MESSIah

Pep Guardiola started Messi on the bench yesterday because Messi had played midweek against Espanyol in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals. An hour in, Barca hadn't created much in the way of offense and were trailing 1-0 because of an idiotic decision by Rafa Marquez to attempt a slide tackle from behind in the box. (I do not trust Marquez at all. If Barca get knocked out of the Champions League, I'm willing to bet right now that he and/or Gerard Pique will be prominently involved.) Messi comes on and promptly scores twice to give the Blaugrana their ninth straight win on the road in La Liga. The evidence that Barca is dependent on Messi continues to grow.

Super Bowl thoughts are coming...