u/Fuckyou32skidoo

Messi (30 years old) was aging physically and could no longer contribute to the pressing/defensive aspect. Led to Barca becoming a weaker team physically, that could not match other European teams.

Liverpool outran us greatly for example. We actually got lucky to win that first game 3-0. Bayern game was the final straw, we literally played 2 men down by having Messi and Suarez upfront.

Neymar was younger (25), entering his physical prime, a defensive workhorse and it was his time to spearhead the team. We should have built a young team around him so that we never would have had those years of Club de Amigos, inadequate physical preparation, and kept in line with the rest of Europe.

This is all without mentioning Messi’s €555M contract which was putting a severe strain on our club’s finances. He was earning over 4x what Ronaldo was earning at Real Madrid.

Infact, we can use Madrid as a case study. Ronaldo asked for a higher salary, Perez said no and thus he was sold for €100M to Juve. Madrid rebuilt, replacing him with Hazard, Vini & Rodrygo. It took some time, and in the end Hazard flopped, but the 2 young Brazilians led Madrid to their 2 UCL victories in 2022 and 2024.

The point? The collective is always more important than building a team around an aging individual.