What went wrong for Barcelona against Real Madrid? And where does Lionel Messi fit at Camp Nou?

FC Barcelona are in a very curious place at the moment. On the one hand they are top of La Liga by twelve points, and are set to win the title for the first time since the 2018-19 season. They are also on course to smash most of the defensive records across Europe.

Through 27 league games they have conceded a preposterous nine goals. Ad However in the Champions League they finished behind Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in their group to go into the Europa League and they often looked outclassed at times. Copa del ReyBenzema hits hat-trick to sink Barca and send Real into Copa del Rey finalA DAY AGO That feeling of being a step below the competition continued in the Europa League as they were beaten 4-3 on aggregate by Manchester United.

Barca held their own at times but they couldn’t cope with some of United’s football. Then in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday evening they were hammered 4-0 by Real Madrid at the Camp Nou. This came after they won the first leg in Madrid 1-0.

So we’re now in the curious spot for Barcelona where we’re in the middle of April and, barring a total collapse in the league, there isn’t really anything left for them to play for. Exclusive: ‘I knew I couldn’t give up’ – Puskas winner Oleksy reflects on life-changing accident Messi considers PSG future amid €400m-per-year Saudi offer — Paper Round But one thing we are going to talk about is Lionel Messi. In case you’ve missed it the World Cup winner has been heavily linked to Barcelona in the past few days in what would be a very emotional return.