It is not hard to imagine the indignation this outcome generated in Catalonia. Lionel Messi could only watch in horror as Barcelona once again exposed their habit of pressing the self-destruct button with an insipid 2-1 loss to Celta Vigo on Sunday, shattering any hopes of winning La Liga despite their relatively easy run-in. 

Messi did all that he could to drag Barca out of the doldrums. The Argentine superstar, whose contract with the Spanish giants expires this summer, created a number of chances in the early stages and opened the scoring with a fantastic header. It was the ninth time in the 33-year-old's splendid career that he scored more than 30 league goals in a season.

However, Barcelona's penchant for crumbling at the first sign of trouble was clear for all to see. Celta equalized from their first effort on goal as Santi Mina thumped in a fierce drive with goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen rooted to the spot.

Then things went from bad to worse. French defender Clement Lenglet, who has repeatedly displayed his errors in judgment in the biggest games, received a second yellow card for a reckless foul, which meant Barcelona needed to find a winner with 10 men if they wanted to stay in the title race.

It was sure to be a tall order. Barcelona's campaign has been largely based on Messi's individual attacking brilliance but with Celta's impressive defense cutting the supply line, they struggled to make it through. When Messi was crowded out, no other Barca player had what it took to step up to the plate. 

In sharp contrast, Mina proved he could provide the missing spark. After Barca substitute Martin Braithwaite wasted a glorious chance to settle the nerves, Mina arrowed home a beautiful winner in the 89th minute when ter Stegen was caught out by Augusto Solari's cross, condemning Barcelona to another dispiriting defeat and an end to their faint title hopes. 

With both Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid grabbing victories over the weekend, Barca will finish outside the top two in La Liga for the first time since 2007-08. 

As Barcelona's season draws to a close in disastrous fashion, it's highly unlikely that Messi will sign a new contract to stay and manager Ronald Koeman can only hope the Argentinian has not played his final game for Barcelona at the Camp Nou.

"He has shown today it is impossible to play without him," said Koeman. "He is still the best player in the world. He has already scored 30 goals that have earned this team a lot of points. As far as I'm concerned, and the team is concerned, we hope he stays because if we're not going to have Leo [Messi] we will have serious doubts about who is going to score so many goals." 

"But ultimately, it is a question for Leo to decide," he added. 

The sentiment was echoed by Jordi Alba, who has played with Messi for over a decade and has to confront the prospect that the iconic striker may be in the final week of his Camp Nou career. 

"We hope that won't be his last game here at the Camp Nou," Alba told Marca. "But it's a decision he needs to make." 

Messi will be hugely disappointed not to have saved Barcelona's season, but he can't do it all by himself. When it comes to his future, every blaugrana supporter is hearing a ticking clock.