Stats: Lionel Messi's quarter-final hoodoo
​Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League Final 8 last night, being knocked about by Roma on the road 3-0, enough to let the Giallorossi go through on away goals, and prompting joyous celebrations that are probably still going on now, in some cases.
As the Spanish daily reveals, however, the Argentine has not played well in quarter-finals for a while, having not scored in over 900 minutes at that stage of the Champions League.
Failing to score against Roma in both legs - despite being decisive against Chelsea in both legs of their Round of 16 game - he didn’t net against Juventus last season, or against Atletico Madrid in 2015-2016. He was unsuccessful against PSG in 2015 - though Barca still won, and against Atleti the year before - where they were knocked out.
Bizarrely, La Pulga had been very successful at that stage before then, scoring once in 12-13 (PSG), twice against Milan the year before, and even four against Arsenal in 2009-2010.
Ronaldo, for his part, has already netted 22 times at that stage! Further evidence of Messi-dependence?