Barcelona’s elimination in the Champions League did not influence Capello’s opinion of Messi and highlighted his qualities on the field
Fabio Capello, The former Real Madrid technical director and today Sky Sports analyst, described Lionel Messi as an “absolute genius” after the game he gave to Barcelona in the second round of the eighth UEFA Champions League against PSG, where he scored a goal and missed a penalty.
Even in his role as commentator, Capello said that the rest of the players in the world can get a lot of golden balloons, but that there is no one to come close to what the Argentine does.
“Messi has something more than the others, he is an absolute genius. The others will win the Golden Balloon, as Cristiano Ronaldo won, but Leo is the genius because he does things with quality and speed that are unimaginable for others. He uses his feet as others use their hands. Tonight we saw a great Messi and a beautiful Barcelona “, he added.
Similarly, the technical director assured that if it were not for Keylor Navas and Marquinhos, the return match at the Parque de los Príncipes stadium would have been for the Iberian team, as it was the one with the clearest scoring options.
“The lion I saw tonight is a phenomenon that was stopped by the goalkeeper and Marquinhos. Messi is a footballer with something different. He proved once again that he has something more than the others“He insisted.
On the other hand, in his analysis for the European network, Capello criticized Cristiano Ronaldo for the game he offered in the return of the club tournament against Porto, the same thing in which the Portuguese influenced his team to fall and be eliminated.
“Anyone on the barrier cannot be afraid of being hit. It is a very serious and unforgivable mistake, which has no excuses. When you prepare the players who have to put themselves in the barrier, you talk to them and tell them that if someone is afraid to tell you and don’t put them. You are eliminated because you put two players who turned their backs on the ball and the ball came in. And it’s not the goalkeeper’s fault, “he said without hesitation.
On several occasions, Capello confessed his admiration for Messi, which led him to ask for his job when the Italian strategist led Juventus, after seeing him play in a match for the Joan Gamper trophy.