Ronaldo Blames Messi For Barca

By Max Wise

Brazilian great, Ronaldo, says Lionel Messi should be accorded a significant portion of the blame for Barcelona’s champions league exit because the Argentine superstar receives all the praise when they win.

Messi was powerless on Tuesday as Barcelona threw away a three-goal lead for the second straight season to exit Europe’s premier club competition at Anfield.

Messi as always, received worldwide acclaim in the first leg at the Camp Nou after his brace, including a brilliant free-kick, looked to have secured Barcelona a place in next month’s final in Madrid.

Liverpool’s resurgence at Anfield have however led to many people to shifting blames, particularly to manager Ernesto Valverde and playmaker Philippe Coutinho after another inept performance at his former stomping ground.

Ronaldo, who won two FIFA World Cups with Brazil, and played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid, however believes that if Messi takes the lion’s share of the credit when Barcelona wins then he should be equally culpable in their failure.

“It is unfair to point the culprits to a defeat,” Ronaldo said at a Santander event. “I see that Barcelona has a great team and has the best player in the world, which is Messi.”

“The other day I heard that when they lose, its because of Valverde, Coutinho….but not Messi.”

“And when they win, Barcelona win because of Messi. It’s a tremendous lack of respect to all the players and the coaching staff.”

“Barcelona is a great team with great players and very good coaches. You should be a little more careful with criticism.”