suarez and Messi. The pre-match formation suggested the Argentine would take his usual front-and-center position up top while being flanked by Pedro and Suarez.

Of course this made sense: It is well-known that Messi prefers to operate in the center so he can float around to find the best attacking position for the occasion. It made sense from a coaching perspective, too, for why wouldn’t you give the your most prolific goalscorer every opportunity to play to his strengths (and keep him happy by giving him what he wants while you’re at it)?

Logic would support playing Messi in the center to maximize his qualities, but doing so would also maximize the opportunities for his imperfections to rear their ugly heads.

When he plays centrally, it’s easier to mark him and hand him off to other defenders when he sprints by the defensive midfielders. He picks up the ball deep and drives forward, looking to either score alone against multiple defenders or pass the ball off to a teammate in a less-threatening position on the wing, where one would be available.

This tactic has worked very well in the past couple years but also unnecessarily exposes Messi’s lack of physicality and emphasizes the danger associated with his perpetual marked-man status.

Messi was not built to barge through defenses down main street like Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He was not built to muscle off burly (and pacey) midfielders on long runs like Gareth Bale does. We know it can be difficult for him to get free when a dogged defender like Pepe is strong-arming him in the midfield for the entirety of the match.

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

In other words, standing in the center-stage spotlight and announcing himself to all challengers is a surefire way to make his task more difficult than it has to be.

Let’s go back in time a bit for some perspective. Teenage Messi became legendary Messi with quick little bursts of speed, slaloming dribbles in the offensive third and lightning one-twos with his teammates. He built his young reputation at Barcelona on the work he did out on the right wing while playing alongside Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o.

With world-class talent like that sharing the attentions of defenses, Messi could slip away from center stage and become a shadow until it was time to strike. With the likes of Suarez promising to be a world-class threat like Eto’o was in the middle, Messi can now reprise the role that made him famous. 

Though the formation suggested more of the same for Messi tonight against APOEL, the Argentine actually spent little time playing as a center forward. Instead, he reverted to his old position on the right, and lo and behold, the change resulted in a Champions League record-breaking performance.

And what’s more, almost as if it where a sign of approval from the soccer gods themselves, Messi, a left-footer, scored all three of his goals with his right foot while playing on the right side.

Coincidence? Maybe, but I’m running with it. 

To be fair, Messi might have scored a hat-trick against APOEL even if he were playing center-back, but it’s the way that he scored his three tonight that is the revelation.

His first goal came when he started on the right side of the box, dribbled center, passed off the ball to Rafinha at the top of the box and popped up unmarked at the penalty spot to redirect the midfielder’s shot into the net.

Messi started out in the corner of APOEL’s eye and passed the focus of the play off to Rafinha (who was in a very threatening position at the top of the box) so that he could momentarily disappear. Then (once forgotten by the panicking APOEL defense) the Argentine reappeared to score unmolested.

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

The strategy was brilliant: pick up the ball in a relatively nonthreatening position out wide, play a dime ball to a teammate in threatening goalscoring position in the center to draw defensive focus, then use that panic to disappear and gain prime field position for a goal. And no one in the world is a better finisher than Messi.

His second goal involved a zero-to-60 burst of speed out of nowhere, and his third was almost comically symbolic.

Messi found himself well offside in the APOEL box when he was picked out by a teammate’s cross. Being completely aware of his situation, he stayed perfectly still and let the ball run by to Pedro so as not to kill the play. Pedro crossed the ball, and a reactivated Messi (i.e. now onside) sprung forward for the close finish. He went from man to ghost to man in a matter of seconds, and the result was a goal for his team.

The Argentine showed that the best way to score is to make his opponents entirely forget that they’re playing against Lionel Messi. He played tonight like a true leader—one who is willing to give the spotlight to others (like Suarez, who played more centrally and also scored a goal in the match) in order to be a more effective contributor to the overall team effort.

He even pulled his disappearing act on defense, running back to steal the ball from Dani Alves’ mark near the corner flag. Of course, no one would expect the Champions League's all-time leading scorer to put in grunt work to help his team on defense, which is why his steal was such an effective surprise.

Whether it was explicitly planned or just the result of allowing his forwards more freedom up top, Enrique’s tactical plan gave Messi a taste of nostalgia that Barca fans hope he won’t soon forget.

Either way, thanks to tonight, Enrique has realized that the greatest trick of all may be making the little magician disappear.