By Tadeniawo Collins
The greatest rivalry in modern day football between two phenomenal footballers, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, again came to bear on last night’s Champions League 1st leg encounter between Manchester City and Barcelona.
Uruguay and F.C Barcelona striker, Luis Suarez, having already scored a brace in the match, was denied the opportunity to grab a very well-deserved hat-trick on his return to British soil after his summer departure from Liverpool F.C as Messi opted to take the last minute penalty awarded to his team instead.
Of course, Messi faield to convert the spot kick and even spurned the glorious chance to put the rebound off the goalkeeper in the back of the net. His rather selfish act not only ensured that Manchester City’s hopes of qualifying for the next round remain alive, but also robbed Suarez of deserved glory.
You might recall that his fierce rival, Ronaldo won the Champions League Golden Boot last season scoring a record-breaking 17 goals in the process. This year however, the Portuguese has been rather slow to find his scoring form in the competition as he’s only netted 6 goals so far.
Messi is just one goal behind this season’s current top scorer; Luiz Adriano (Brazil & Shakhtar Donetsk) who has 9 goals. With his rival, Ronaldo finding the net against in Madrid’s victory over Schalke 04 last week, Messi may be feeling the Portuguese is breathing down his neck again, hence his rather selfish decision to deny his teammate the chance for the hat-trick.
The 2014/2015 UEFA Champions League is in its first knockout stages, with winners from this stage scheduled to advance to the quarter-finals of this season’s prestigious competition. Last season’s competition was won for a record 10th time by Spanish giants, Real Madrid F.C.
