Lionel Messi — A victim of his own brilliance

Lionel Messi has been directly involved in 73 goals, more than anyone, during FIFA’s “the best” period yet he didn’t make it to the podium as Cristiano, Salah and Modric have been chosen as the final three. Cristiano led Madrid to their third consecutive CL title, Modric won CL with Madrid and led Croatia to the WC final and Salah won PL golden boot and carried Liverpool to the final of CL where they fell short against Madrid where as Leo Messi led barca to domestic double, won pichichi as well as european golden shoe, took Argentina to Russia by scoring hattrick in the last qualifying game against Ecuador in high altitude(9000 feet from sea level)and where Argentina hadn’t won for more than a decade and half. To put in a nutshell Leo had an impressive year compared to anyone else on the planet. Period. Then how did he not make it to Fifa’s final three is beyond anyone who understands football.
It’s like anything Leo does people find it very normal even though it’s beyond abnormal and that’s because he’s been doing this week in week out for more than a decade now. He has normalized the extraordinary. Let’s take his goal against Huesco last Sunday for example. He took the ball just outside the opposition’s penalty box, opposition were defending in numbers as Barca were having a problem to penetrate so Leo decides to take matter in his own hands and with his one body feint he fooled past four players and then took a shot with his weak foot and put the ball in the left bottom corner and put his team on terms with Huesco. That was sheer class from Leo but still people took it normally as Messi has set the bar so damn high. If it was Ronaldo or any other player you wouldn’t have heard end of it for weeks but it’s Messi so it’s normal. His freakishly insane consistency has stopped him getting the same hype other players get even after doing less than half of what he does. One of my fellow barca mates, @Roygista, on twitter perfectly put it in which reads “If you repeat the insane on a consistent basis, it becomes routine and stops becoming insane and special with the passing of time. And there is nobody that has been a victim of this syndrome more than Lionel Messi.

He does two or three unimaginable things in every game that most of the players can’t in their entire careers. If one is asked to pick two or three best moment from a player’s season, it would be easy to pick but if you have to pick those moments form Leo’s season it would be impossible. He delivers masterclasses and creates iconic moments every week in week out. Sadly, it seems Leo is hurting his on legacy by being too brilliant too regularly.
But, these awards should never be the criteria ,especially when it comes Leo, to define someone’s legacy and contribution to this sport. Let’s see in a different way. Fight Club and Shawshank Redemption never won any academy awards and not either of the movie has been a box office hit but would that ever define the legacy of these two era defining masterpieces ? No. Shawshank Redemption is the highest rated movie on IMDB and that speaks for itself and Fight Club still lives in the hearts of millions around the globe. These are the legacies which will go on forever. Cristopher Nolan has never won academy awards for best director but would that make him any less than the absolute genius he already is ? No. His contribution and legacy is larger than life. The standards he’s hit with his movies like The Dark Knight, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk etc. will never be matched in future. Same with Leo, these awards will never do justice to the legend of Lionel Messi. The joy and happiness he’s bringing on every fan’s face is alone powerful enough to put him in a league nobody’s ever entered.
He was, he is and he will always be remembered as THE BEST EVER the game has ever witnessed.🐐👑🙏
By, @beignjasmin_LM10
