Lionel Messi was powerless to prevent Argentina losing heavily to closest rivals Brazil on Thursday evening, with the Albiceleste now in serious danger of missing out on the 2018 World Cup. After four games without a win - including two consecutive defeats - Edgardo Bauza's men have slipped out of the automatic qualifying positions for Russia. Crucially, the under fire Bauza has only tasted victory once in his opening five games of leading Messi and Co, meaning his win ratio lags far behind those of his predecessors Tata Martino (65.5%), Alejandro Sabella (62.5%), Sergio Batista (47.05%) and Diego Maradona (73.68%). Having only picked up three points four times in 11 qualifying matches, Argentina had been able to point to star man Messi's absence as a mitigating factor in their underachievement, but with the Barcelona attacker back in the side against Brazil, little-to-no improvement was evident.
Twice in a row now, a side also boasting the striking talents of Higuain and Aguero have failed to score , while only Bolivia have notched fewer goals so far in qualifying. With Bauza at the helm, the pieces just do not seem to fit, as a record of five points in 15 games serves to testify. Before the match at the Estadio Mineirao, the last time Argentina had lost a qualifier with Messi in the side was back in 2011. After the match, he said candidly: "With all the sh*t we're going through, we're still alive." Even with the returning Blaugrana star back in the team, that seems far from the truth.
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