Messi only scored one goal but his presence in the pit made me sick to my stomach. Everytime a ball approaches Lionel Messi in last night’s UEFA Champion’s League Finals between FC Barcelona and Manchester United, I can feel every ManU fans’ bile rise up to their throat. Yes, that’s how much of a threat Messi is. We’ve seen him go past three, four defenders to see a goal, but last night I thought ManU was effective in containing him except that genius, like life, finds a way to thrive amidst hostile conditions. In the middle of the second half, Messi got the ball just above the penalty area, dribbled it a body away from a defender, and when the ball got itself a peek of the goal Messi slammed it with his left foot– hard. The ball slightly curled away from a defender and found the net, like a hot knife through butter. It’s this mercurial quality that makes me sit on my hands every time I want to bet against Messi. I did so in 2009 when Ronaldo was still with ManU and got burned. Last night I thought my dish of revenge-parmigianne was cold enough to serve the FC Barcelona pack but alas, it seems like the cuisine I prepared specially for last nights match was bound to become stale.

Messi’s goal hurt my beloved ManU deeply than any of the other goals that Barca scored. Not Pedro’s, not Villa’s– Messi’s. His goal was a self-fulfilling prophecy. ManU knew that he Messi is awesome, that if you let him slip through a tight sieved defense he’s going to rip you a new one. And yet despite all the precautions, all the buzzing activity that happens every time Messi touches a ball, all that were for naught because Messi without having to go through three or four defenders, without even cozying up to the goal for a quick ‘un, Messi exploded, in basketball parlance, at the top of the key, and I knew right there and then ManU was toast, you can stick a fork on them because they were done. The blow that Messi delivered was simply too much. Villa’s added goal a few minutes later was only the icing to an already foregone conclusion.

To Sir Alex Ferguson, please don’t wear a rose again next time, to Edwin Van Der Sar, you were brilliant mate, considering the opposition, to Chicharito nurse this bitterness in your heart and make sure to do more in future important matches. We need a better matchmaker.