NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Football

Are Barcelona and Lionel Messi going into meltdown?

By Alistair Tweedale
Daily Telegraph UK·
14 Apr, 2016 07:41 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Lionel Messi and Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League yesterday. Photo / AP

Lionel Messi and Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League yesterday. Photo / AP

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Okay, so 'meltdown' might be a little strong for last season's treble-winners and the best player on the planet, but the few weeks they have endured suggests there may well be something to worry about.

They will hope that Champions League elimination at the hands of Atletico Madrid after taking a first leg lead to the Calderon will be the nadir of their season; but their form of late, which has seen their league lead cut to just three points, hints that further trouble could be afoot.

Lionel Messi is suffering one of the worst goal droughts of his glittering career. The presence of Neymar and Luis Suarez was supposed to have taken pressure away from the Argentine to the extent that it didn't matter when he was not firing. He is off form now, though, and the team is struggling terribly.

He has failed to score in five consecutive matches, last scoring against Arsenal a month ago, meaning he has gone 452 minutes without scoring a single goal. That is his worst run since May 2011, and he will surpass that drought if he fails to net inside 23 minutes against Valencia at the weekend - something that looks a distinct possibility on recent evidence.

With 22 goals and 10 assists in 27 La Liga appearances so far this season, we can legitimately call this recent run little more than a blip for Messi, but Barcelona need him to rediscover form before long or their season could fall apart.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The suggestion that they might end the season with fewer than two trophies seemed absurd as recently as a fortnight ago. Barcelona, with a lethal front three that is in some quarters considered the best of all time, looked well-placed to become the first team to retain the Champions League. Another treble wasn't even beyond the realm of possibility.

After throwing away a two-goal lead at Villarreal in mid-March, Barcelona then lost at home after going ahead in the Clasico to ten-man Real Madrid. They beat Atletico - though they were fortunate that Luis Suarez had stayed on the pitch to score a brace - but have since lost to the same opposition and to the relatively lowly Real Sociedad.

That run has seen them fall behind four times in five games, as many times as they had in their previous 20 matches. They have also conceded as many goals in this recent poor run as they did in 13 before it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Barcelona have scored just five goals in five games. They have scored five or more in nine different matches already this season. Clearly, something is up.

They are keeping possession in their usual dominant manner, enjoying no less than 65 per cent of the ball in any game in their recent poor run, but are patently lacking much of the creative spark, dynamism and burst of pace that made them such a threat in the final third for the majority of the season. In their last three league matches they have mustered six 'clear cut' chances. They created eight in one game prior to this run.

Barcelona had not lost a single game since early October and had won 22 of their last 24 matches before this recent run threatened to decimate their season, and while in La Liga they may be able to rely on the healthy lead they had already built up, the knockout rounds of the Champions League have not been so forgiving. Even the one-off Copa del Rey final against Sevilla at the end of the season looks a daunting proposition as things stand.

Luis Enrique's side now have seven games to save their season and worryingly, the momentum they so recently had now looks to have run out.

Discover more

Wellington Phoenix

Football: Durante hits out at 'disgraceful lies'

13 Apr 04:19 AM

Retaining a trophy - let alone three - is much more difficult than winning it in the first place, so it has been a tiring and testing season for a much-scrutinised Barcelona team who everybody wants to beat.

Nonetheless, a team of their talents will be immensely disappointed if they don't end this slump quickly and will have done something even more surprising than another treble if they end up trophyless. That was unthinkable a few weeks ago, but things have taken a terrible turn in Catalonia.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Football

English Premier League

'Unique tribute': Liverpool to retire Jota's shirt in his honour

11 Jul 10:01 PM
Football|english premier league

Speeding likely cause of Diogo Jota car crash: Police

08 Jul 07:28 PM
New Zealand|wellington

‘Give it our all’: How Napier City Rovers' season hangs on crucial matches ahead

08 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Football

'Unique tribute': Liverpool to retire Jota's shirt in his honour

'Unique tribute': Liverpool to retire Jota's shirt in his honour

11 Jul 10:01 PM

Jota and his brother died in a car crash in northern Spain this month.

Speeding likely cause of Diogo Jota car crash: Police

Speeding likely cause of Diogo Jota car crash: Police

08 Jul 07:28 PM
‘Give it our all’: How Napier City Rovers' season hangs on crucial matches ahead

‘Give it our all’: How Napier City Rovers' season hangs on crucial matches ahead

08 Jul 05:00 PM
Billionaire-backed Western Springs stadium bid pulled from race

Billionaire-backed Western Springs stadium bid pulled from race

07 Jul 10:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP