Opinion: The main reason why Lionel Messi is not a candidate for The Best FIFA Men's Player award
Lionel Messi had a particular season in 2017/18, although the Argentine was Barcelona's essential piece in their Spanish League and Copa del Rey championships, Messi did not shine in the international play, neither for the Catalan side nor his National squad.
Statistically, Messi was almost unblemished in the past campaign, but the big games are, probably, one of the main reasons why the Argentinian virtuoso won't be competing for The Best FIFA Men's Player award in 2018
Messi produced an enormous number of goals and assists in the 2017/18 season, as he usually does. The Argentinian won his fifth European Golden Shoe for the most goals scored in the big leagues in Europe (34) and added six in the UEFA Champions League.
The Argentine magician was Barcelona's driving force in the Spanish League, where Barcelona only lost one game, a match Messi did not play. His 45 goals in all competitions ranked number one in the big European leagues, overtaking Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah, who scored 44 goals each, although the latter pair had a better goal-per-game ratio.
Barcelona's season was, sadly for them, marked by the UEFA Champions League blunder against AS Roma in the quarterfinals. Messi's participation in the two games versus Roma is day and night when compared to Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah in the same stage and versus bigger rivals (three goals versus Juventus and two goals against Manchester City, respectively for CR7 and Salah).
Luka Modric, who's the other top-3 finisher for the award, and a people's favourite, entered the podium thanks to his participation with Croatia in the 2018 FIFA World Cup at Russia, where he helped his side to catch the runner-up medal and won the Golden Ball of the competition.
Modric's Croatia faced Messi's Argentina in the group stage of the tournament, although Messi's team was favourite due to its World Cup history and the big names in the squad, Modric scored a brilliant goal and commanded a 3-0 thrashing while Messi watched with no reaction.
#1 International play
Messi did not produce as expected in the international competitions he played with FC Barcelona and the Argentinian national team. During the 2017/18 season, the Argentinian was not able to perform at his best level consistently, his three goals versus Chelsea in the round of sixteen were the highlight of his UCL campaign, after scoring three goals in the group stage.
In the quarterfinals versus Roma, neither Messi nor his teammates were in sync versus the Italian squad. Barcelona won the first-leg match with a solid 4-1 result, but its offensive level was not convincing nor surprising. Roma helped Barcelona with a couple of own goals and elemental mistakes, but still, Barcelona seemed to get away with a bad game, and everything was set for the Catalan side to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2015.
Barcelona's quest for its third treble in the last nine years was real. After Messi scored a hat-trick versus Leganés on April 7th, the Argentinian looked sharp to face Roma in the Italian capital.
Messi could only watch as Roma slowly defeated the soon-to-be Spanish champions in the quarterfinals, a phase they haven't been able to overcome since 2015. The Roma defeat practically defined Barcelona's season, the heartbreak increased after CR7 and Modric shined and collected Real Madrid's third straight title.
With Argentina, Messi scored a hat-trick versus Haiti before the World Cup at Russia and everything was set for the number 10 to take over the World Cup and go home with the trophy. "Messi's World Cup" was the slogan in Argentinian media outlets.
Messi started the World Cup in the worst possible play after missing a game-deciding penalty in the debut versus Iceland. Then, he was not a significant factor against Croatia in a 3-0 defeat. Although Messi produced a beauty versus Nigeria, which helped him earn FIFA Puskás Award recognition, he wasn't able to perform versus France in the round of sixteen, and Argentina's dream was over.
Ronaldo and Salah accounted for 19 and 12 goals respectively between the 2017/18 Champions League and the World Cup, while Messi produced just seven. Modric scored a couple of goals and dominated the midfield to earn Golden Ball in the most prominent tournament in international football and, deservedly or not; he took home the best player in Europe award, which enhances his credentials to be in the podium for The Best FIFA award.
Messi continues to be a top-2 player in the football world, but his credentials were not enough to compete with Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, and Mohamed Salah in 2018. The Argentinian will surely come back to a podium spot in 2019, for the moment, his 2018/19 season started flawlessly.
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