5 things Lionel Messi must do to become the best in the world again

The 2017/18 season was a relatively rough one for Lionel Messi, as despite winning the European Golden Boot for the fifth time in his career, he once more faltered in the Champions League, and watched on haplessly as Barcelona was bundled out of the UCL at the quarter-final stage in unbelievable circumstances to AS Roma.

Furthermore, he failed in his duties to lead Argentina to the promise land of World Cup glory, and was roundly criticized for his lethargic performance in Russia.

The result of all this was that Messi found his legacy as the greatest player in history seriously questioned, consequently missing out on the top three final nominees for a FIFA award for the first time in over a decade.

Messi could only watch from the sidelines as Luka Modric was named UEFA Men’s Player of the Year, following his starring role in helping Real Madrid retain the Champions League, as well as his Silver Ball-winning performance in skippering Croatia to the World Cup final in Russia.

Lionel Messi is undoubtedly one of the greatest players in history, and at a point in the not too distant past, unequivocally held sway as the best player in the world, winning an unprecedented four consecutive Ballon d’Ors between 2009 and 2012, and he would be determined to rise back to his perch atop the pecking order in the hierarchy of football.

To do that, however, would be no mean feat, as Modric has paved the way for other players to aim for Ronaldo and Messi’s previously exclusive crown, and the 31-year-old Barcelona skipper has to put certain things in place to sit back on his throne. Here are five things Messi has to do in order to become the best in the world again.

#5 Retire from international football

Strange? Yes, it is very strange to suggest that the one thing Messi needs to cement his legacy as the GOAT is what he should he should give up pursuing in order to reclaim top spot, but hear me out.

Argentina has not won any form of international silverware since 1993, while it has been 32 long years (before Messi was born) since La Albiceleste last won the World Cup.

In that time, multiple world-class talents such as Gabriel Batistuta, Hernan Crespo, Juan Sebastian Veron and Diego Simeone as well as media proclaimed ‘next Maradonas’ such as Ariel Ortega and Javier Saviola have come and gone with the results all ending in the same way- heartbreak.

Then came along Messi who announced himself to the world at the 2005 World Youth Championship in Netherlands, where his Golden Ball performance helped his country lift the title in a hard-fought victory over Nigeria much in the same way as Maradona himself did at the first ever edition of the tournament in 1979.

Messi had not so much as broken into the first team at Barcelona when the comparisons began. He was seen as Maradona’s heir apparent, and this time the comparisons seemed to be more legitimate than others.

Both players' low center of gravity, diminutive stature and devastating close control meant they had an identical style of play, coupled with the fact that Messi scored two eerily similar goals to Maradona’s most famous or infamous (depending on where you stand on the divide) goals against Espanyol and Getafe.

Argentina had found its new Messiah, and they could begin to dream of the World Cup again. However, just like they had become accustomed to, Messi couldn’t carry them across the finish line. Too young to impact in 2006, the master-student partnership with Maradona in 2010 also flopped, while they came agonizingly close in 2014 before the shambles of 2018.

There have also been defeats in Copa America finals, and with four final defeats, Messi has had more than his fair share of international silver medals.

Even though the more logical thing to do would be to continue having a shot at international glory, it might be more realistic for Messi to shut up shop and hand over to the next generation, accepting that it might not just be with him and Argentina, as sometimes nature conspires to rob humans of the thing they crave the most despite their hardest efforts, with a prime example being Ronaldo de Lima who despite being one of the all time greats and playing for some of the biggest clubs in Europe, never lifted the Champions League in his illustrious career.

With every disappointment Messi suffers with Argentina, his legacy takes a hit, and in the interest of his personal glory, he should take the back seat and retire from international football.

#4 Finish as the Champions League highest goal scorer

Messi with the European Golden Boot

Lionel Messi is one of the greatest scorers football has ever witnessed, and his five European Golden Boots won is the highest anybody has won in history. He finished as highest goalscorer in La Liga in each of the last two seasons, but on the stage where it matters most, he hasn't delivered to his usual standards.

'La Pulga Atomica' is the second all-time highest goalscorer in the Champions League, behind no one else but Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the Argentine has not won the Champions League top scorer award since 2012, watching on as Ronaldo pipped him in each of the last six seasons consecutively (they finished joint top in 2015).

Lionel Messi was the first of the pair to break Raul’s previous record of 71, and was in pole position to get to a century of goals first as he had a considerable lead on Ronaldo, but in remarkable scenes, Ronaldo got to 100 goals over a year before him.

Ronaldo’s higher performance levels in the UCL played a key role in him equaling their Ballon d’Or score count to 5 apiece having been 4-1 behind in 2012, and for Messi to become the best in the world again, he must rediscover the magic touch in front of goal in the Champions League.

#3 Raise his performance levels in the biggest games

Messi was disappointing for Barcelona against AS Roma

A common denominator amongst the greatest players in history has been their ability to raise the bar on the grandest stages to bail their teams out and deliver titles. In this regard, Messi has fared considerably well, helping Barcelona to a host of titles including five Champions League crowns and nine La Liga trophies.

However, in recent seasons, Messi has seen his performance level drop considerably in the marquee games. He is without a Champions League quarter-final goal since 2013, and it is not rocket science that Barcelona has faltered at that stage in recent years, failing to make it past the last eight in the UCL four out of the five seasons since then.

Also, despite scoring a memorable hat-trick against Ecuador to qualify his country for the World Cup, he faltered at the Mundial itself, going anonymous for most of the matches and posting a return of just one goal in four matches.

Earlier on, Messi shone like a million stars in the biggest matches, and Barcelona were the better off for it, making the semi-finals of the UCL for six consecutive seasons between 2008 and 2013, winning two, and as a result, he won almost all the personal accolades in that time, and to do so once again, he must raise the bar higher on the grand stages.

#2 Help Barcelona win the Champions League

FC Barcelona hasn't won the UEFA Champions League since 2015

It is almost an unwritten rule that the club who wins the Champions League gets their best player rewarded with the individual accolades.

Whenever Real Madrid won the Champions League, Ronaldo scooped up all the personal awards, ditto Messi with Barcelona.

Barca have been extremely dominant domestically, winning seven out of the last ten La Liga titles, and winning each of the last four Copa del Rey trophies consecutively, but it is in Europe where their heart really lies, as the Blaugrana haven’t triumphed on the continent since 2015, which was made more painful by the fact that their arch-rivals Real Madrid won each of the last three titles.

Barcelona are desperate to win the ‘Big Ears’, and would be counting on Messi to help deliver it, and for the sake of rising back to the summit, he would also do well to help achieve it.

#1 Get back into ‘The Zone’

FC Barcelona v Girona FC - La Liga

The zone in sporting terms is defined as a 'mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity'. Multiple players throughout history have experienced it at one point or the other, with Pele’s coming in 1958 when he scored that wonder goal against Sweden in the World Cup final. Maradona had his in 1986 against England when he delivered one of the greatest individual performances in Wolrd Cup history.

2012 Messi was in the zone, an absolute beast which destroyed all and sundry. The Argentine maestro scored a whopping 91 goals that calendar year (more than almost all clubs in Europe managed), breaking Gerd Muller’s 40-year record of 85 goals in the process.

The resultant effect was that Messi won the 2012 Ballon d’Or with a rather wide margin, getting almost half of the votes, as he was miles ahead of everyone else and was undisputedly the best player in the world.

Even though he has still maintained a more than decent goals return in recent years, they are nowhere close to the numbers he posted while he was in the zone, and to get acclaimed as the best in the world once more, Messi must find a way to get back there.