MADRID, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde could allow himself a wry smile when Leo Messi had his supreme match-winning performance to steer Barca to a 4-2 win away to Tottenham at Wembley on Wednesday night.
Only last Saturday afternoon, Valverde was strongly criticized for resting Messi as his side drew 1-1 at home to Athletic Club Bilbao.
On Wednesday, Messi dominated the game, scoring twice in the second half to seal the win against a rival that threatened to come back from the dead to snatch a point. He also hit the post twice in 10 minutes after the break.
"Lionel Messi lights up Wembley in epic encounter," writes Sky Sports, while the Barcelona based 'El Mundo Deportivo' writes "Wembley is still a talisman and Messi is still the King," and for 'Sport' he is merely 'The King.'
There is no doubt that despite the presence of players such as Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho, who opened Wednesday's scoring with a cool finish after Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris went walkabout, and Ousmane Dembele, Messi is the man who makes Barca tick.
When Messi is on form, Barca win, but when Messi is tired his sides don't. A week ago he looked jaded as they lost to bottom of the table Leganes and you don't need a long memory to remember what happened in Rome last season when Barca were beaten 3-0 to crash out of the last 8 of the Champions League.
And as for the World Cup, where the clearly exhausted striker trudged around like he was wearing chains... Anyone who saw those defeats should know Messi has to be protected for his good and that of his team.
"I'm not surprised by Leo's performance... If you give players like Messi space like we did in the second half as we tried to get back into the game, these things can happen. Messi will be the best player in the world as long as he wants to be," said Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino, while Valverde was clearly delighted.
"You could say Messi is back, but he scored a hat-trick against PSV Eindhoven (two weeks ago)," he told the press after the game.
"He (Messi) had bad luck and he still scored twice," continued the Barca coach, who seems to know the secret of getting the best out of his star player.
"He's happy and that is what interests us," added Valverde. And if keeping Messi happy means he has to rest once in a while, then Messi has to rest and his team-mates have to be able to step up to the plate when needed.
