El Clasico Inquisition: Can Messi Crown His Imminent Ballon d’Or Triumph With A Match-Winning Performance?

On Sunday evening when Real Madrid visit Barcelona to tango in El Clasico, both Madridistas and Cules will - along with the more general fans of football - be able to relish in the opportunity to watch a match featuring two Ballon d’Or winners and one soon-to-be-crowned World Player of the Year.

In 2007, Kaka took home the coveted trophy after winning the Champions League with AC Milan; Cristiano Ronaldo came in second while Lionel Messi came in third. In 2008, Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded the aureate accolade; Messi came in second in that year’s vote.

Now, after winning the Spanish Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Champions League, the Spanish Super Cup, the European Super Cup, and sometimes dribbling through entire teams to score goals, Messi looks to be on the verge of finally earning his prize this year. While a number of players may be in the discussion when it comes to naming the top players in the world, it is a testament to the little Argentine’s impeccable skill that he is a cut above the rest of the pack.

A player who seems to have the ball glued to his boots as he weaves through a crowded backline, Messi is someone who, in seconds, can dramatically change the course of a match. And over the past year he has demonstrated this valuable quality with marked consistently.

Last year, 'El Mesias' scored three goals against Real Madrid in El Clasico; the first came in the home match at the Camp Nou on a swift counterattack that saw him make mincemeat out of the world’s best goalkeeper, deftly chipping Iker Casillas to secure a 2-0 victory. The second and third goals came in Barca’s 6-2 drubbing of Los Blancos at the Santiago Bernabeu where 'Little Lionel' coolly slotted past Casillas on two one-on-one scoring opportunities.

Can Messi beat the 2007 & 2008 Ballon d'Or winners?

His value is not just demonstrated in the goals he scores or even in his touches on the ball. Defensively, Messi is one of Barcelona’s best players, pressuring defenders and frequently winning back possession close to the opposition goal. He also changes a team’s tactics by drawing at least two defenders to his side of the pitch and freeing up the rest of the Barcelona attack from the opposing defence.

On the international stage though, Messi has received a measure of criticism for his performances in Diego Maradona’s Argentine national team and, to some extent, such criticisms are substantiated as the 'No. 10' has not been able to reproduce the same lethal play that he exhibits so often at club level.

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that this year’s Ballon D’Or trophy will be Messi’s to claim. But can the little Argentine deliver a performance on Sunday that will silence even the most sceptical of doubters? To do so, two things must occur: Firstly, Messi has to play.

He's already beaten the 2006 winner!

Limping off in the closing minutes of Barca’s 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao last weekend, Leo was forced to miss Barcelona’s midweek Champions League rendezvous with Inter at the Camp Nou; a match in which the Catalan giants barely missed a beat, coolly dispatching the Italians 2-0 whilst playing beautiful football to boot.

Secondly, Xavi and Iniesta must be at their usual best. If there is any reason Messi still has his sceptics, it is that, while he can certainly alter the course of a match in a moment, he has never carried a team. That honour is reserved for Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, the two wizards of the Barca midfield. With visionary one-touch passes, perfectly weighted through balls, and a momentary feign-dribble combination that sends defenders in the opposite direction, Xavi and Iniesta constitute the engine of the Barcelona machine.

It is because of these two creative Spaniards that an Ibrahimovic/Messi-less Barca put on a footballing clinic in their midweek Champions League match against Inter. Furthermore, the two midfielders’ clairvoyant passing translates seamlessly onto the international stage and both players are the principal reason the Spanish national team is widely considered the best in the world at present.

While Messi is, without a doubt, the best individual player in the world, a large part of his success on the pitch is predicated on the service of Xavi and Iniesta. When he wins the Ballon D’Or later this year, he would do well to send the award to Xavi and Iniesta for a quick kiss before putting it on his own mantelpiece.

But in a squad so studded with players of such exceptional talent, some may still argue that because he does not put a team on his shoulders and single-handedly win matches, Messi is no better than Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas, David Villa, or any of the rest of the world’s elite players.

But one way or another, one has to imagine that with the titles Messi has won at just 22 years old and the many that are sure to come in the future, in the grand scheme of it all, the individual awards seem trivial. I think Messi would agree that winning La Liga crowns, Champions Leagues trophies, Copa del Reys, and El Clasico encounters against Real Madrid are far more coveted accomplishments.

Cyrus C. Malek, Goal.com