Barcelona knew the test against Olympiacos away from home was tough from the moment that they set their foot in Greece. Ernesto Valverde’s former team were always a defensive side to reckon with, as seen in the 3-1 win for Barcelona where they left it too late to win the game.
The Greek side held Ernesto Valverde’s Barcelona side to a stalemate, becoming the second side to keep a clean sheet against the Catalan side after Real Madrid kept a clean sheet in the Spanish Super Cup.
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It was only possible for the Greek side, with the combination of Luis Suarez’s horrible form tangling with the injury to the creative midfielder Andres Iniesta. Although the Greece side had these in their favour, one thing certain was Messi firing cylinders.
A fortnight ago, Messi had scored his 100th European goal against Olympiacos with a well-taken free kick. The only way the side stopped Messi from scoring was with the help of tackles.
Not the first time this season for the Argentinian:
Amongst the tackles, were also ill-timed lunges which had an impact on the Argentinian. Girona’s Pablo Maffeo was the first person to man-mark and kick the No.10 around when the two sides met in a 3-0 win for the side led by Valverde. However, Olympiacos’ approach was different and more brutal.
The defence seemed more than happy to take aim at the little magician, fouling him at equal intervals much to the annoyance of Messi. A particular foul, however, stood out from the rest of the encounter when Spanish defender Alberto Botía tackled Messi from behind. Botia’s apology was not enough, as Messi looked fuming and also replied to what the defender had given him.
“No, now that’s not worth it, first the first and now the second, then you come to the dressing room, then you tell me off,” said an angry Messi. Botía had already committed several fouls on Messi that went far behind ‘roughing him up, and we can not blame the magician for his anger.
