Lionel Messi bids goodbye to UCL with missed penalty

Lionel Messi may have just said goodbye to the UEFA Champions League for the last time in a Barcelona shirt. The Catalans were eliminated in the last-16 after failing to stage a magical comeback against Paris Saint-Germain last night. Messi will be haunted by his missed penalty, which could have helped motivate his team.

However, the fact is, losing 4-1 in the first leg practically sealed Barcelona's fate. High morale brought about by the recently concluded elections gave them a push, but it was not enough to climb out of the hole they dug for themselves at the Camp Nou.

Messi did score an impressive 25-yard scorcher in the 37th minute to equalise after Kylian Mbappe gave PSG the lead in the half-hour mark. However, they never should have allowed PSG to score more goals if they wanted to launch a "remontada."

The Argentine then squandered another opportunity as his penalty near half-time was saved by PSG keeper Keylor Navas. They appealed for a re-take but the VAR dismissed their pleas.

Despite failing to make it to the UCL quarter-finals for the first time in 14 years, Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman thinks that there is still enough reason to convince Messi to stay.

The six-time Ballon d'Or winner had previously expressed his frustrations with the club and had wanted to leave last summer. Now, Koeman thinks that they have improved enough for Messi to reconsider. He pointed out that they may have been eliminated but it was not in such a spectacular fashion as their exit last year.

Frankly, it will be hard to do worse than the 8-2 thrashing they received from Bayern Munich last season, but Koeman is still feeling optimistic. "We are departing this Champions League in a very different manner from the way we did last season. In this game, we hit our level and that's the road we have to follow," he said, as quoted by the BBC.

Koeman also said that the team's younger players have shown Messi that there is a great future ahead for the club. While he may be right, on the other hand, these young stars may very well be the reason why it is no longer a good decision for the club to hold on to their captain whose salary is straining the club's already struggling finances.

There is no word yet on new president Joan Laporta's contract offer, but he has made it clear that he wants Messi to stay. It remains to be seen if Messi has indeed defended the Barcelona shirt for the last time in the Champions League.