Lionel Messi's 45th Clasico on Saturday could also be his
last as Barcelona look to rubberstamp their progress under Ronald Koeman by
beating Real Madrid and claiming top spot in La Liga.
اضافة اعلان
The reward for the winners at Valdebebas will be knocking
Atletico Madrid out of first place for the first time since December, before
they mounted a run that saw them go 10 points clear with a game in hand at the
start of February.
But Atletico's recent struggles, combined with a surge in
momentum for Madrid and Barca, has seen that advantage evaporate, the question
now whether Diego Simeone's team can recover and regroup to even stay in the
race through the final stretch.
Who Atletico have to hold off or, more likely, catch in the
last nine games could depend on this weekend's result at the Alfredo di Stefano
stadium, where both clubs will be hoping for the ultimate vindication of recent
improvement.
Success for Barcelona would be another significant
check-point too in what has been an uplifting few months, the start of a
recovery that has run alongside the ongoing uncertainty of what Messi will
decide this summer.
Messi's every goal and glance this season has been analyzed
for possible indications as to the 33-year-old's thinking but what is clear is
how the atmosphere at Barca has changed since he asked to leave for free last
August.
Joan Laporta's election as club president, replacing Josep
Maria Bartomeu, has brought enthusiasm and, crucially, a sense of direction
again, even if the financial problems from the last regime are still very much
the problems of the new one.
Messi is not expected to consider offers to renew his
contract until the end of the season but Laporta has been pulling hard on the
heart-strings.
"Today was the 20th anniversary of a boy named Leo
Messi who debuted in the youth teams of Barca," Laporta said in his
victory speech last month.
"To see Leo come to vote, the best player in world
soccer, with his son for me, is an example of what we've said, that Leo loves
Barca and how we are all one big family."
- Messi nurturing Barca's young talents –
More persuasive might be what Messi has seen and felt on the
pitch, witnessing a team that was broken a year ago gradually piece itself back
together under Ronald Koeman.
Koeman has trusted the club's youngsters and Messi has
nurtured them. Pedri, Ronald Araujo, Sergino Dest, Oscar Mingueza and Ilaix
Moriba have flourished.
Mingueza, Ilaix, Trincao and Dest have all scored their
first La Liga goals, all of them assisted by Messi.
And Messi has thrived too, reclaiming his place at the top
of the league's scoring charts with 23 goals so far, and 19 goals in 20 games
since the turn of the year.
It may not be enough, given Barcelona were also convincingly
beaten by Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 of the Champions League, the
competition Messi centers round more than anything else.
Beating Athletic Bilbao in the final of the Copa del Rey or
even Real Madrid and Atletico to the title in La Liga could still see Messi bid
farewell.
But if this is to be his last Clasico, 16 years after his
first, 44 games that have included 26 goals and two hat-tricks, Messi might see
it now as an extra season well spent, the sense of deflation and bitterness
gone, and his own place in the revival secure.
"There is only one person who can decide his future and
it is him," Koeman said in February. "I would like him to stay for
many more years and I just try to make sure he is happy, like he is at the
moment."
Whatever the result, Atletico will have the chance to go
back to the top of the table on Sunday when they play Real Betis.
But they will have to do it without their two star players,
Luis Suarez and Marcos Llorente, who are both suspended. Sevilla in fourth,
play away at Celta Vigo on Monday.
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