Lionel Messi: Louis van Gaal blames Argentine for Barcelona’s recent Champions League drought

The Argentine could not prevent a crushing defeat last season at Anfield to end their dreams and extend their drought to four years

Lionel Messi‘s inability to play for the team is the reason why Barcelona have been unable to win the Champions League, according to Louis Van Gaal.

The 33-year-old has not been able to inspire the Blaugrana to glory in Europe in over four years, with Liverpool’s stunning comeback inflicting their most recent exit last season in the semi-finals.

And former Barcelona coach Van Gaal insists the Argentine has not been the same since Pep Guardiola left, suggesting every coach since has been unable to instil discipline in him.

Only Luis Enrique has broken through in Europe since Guardiola’s departure, lifting the trophy in 2015, while Tito Vilanova, Gerardo Martino and Ernesto Valverde, so far, have failed to deliver the most coveted trophy of them all.

“I like Messi as an individual player. He is the best individual player in the world because his statistics are amazing,” the 67-year-old told El Pais.

“But why has he not won the Champions League since four years ago? Why? As a captain, you must ask yourself why the team does not win in Europe.

“Barça has a wonderful squad. You can not say that [Ivan] Rakitic is bad, or that [Philippe] Coutinho is bad, or that [Jordi] Alba is a bad player, or [Marc-Andre] Ter Stegen is a bad goalie, or Arthur or [Arturo] Vidal (are bad).

Messi has been criticised by Van Gaal (Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

“I think Messi is also responsible for what is happening in Barcelona, not just the coach. Players have a substantial part of responsibility for what happens on the team.

“Guardiola had him playing for the benefit of the team but recent coaches have adapted to Messi too much instead of protecting team spirit.”