Messi gives Barca hope of Champions League glory

Striker to lead team when Catalans take on Napoli in first of last 16 round

MADRID/ BERLIN: Lionel Messi has said Barcelona are not playing well enough to win this season's Champions League but his four goals against Eibar on Saturday were a reminder that with him there will always be hope.

Barca play Napoli in the first leg of the last 16 on Tuesday and will be expected to go through, even if their opponents are on a strong run, having won six out of their last seven matches, including victories over Juventus and Inter Milan.

Yet despite a whirlwind couple of months of political wrangling, remarkably Barcelona approach this tie sitting top of La Liga and with a spring in their step, in large part due to Messi.

His quadruple in the 5-0 rout at Camp Nou on Saturday was cathartic and not only because Real Madrid, whom Barca face in the Clasico on Sunday, failed to regain first place after losing to Levante a few hours later.

"It was a win we needed," said coach Quique Setien.

Messi has scored seven quadruples in his career but none executed amid such an intense time of pressure, with the spotlight on the Argentine.

While other players might have sulked or crumbled, Messi delivered with another breathtaking performance that underlined his ability to drag this troubled team through even the most turbulent of periods.

"He's been in this form for 14 or 15 years and he keeps performing like this," said Setien. "He's a guarantee for any club and for any coach and that's what makes him the best player in the world. He can do things that others can only dream about."

Messi could have had many reasons to feel upset but he hasn't let them affect his performances.

Barcelona's board sacked Ernesto Valverde last month, despite Messi's public backing three days before, and failed to sign a striker in the transfer window with Luis Suarez and Ousamane Dembele both out injured.

The club's technical secretary Eric Abidal then said the squad were the main reason for Valverde's departure while the president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, has been accused of hiring a PR company that criticised key players, including Messi, in a bid to improve his image online.

Mueller key as  Bayern face Chelsea

A year after being dumped by Germany head coach Joachim Loew, Thomas Mueller is set to showcase why he is so important for Bayern Munich — and Robert Lewandowski — at Chelsea in the Champions League.

Alongside Erling Braut Haaland, Bayern's star striker Lewandowski is joint top-scorer in the Champions League with 10 goals going into the last 16, first-leg clash on Tuesday.

In order to keep him fresh, Mueller was a second-half replacement in Friday's 3-2 league win over bottom side Paderborn when Lewandowski netted twice.

The Poland striker is on a career-high 38 goals after 32 games in all competitions and is happiest with Mueller alongside him.

"It's easier with Thomas next to me, he helps me out a lot," Lewandowski has said of Mueller. "We always have one player more in the penalty area when he plays, I have more space and not always two or three opponents against me."

It's no coincidence that Lewandowski is enjoying his highest goal tally just when Mueller's 14 assists in Germany's top flight also puts him near his personal best.

The 30-year-old is back to his best after significant setbacks for club and country in 2019.

Alongside fellow 2014 World Cup winners Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng, Mueller was told last March he was no longer needed by Germany as Joachim Loew rebuilt his squad following the 2018 World Cup debacle.

Then last autumn, Mueller found himself repeatedly benched by Bayern to make room for Philippe Coutinho, who is on loan from Barcelona.