Thursday 10 November 2016 11:42, UK
Barcelona's biggest superstars go head-to-head when Argentina face Brazil in Thursday night's World Cup Qualifier, but it's Lionel Messi, not Neymar, who is under the most pressure to deliver…
Lionel Messi was at his magical best in Barcelona's 2-1 win over Sevilla on Sunday night. After starting and finishing the move for the equalising goal with a beautifully controlled first-time finish, he set up Luis Suarez's winner with a trademark dribble and a perfectly weighted pass.
"Saint Messi" read the headline splashed across the front page of Catalan newspaper SPORT on Monday morning. "There is nobody like him," said Barcelona coach Luis Enrique. "He's on another level," added Gerard Pique.
It was one of those nights where Messi makes everything look effortless, but he joins up with his international team-mates this week facing an altogether trickier challenge. Argentina sit outside the South American World Cup qualification spots in sixth place after 10 games, and defeat to Brazil in Belo Horizonte would leave the two-time champions in real danger of missing out on Russia 2018.
It's not what Messi imagined when he reversed his international retirement after losing a second consecutive Copa America final to Chile in June. Argentina were in a decent World Cup qualifying position having only lost one of their first six games at that point, and things seemed to be looking up when Messi scored the winner on his return to the fold against Uruguay in September.
Since then, though, it's all gone awry for the Albiceleste. Messi was ruled out by injury as they stumbled to 2-2 draws with Venezuela and Peru and a 1-0 defeat by Paraguay in their last three games, and they dropped to sixth place in the group after FIFA retrospectively awarded Chile a 3-0 win over Bolivia, who had fielded an ineligible player.
Argentina's big issue is plain to see. They have won all three of their qualifiers with Messi in the team. Without him, they have only won one of seven. It's a headache for coach Edgardo Bauza, who aired his frustrations last month. "Barcelona always sends us messages saying that we must take care of Messi," he said. "But they don't take care of him very well."
Messi's availability for Thursday's game is of course a welcome boost, but Argentina will meet a Brazil side in far better shape despite a bitterly disappointing Copa America campaign of their own. The Selecao didn't even make it out of their group in the United States and started their World Cup qualifying campaign poorly before that, but they have won four straight games under new coach Tite.
Brazil are now top of the group, and Neymar has taken the spotlight. The 24-year-old converted the breakthrough goal from the penalty spot in a 3-0 win over Ecuador in September, and he scored the winner in a 2-1 triumph over Colombia a few days later. Last month he inspired their 5-0 thrashing of Bolivia, with his flamboyant skills provoking a showboating storm and earning him a bloody head injury from a Bolivian elbow.
That caused him to miss Brazil's 2-0 win over Venezuela and compelled Tite to ask him to show greater "maturity" in future, but his importance to the side is in no doubt. His opener against Bolivia put him ahead of Zico in Brazil's scoring charts. With 49 goals at just 24-years-old, he is rapidly closing in on Romario, Ronaldo and Pele.
Messi is already his country's leading goalscorer having broken Gabriel Batistuta's record at the Copa America, and Argentina's recent record without him suggests they will need him at his inspirational best on Thursday night.
His masterclass against Sevilla looked like the perfect way to warm up for the task ahead. But while Messi's place above Neymar in the Barcelona hierarchy is not up for questioning, he now needs to follow his team-mate's international example by lifting his country out of trouble. What happens when they meet in Belo Horizonte could prove significant.
