On the cusp of cementing his position as one of the greatest of all time, Lionel Messi was injured during a match against Benfica in the 2012 UEFA Champions League.
The Argentine star was carted off the field with an apparent knee injury after he collided with Benfica keeper Arthur Wednesday in the waning moments of what turned out to be a 0-0 draw with the Portuguese side in the UEFA Champions League.
The star did not start the match but was brought on by coach Tito Vilanova in the 58th minute presumably to give Messi a chance to score his 85th goal and tie Gerd Müller's record for most goals in a calendar year. He currently has 84 goals across all tournaments in 2012, including eight goals in his last four matches.
Injury Analysis
There have yet to be any reports on whether Messi is gravely injured and for how long, but the incident seems to be the first misstep of coach Vilanova's tenure. Barca's coach has had a rather brilliant start in his first stint with the team and has only lost one match in the Champions League and none in the Spanish League. However, the Messi injury creates a great deal of issues for him.
If Messi's injury is long term, then Vilanova may start to get questioned over why he had put in the superstar in a meaningless match. Barca had already qualified for the second round of the UCL as group leader, regardless of the result. Vilanova had already fielded a B-Team for the match and while the score was 0-0, there was no reason to put Messi in the game with so many Spanish league matches upcoming. If Vilanova says that Messi asked to be put in, then the obvious questions about who is in control will arise, which still does not help Vilanova.
Then comes up the issue of the record. If Messi's injury is long term, then he may end up stuck at 84 goals and never break Müller's record. Then it would wind up being Vilanova's fault and he would forever be marked by it.