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Barcelona vs Stuttgart: Can Lionel Messi Save Barca From Champions League Exit?

44 views 17 March 2010

FC Barcelona and VfB Stuttgart face each other in tonight’s thrilling Champions League second-leg encounter, and Lionel Messi will be hoping to keep the devastating form he showed last weekend at the Camp Nou against Valencia.

Barcelona will play as the home side in Cataluña, and their leading man will of course be none other than Messi himself.

Lionel Messi made a hat-trick at the weekend against Valencia at home, and he seemed faultless in front of goal.

Tonight he comes up against the Germans Stuttgart, and it will be his only chance to keep Barcelona’s dream of staying in the UEFA Champions League alive.

Barcelona are the title holders of the Champions League, but they drew 1-1 away to the Mercedes-Benz Arena in February against Stuttgart.

This makes the situation a little bit more difficult for them, as a 2-2 draw – for instance – would send them out of the competition.

Messi did not score against Stuttgart in the first leg, but he created several chances which Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta, and Xavi Hernandez could not convert.

Lionel Messi was contained by a bunch of Stuttgart players which partly led to his so-called “ordinary” performance, but tonight might be different for the FIFA Player of the Year.

Lionel Messi has been appearing as the “savior” of Barcelona recently, but can he rescue the Catalans again in this second leg?

Real Madrid and Chelsea were both knocked-out of the Champions League in the last 7 days, but it will be up to Lionel Messi to prove why he is the best in the world by preventing the “Curse of the Giants” from hitting his side.

Isaac Asante, Footballfantalk.com