His body may be slowing down but his mind is so sharp he can still win games on his own. His battle against the fading of the light has an everyman appeal.
The greatest years are long past him – when Barcelona could still afford to pay whatever it was Lionel Messi cost, and the players around him were peers rather than younger footballers desperate not to let down the living god in their dressing room.
In those days, Messi made it look easier than it has ever been. The goals came in absurd numbers for a man who was not a centre-forward or even a conventional No.10. There were 50 La Liga goals in 2011-12 alone, 46 the next campaign, 133 over all competitions in two seasons. Not even the club could keep up with him in those years, Barcelona won the league title in only one of them and the Champions League in neither.
