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Barcelona: Lionel Messi’s penalty was disrespectful

By Tarek Hisham

BARCELONA, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 14: (L-R) Luis Suarez of FC Barcelona celebrates with his team mate Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona after scoring his team's fourth goal from the penalty spot during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Celta Vigo at Camp Nou on February 14, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Messi took the penalty, tapping the ball softly forward for Suarez to run up and score. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 14: (L-R) Luis Suarez of FC Barcelona celebrates with his team mate Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona after scoring his team's fourth goal from the penalty spot during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Celta Vigo at Camp Nou on February 14, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Messi took the penalty, tapping the ball softly forward for Suarez to run up and score. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) /
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Lionel Messi took over the internet with his penalty assist to Luis Suarez but it was disrespectful to his well-beaten opponents

The internet was abuzz on Sunday with the latest performance from the magical Barcelona trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar Jr. They were facing a side that had beaten them earlier in the season in Celta Vigo and were out for revenge.

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That 4-1 defeat in September was Barcelona’s worst loss in the league since 2008 and ended their winning streak in La Liga at 18 games. It was a shock result that caused many to question whether Barca had the defensive fortitude to match their attacking firepower. That question has been long answered in the months since and it was answered once again on Sunday.

What the final score was or what its impact on the La Liga title race is not the matter at hand here however. The real issue is the lack of sportsmanship that Barcelona showed with the penalty that took the score from 3-1 to 4-1 against an already beaten side. La Blaugrana were already comfortably cruising to a victory when Messi was fouled in the box by Jonny in the 80th minute.

Luis Suarez was already on a hat trick having scored in the 59th and 75th minute to assure Barca’s victory. When Messi stepped up to take the penalty there were rumblings on social media that he was being selfish for denying his teammate a chance at a hat trick and taking it himself.

Messi then passed the ball softly in  to the path of the onrushing Suarez who blasted it home to claim his hat trick:

The issue here is not that Messi gave up his chance at a goal to give Suarez his hat trick, it is that he did so in a manner that is unsporting and blatantly disrespectful to his opponents. There is a difference between scoring goals in open play against a beaten opponent and taking advantage of a dead ball situation to humiliate your competition.

If Messi truly wanted to give Suarez a chance to complete his hat trick he should have simply allowed him to take the penalty. Suarez is an accomplished penalty taker and has taken two already this season for Barcelona. He did not take them at Liverpool because Steven Gerrard was the Reds’ designated penalty taker but the Uruguayan striker has the skill and temperament to slot them home past the best of keepers.

When it comes down to it, Messi and Barcelona wanted to rub salt in the wound of Celta Vigo when they had already done so by beating them so handily. This little trick they pulled off is the same as a player getting on all fours to head a ball in when through on goal or Mario Balotelli attempting a backheel in a 1v1 situation.

Messi and Suarez are great players that do not need to resort to this sort of behavior to score goals. As noted earlier, Suarez is more than capable of scoring penalties on his own and should have been the one to take it rather than Messi. They took a situation where sportsmanship and teamwork should have been on display and turned it in to unnecessary humiliation for an already beaten opponent.

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