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BARCELONA, Spain -- Lionel Messis hamstring injury has hurt more than just a muscle in the Argentines right leg, and its still smarting. The Barcelona forward scored 60 goals in all competitions this season, enough to ensure the team wins the Spanish league title yet again. But with Messi struggling to recover from the injury he picked up in the Champions League quarterfinals in April, Barcelona was eliminated from that competition in the semifinals. And last weekend, Messi re-aggravated the injury and is now likely to miss the last three games of the Spanish season. "Hes the No. 1, perhaps the best in history," Barcelona defender Jordi Alba said Tuesday before stating what seems to be the obvious. "On many occasions, we depend on him." The 25-year-old Messi won his fourth straight player of the year award this season, and has scored an amazing 133 goals over the last two campaigns. But without the Argentine on the field, Barcelona is just not the same team that has won two of the last four Champions League titles. Most teams would consider the Spanish league title a resounding triumph, but Messi and his Barcelona teammates expect more after winning 14 of a possible 19 trophies in recent years. "We set the bar so high that now you win the league its like you havent won anything," Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez said Wednesday. "We had won so much and yet we still have to value (this title). There is a lot of pressure. If you dont win the Champions League its like you havent won anything." This "Messi-dependence" surely is a disease any other club in the world would love to contract. But with Messi hurt against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals, Barcelona could not find the sure scoring threat it needed. It even seemed that Barcelona didnt believe it could win without him. And it didnt, losing 3-0 in the second leg after the 4-0 rout in the first. Unless he returns for Barcelonas season finale against Malaga on the first weekend in June, Messi will end this season with a league-leading 46 goals -- four short of his own record of 50 from last season. He also scored eight more in the Champions League, four in the Copa del Rey, and two in the Spanish Super Cup. Last season, Messi scored 73 goals to break the previous European club record of 67 goals set by Bayern Munich striker Gerd Mueller in 1972-73. Even so, the Argentina star was reduced to tears when Barcelona somehow lost to Chelsea in the Champions League semifinals. This year, Barcelona was obliterated by Bayern, and that historic 7-0 scoreline makes a big difference for a team which for the first time in five years wont start next season as the favourite in Europes top-tier competition. Not, that is, unless it makes some major changes to its aging squad. Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova insists he will maintain the teams core and that its humbling Champions League exit wont change his plans for the off-season. Yet Barcelona has players that may not be physically able to execute the pressing defence that underlies its famed ball-control and passing game. Captain Carles Puyol is 35 and Eric Abidal, whose contract is up in June, is 33 and only recently returned from a liver transplant. Fellow defenders Dani Alves will be 30 and Javier Mascherano 29 by the start of next season, while the injury-prone Adriano is 28. Midfielder Xavi Hernandez, the heart of Barcelonas passing attack, is 33, striker David Villa is 31, and midfielder Andres Iniesta recently turned 29. "A season when you win the league is always a good one," Vilanova said, looking on the bright side before turning to the seasons big disappointment. "We regret not being able to compete better in the semifinals of the Champions League. 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College Jerseys Outlet . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. On Friday, there will be a collective sigh of relief in Bangladesh. Their cricket team will take on England in the first ODI with talk surrounding on the importance of starting well in a three-match series, and how the home side are slight favourites.Mashrafe Mortaza has downplayed that tag, and said that Englands middle to lower-order poses a major challenge to his bowling attack who return to one-day cricket after a gap of ten months against Afghanistan last week. Tickets for the game have been sold quickly and while there will be unprecedented security in the Mirpur area, which means that every ticket-holder would have to walk at least half a kilometre, and much of what they carry wont be allowed inside, a sell-out crowd is a given.But the very thought of seeing England in Bangladesh in 2016 seemed improbable just three months ago. Outrage and numbness took over the country for weeks after the July 1 Holey Artisan attack that left 22 hostages and two policemen dead. Going to restaurants (those not as high-end as Holey Artisan) had developed as one of the rare past-times for those living in Dhaka but after the attack, people felt the unease of a terrifying ordeal waiting to happen.Thankfully, the situation slowly calmed down as the security agencies cracked open one terrorists den after another across the country. The unease will probably take a lot longer to go away - if it ever does entirely - but there would have been a huge hole in Bangladesh life had England not agreed to continue with their tour. Cricket means everything in Bangladesh - and sometimes more than that.When the Reg Dickason-led inspection team arrived in mid-August, everyone became nervous. The BCB arranged their discussions with the government agencies and the home ministry, but there was a sense of déjà vu. Only weeks before their October 2015 tour of Bangladesh, Australia had asked for a security visit in which the BCB also arranged these meetings in a very short space of time. Ultimately, they postponed the two Tests due to specific security threats.That bitter experience played a big part in how the BCB meticulously changed the security operations in their properties, particularly the Shere Bangla Natioonal Stadium in Mirpur.dddddddddddd Once those were put in place, and the government gave their detailed security blueprint to the England delegates, the nation waited with bated breath.Their prayers were answered on August 25 when Andrew Strauss generously put a lot of faith in Bangladesh. There was muted celebration because it was still more than a month out from the actual arrival date. Even the day before the first ODI, there are few who are still in disbelief.The level of security on offer, which has been highlighted by the cordon around the England team from the moment they landed, was on full show during Thursday when the security forces had a trial run with commandos and special forces sweeping the stadium, practising a drill to evacuate players. It was a reminder of how much is at stake. No stone has been left unturned.In July and August, everyone in Bangladesh understood that if England didnt think it was safe for them to play cricket in Dhaka and Chittagong, they had their reasons. But when they decided to tour, it felt that they were helping another nation out by offering competition.Sports-lovers would know best the magnitude of such a gesture.Historically, too, England have always been a friend to Bangladesh cricket. It was the English journalist Robin Marlar whose article Whither Bangladesh? gave international attention to the newly independent nation. Ten months later, the MCC became the first international team to tour Bangladesh, which set the wheel in motion for them to take part in the 1979 ICC Trophy. The MCC toured several times afterwards, and each time they were received with much warmth.Bangladesh also doesnt forget quickly that they have been accorded two tours to England, in 2005 and 2010. Australia have hosted Bangladesh just the once while India will finally host their first Bangladesh Test next year.Now that England are touring when Bangladesh were in the brink of turning into a pariah cricket nation, there is much significance to this series. In the choppy waters of crickets politics, such a gesture is a welcome change. ' ' '