When Messi’s Word Met Barça’s Destiny: Would Salah’s Glory Have Shaped 2019?

What If Messi Kept His Word to Barça?

Before the 2019 season, the legend Lionel Messi wore the captain’s armband at Barcelona after Iniesta’s departure, signaling a new era. During the Joan Gamper Trophy against River Plate at Camp Nou, Messi publicly vowed that Barca would reclaim the Champions League throne. The club had been haunted by the competition since Real Madrid’s dominance in 2016–2018, and Messi’s pledge raised more than a few eyebrows. The Champions League haunts our hearts, as Barca bowed out in 2018 to Roma in the quarterfinals. He added that Barca would do everything necessary to bring the cup back to Camp Nou. The fans cheered, but the hard part was ahead: the actual trophy would not be handed to them easily. The 2019 campaign would bring an even tougher test.

Barça’s season carried a heavier weight than expected, and their march toward European glory hit turbulence in the knockout rounds. The dream of finishing the year with Europe’s top prize remained intact in fans’ minds, but the road was crowded with giants and heartbreaks alike.

Liverpool’s Istanbul Curse Revisited

Barça’s campaign took a dramatic turn as they crashed out of Europe at the semi-final stage, eliminated by Liverpool in a dramatic sequence. They had held a 3-0 lead at home in the first leg at Camp Nou, only to endure a staggering collapse at Anfield, where Liverpool hammered them 4-0 and sent them home with their tails between their legs. In this hypothetical edition, we ask what might have happened if Messi actually fulfilled his promise to restore Barca’s European glory in 2019.

In the Istanbul-name saga of Liverpool, the club that won the 2005 final in Istanbul has chased continental glory again in 2007 and 2018, and would have chased it again in this scenario. Salah, meanwhile, had already lifted the Champions League crown with Liverpool in 2019, a springboard to the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup. If Barca had knocked Liverpool out in 2019, would Salah’s path have looked different in the years that followed?

August 2021 brought a wrenching turn: Messi’s Barcelona farewell, driven by financial constraints, left the door open for a Barça future that could have benefited from a timely 2019 title. Perhaps, with the cup in their cabinet, some of Barca’s economic woes might have been alleviated, and Messi might have stayed. But reality offered a different script.

Punchlines: If Messi had kept his promise, Barca would have needed fewer transfusions of hope and more shots on target. And if you think that’s wild, remember: even a time machine wouldn’t fix a club that forgot its own schedule. Another zinger: Liverpool’s bus breaks down in Istanbul, but Barca’s defense did in the tie—welcome to the ride-share of heartbreaks.