Lionel Messi Criticised in Spanish Media After Roma vs. Barcelona Draw

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has come under fire in the Spanish media after the Catalan giants failed to get their 2015-16 Champions League campaign off to a winning start on Wednesday.  

The defending champions could only manage a 1-1 draw away at Roma in their opening group match as Luis Suarez's opener was cancelled out by Alessandro Florenzi's audacious equaliser.

Per Alfredo Relano of Spanish newspaper AS, Messi is to blame for Barca's failure to win, as he looked "too comfortable" on the night: 

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Last night’s performance [from Messi] though reminded me more of Puskas in his final year, when he was touching 40, lounging in the refuge of his great knowledge of the game and his trusty left foot; practicing a game without breaking into a sweat. Ingenuity and technique without risk or effort; a sort of: "Play the ball to my feet and I’ll let everyone else do the running" attitude. There were just a couple of half-hearted attempts at a one-two which didn’t come off. It wasn’t the Messi we want to see and that is why Barça didn’t come away with a win.

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It is true that Messi extended a creative and goalscoring drought in the Champions League on Wednesday night, per Opta:

However, to put the blame for the draw—a good result away from home for most other teams—at Messi's feet seems unduly harsh.

Roma are a terrific team with a very capable defence, and Messi troubled the Italians relatively often. Indeed, ESPN FC's Francesc Tomas labelled the Argentinian's showing as a "man of the match performance" in his 100th Champions League appearance.

He certainly came very close to finding the back of the net, per emenderk (via barcastuff):

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Gif: Messi hits the crossbar #fcblive [via @emenderk] pic.twitter.com/wNCL2WNMMz

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) September 16, 2015"

Messi can, at worst, be accused of having a relatively quiet game at the Stadio Olimpico, but that is to be expected every now and then considering his immense contributions the majority of the time.

In such matches, the onus should be on Barca's other players to pick up the slack, and against Roma, that did not happen.

However, a 1-1 draw away at Roma is hardly a disastrous result, and Luis Enrique's side will undoubtedly improve in their next Champions League outing—a home clash against Bayer Leverkusen.

As defending champions, they face extra pressure, and that may have got to them slightly on Wednesday, but they are still firmly among the favourites to lift the famous trophy in May 2016.