The former Bayern Munich CEO stated this as he praised his former club over the way Bayern thrashed Barca 3-0 at the Nou Camp in their opening group game of the 2021/22 UEFA Champion League match.

He said Barca look different without Messi, a player who has been a key figure for the club in the last two decades.

He told German publication Bild. “Bayern played outstandingly well and deserved to win. It’s too early to talk about favourites. [The competition] only really starts with the knockout phase. If you look at the team, the way they [Barca] performed tactically. Without Messi, their souls have been ripped out. They are facing difficult times.  It was imperative to sell him. The Spanish league has scored an own goal with him.”

Juventus crash out on Tuesday, March 9following a poor performance against Porto home and away while FC Barcelona crashed out against a superb Paris Saint Germain (PSG) on Wednesday night, March 10,  despite Barca trying their best on the night.

Neither Messi’s nor Ronaldo’s clubs will feature in the quarter-final stage of the Champions League season.

FC Porto’s Sergio Oliveira’s extra-time free-kick confirmed Ronaldo’s third straight knockout round exit with Juventus.

Then on Wednesday night, March 10, Kylian Mbappe-inspired PSG avenged their 2017 trounce at the hands of Barcelona by registering a 1-1 draw at the Parc des Prince.

Though Messi netted a stunning goal in the 2nd leg, he missed a crucial penalty to help Barca qualify for the quarter-finals with a 5-2 margin on aggregate.

Lucas Modric  won the 2018 award following his impressive run at the FIFA 2018 World Cup and Real Madrid’s Champions League win but his omission this year makes him the first player in history to miss out on nomination the following year after winning it. PSG and Brazil star Neymar Jr. also did not make the list

Below are the nominated players for the 2019 Ballon D’or award.
Sadio Mane – Liverpool
Sergio Aguero – Manchester City
Frenkie de Jong – Ajax/ Barcelona
Hugo Lloris – Tottenham
Dusan Tadic – Ajax
Kylian Mbappe – PSG
Trent Alexander-Arnold – Liverpool
Donny van de Beek – Ajax
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Arsenal
Marc-Andre Ter-Stegen – Barcelona
Cristiano Ronaldo – Juventus
Alisson – Liverpool
Matthijs de Ligt – Juventus
Karim Benzema – Real Madrid
Georginio Wijnaldum – Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk – Liverpool
Bernardo Silva – Manchester City
Heung-min Son – Tottenham Hotspur
Robert Lewandowski – Bayern Munich
Roberto Firmino – Liverpool
Lionel Messi – Argentina/Barcelona

After they left the Nou Camp with a 3-0 defeat, their chances of reaching a second Champions League final appeared all but gone but Liverpool did every thing right to keep Messi quiet and stunned the Spanish champions, winning 4-0 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate.

He said “The manager always believes, you can see that in the talk he gave to us before we came to the stadium and that helps the players believe. You can see within the game that we believed right from the first minute. We started well got a good goal, kept believing, kept fighting and got our rewards in the end. Within the team is always belief and that’s the great thing about this team. An amazing night. A special one really, for the fans, for the team, for everyone. I’m not sure people expected it before the game, but we said to each other we would fight right until the end and give everything – we managed to do that tonight.”

Paul Merson, Arsenal legend had things to say about the game and also about Mohamed Salah’s performance in Liverpool’s 3-0 first leg semi-final Uefa Champions League defeat to Barcelona on Wednesday.

The Egyptian star has often been compared with Argentine star Lionel Messi.

Messi was in incredible form against Liverpool, scoring a brace after Luis Suarez’s first-half goal, to gift the Spanish champions a huge advantage ahead of the second leg fixture next week.

Mohammed Salah had an opportunity to reduce the disgrace in the encounter but missed the glorious chance.

“You’re always judged on how you play in the big games, and this week just proved how far he is behind Lionel Messi,” he told the Daily Star.

“Messi never lets you down when it matters. That’s why he’s the best player in the world. Only Cristiano Ronaldo can rival him for that crown.”

Currently leading the Premier league goalscorers’ chart with 21 goals, Salah is on track to being crowned best Premier League player of the year despite a slow start to the season.

Paul Merson is very confident that Salah, the Egyptian forward will place this failure against Barcelona behind him in his next match against Newcastle United on Saturday night.

“I’ve been there. You lie in bed at the hotel after a miss like that and it just keeps on going through your head. It’s a horrible feeling,” he continued.

“But you miss chances sometimes. Everyone does. It just proves he’s human. People say he’s had a bad season but he’s the Premier League’s top scorer!

“He doesn’t seem the type to dwell on it. He seems quite laid back. He could make four mistakes in a game but still not lose his confidence and end up doing something special.

“So, I think he will bounce back against Newcastle. He is a strong character and Liverpool need him firing if they’re going to win the league.”

On the international scene, Salah will hope to shine for Egypt in the 2019 AFCON, slated for June and July.

The Egyptian Pharaohs are in Group A alongside DR Congo, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

This came after Barcelona’s 3-0 win over the Reds, Liverpool on Wednesday in the Champions League semi-final tie.

Messi scored a brace in the second 45 minutes of the Champions League semi-final first leg at Camp Nou as Barcelona thrashed Liverpool 3-0.

This was the same scoreline in Manchester United’s defeat by Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie.

Mourinho talked about Messi’s performance in the game against Liverpool on the Manchester Evening News, as they quoted the former Real Madrid boss as saying that, “God of Football made it completely different.”

“Fabinho and even [Roberto] Firmino looks small [for the Messi’s free-kick] but is not small.

“Firmino is the last one but this side, the goalkeeper gave one metre to the diagonal to cover that situation and it’s impossible to stop.

“Luis Suarez’s movement [for the first goal] is phenomenal. One metre here, and I bring the defender with me, at least mentally because the defender thinks I’m going in that direction and now I’m going to attack the space in front. And goodbye.”