As expected, Barcelona has won the Copa del Rey, setting a scene in which both the Catalan team and Juventus seek not only the Orejona (a.k.a. the Champions League title), but the coveted treble after winning the League and Cup in their respective countries.
However, the battle has been more hyped as a fight between the teams’ two star forwards, and not a contest between the 11 players per side. Of those two players, both Argentines, only one will take it all in the 2014-15 season. A rivalry has been present between Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez at both club and international level, in terms of the quality of the former and selection into the latter, and they will add one more chapter to their rivalry this Saturday.
“The Best Player on the Planet” collides against “The Player of the People,” as they are known in their hometowns. If someone can steal Argentina's love from "Leo," it is, in fact, "Carlitos."
Each lived through difficult moments in childhood, and "El Apache" Tevez – so named for having been raised in Fuerte Apache, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of Buenos Aires – still has traces of those days. The man who scored 20 goals for Juventus in Serie A exhibits a scar on the right side of his face to his chest, marked forever by a cup of boiling water. The scar is the product of a mishandled moment of despair under the care of his uncle’s wife, who raised Tevez after he was abandoned by his parents as a baby.
Messi, on the other hand, was born in Rosario, and faced problems with growth hormones that led to stunted growth. The treatment for this complication was, and still is, very expensive and delicate. Thanks to his ability to play football, Barcelona believed in his future as a player, even after he was shunned by the famous River Plate in his homeland. Barca paid for his treatments in exchange for signing him, and Messi grew to to 5’ 6’’, his current height.
Messi scores against Atletico Madrid to secure the La Liga title. Photo: @blzzrd | Twitter
For the strikers, who will both wear number 10 in the final in Berlin, it will not be the first time that they cross paths as rivals in the Champions League. In 2008, Tevez, wearing the Manchester United shirt, ended up in a semi-final with Barcelonam, while Messi was still taking his first steps in such contests. A year later came the rematch, but this time in the final, and Messi’s blaugrana team was crowned champions in Rome after an unforgettable goal. “La Pulga” scored it using his head.
Six years later, the rivalry produced the third chapter in its history, one that took place in the albiceleste shirt of Argentina. In fact, Tevez did not play in what would have been his third World Cup in 2014 because of an alleged feud with Messi. Both have denied that there were problems between them. Some argue that not only Messi, but the rest of the staff did not approve of the presence of "El Apache".
Messi, “the brain of Barcelona,” who starred with goals and assists in the two wins against Bayern Munich in this year semifinal, said that there have been many commentaries pointing to his alleged confrontations with other personalities of Argentine soccer. For example: Diego Maradona, Juan Roman Riquelme and, of course, Tevez.
Nevertheless, there are also technical reasons that the two have not aligned together. By playing together, characteristics are clogged; they need the same spaces. In two World Cups and two editions of the Copa America they failed to gel together. With "The Apache" in the field, Messi did not produce, despite the particular variants in fielding the pair tested by four different coaches, namely: Jose Pekerman, Alfio Basile, Diego Maradona and Sergio Batista.
Tevez was not with Argentina in Brazil last year, and there the team that won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986 was runner-up after battling 120 minutes against Germany with Messi leading the way.
In fact, since 2011 Tevez has failed to defend the colors of his country at a high-level event. Ironically, today his comeback is very close. He will be one of 16 members who will join Argentina for the 2015 Copa America in Chile after also doing so in Argentina 2011. Gerardo "Tata" Martino, Argentina’s new head coach, will try to find a formula that allows Messi and Tevez to perform together at the ceilings of their potential for the national team.
The 2014-15 season has been a rebirth for both players. Tevez returned to the 20 goal plateau after five years without doing so, while Messi has been sensational. Messi admitted that the defeat in Anoeta, last January 4th against Real Sociedad (1-0), was the turning point for him and for every Barcelona player.
Juventus, twice European champions, meanwhile, dominated the League in Italy for the fourth consecutive year and were crowned Italian champions with three match days remaining. For fans of the team, the so-called tifosi, Tevez was the most valuable player. La Gazzetta dello Sport named him the “Outstanding Player in Serie A” for the third year in a row.
These were new awards to a player who at 31 years of age has already collected important achievements such as being the only Argentine to win the Copa Libertadores, the Champions League, the Club World Cup and the old Intercontinental Cup.
With his 43 goals, four-time Golden Ball winner Messi increased his production this season in Spain, after what he called “that personally and professionally complicated 2014.” Messi has only had two better scoring seasons in his career: One of 50 goals (2011-12) and another of 46 (2012-13), but his 18 assists this year, tying a career high, keep him well recognized as a team player, especially now with Neymar and Luis Suarez playing by his side. This combo has worked smoothly for Barcelona, who are looking for their fifth European title.
Both are the undisputed leaders of their teams but with very different personalities. Tevez is a braveheart, Messi is sharpness. Berlin will see them face to face. Chile will enjoy them together, starting on Saturday, June 13th in La Serena when they take on Paraguay, looking for a title that Argentina has gone 22 years without capturing: the Copa America.
