The world witnessed another piece of brilliance from the Prince of Football as Lionel Messi scored yet another outrageous goal against Napoli. The magician was a bit hesitant or even lost in the first few minutes of the match. Maybe continual attacks from the Napoli strikers especially Dries Mertens had given him an initial shock and he might have been remembering Barca’s pathetic run in the UCL in the past two editions particularly their shocking defeat to the same side two years back or their devastating defeat to Liverpool in 2019. But that alone did not deter him from going forward with his uncanny habit of casting his spells in the most crucial times in a platform as big as the UCL. And then! The moment came. The Argentine maestro split a pair of defenders, shook another, got knocked down in the box, regained his balance and then curled a left-footed shot inside the far post as he was going to ground again. Oh, God, what a beauty that was! It would not be an overstatement to say that only and only LM10 could have scored that goal. The goal gave Barca an almost unassailable lead only in the 23rd minute of the game and the lead was soon extended by the magician again only to be ruled out by the referee.

Barca won this match without toiling hard in the park and if the magician can continue this form, I am sure the coveted trophy is coming back to Camp Nou this year after a hiatus of five long years. All hail Messi, the magician!