With Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba retiring and Luis Suarez' slowing, its time for Messi and Miami to deliver
Lionel Messi bringing together the remnants of great Barcelona teams past in Miami was a beautiful thing. It was a side for the football romantics. Many who watched Messi in Barca would have seen him connect, play and win with his compadres.
Jordi Alba was the left back who had assisted Messi more than anyone else. Luis Suarez developed the kind of attacking chemistry that many can only ever dream of. And Sergio Busquets was at the base of midfield, winning everything and metronomically ticking the game over.
That quartet was the spine of one of the best sides in the history of the sport. Their reunification in Florida just felt right. You can imagine the "We're getting the band back together" style meeting. It was probably over WhatsApp. Maybe there was a Zoom call involved. Honestly, it may have gone through agents.
They reunited, and the assumption was that they would win, early and often. The reality has been far from the case. The vibes are immaculate. The romanticism is clear to see. Their desire to continue to perform at a high level cannot be questioned, either. But results have remained elusive.
And time, it seems, is running out. Alba and Busquets are retiring at the end of the season. Suarez may yet do the same. And even if Messi just signed a three-year extension with the club, there is a sense that this is the last ride for the Catalonian boys in Miami. The band is breaking up, and on the dawn of MLS playoffs, they have one last chance at a big hit.