A week after Ballon d'Or rival Cristiano Ronaldo was unable to save Juventus from tumbling out of the Champions League in the round of 16, Messi might have wished his side had never made it a stage further as Barcelona were battered by Bayern Munich in an 8-2 mauling that was made all the more painful by the involvement of arguably the world's greatest forward.

While strike partner Luis Suarez gave Barca brief hope of an unlikely comeback with a goal shortly after the break to reduce the arrears to 4-2, Messi was almost anonymous as he ended his season on the European stage with a paltry total of three goals.

"Their big player didn’t step up," said one fan, watching a clip that caught Messi slouched in the locker room at the interval, making no eye contact with shellshocked goalkeeper Marc ter Stegen, who was standing opposite him by the open door.

"At half-time, Messi had already given up. He couldn’t even motivate his teammates who look up to him.

"He is not a leader. Ronaldo doesn’t quit until it’s done."

A week earlier, Juventus had been drawing 1-1 with visitors Lyon at the break in a match they needed to win by two goals, Ronaldo having scored a penalty two minutes before the break.

He then scored again with a sensational long-range strike 15 minutes after the interval, ultimately ensuring that he finished the season six goals ahead of Messi's total in all competitions.

Messi was also filmed telling his teammates not to be "idiots" in the tunnel before they emerged for the second half against Napoli in the round of 16, when he scored his final goal of the season to help them to a 4-2 aggregate victory.