The first red card in his Barcelona career can be seen as the culmination of his club’s decline, and the kicking and barging he has endured for years
Exactly 90 seconds before the act of violence that will earn Lionel Messi his first red card for Barcelona, he’s standing just inside the halfway line, waiting to receive a pass.
He’s seen a gap. The sort of gap Messi has seen thousands of times before.
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