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Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his third goal in Tuesday's match against PSV Eindhoven.(Photo: AFP / Getty Images)
Less than three months have passed but the question needs to be asked. Was it really Lionel Messi at the World Cup, or a remarkably realistic doppelganger who was making his way through the tournament when the real Argentinean superstar had his feet on a secret beach somewhere?
There are only a few weeks left in the national season and after a night of action in the new Champions League campaign, and Messi is back to his best level, showing a dramatic form for FC Barcelona on Tuesday night.
Against PSV Eindhoven, Messi inspired the Barca to a 4-0 win with a sensational hat-trick, marked by a superb 25-yard free-kick to open the scoring. We should not be surprised.
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He had already scored four times in as many games in the Spanish league and Tuesday's first goal meant he had now scored in the Champions League for 14 seasons in a row.
So what happened during the summer? And why is he behaving in such a mediocre way for his country as his club?
At the World Cup, Messi was not only poor compared to one of the greatest elite players in the world, he was just another player, and sometimes a handicap. He sometimes seemed to be tortured and disinterested by others, with his shoulders sagging, his face aching, unable to move things forward. Argentina had the chance to qualify for the round of 16 and was quickly dispatched by champion France once there.
At the time, the story was that his career was in a downward spiral and that he could never participate in another World Cup. Looking at him against the PSV, he seemed to be able to go on forever.
While the first goal dominated the stage, his second and third, after Ousmane Dembele, added to the Barcelona advantage.
It was his 42nd career hat trick and his free kick mastery is as strong as ever. Ivan Rakitic, his teammate, admitted that Messi's colleagues are thinking about celebrating the goal he has to make every time he aligns a free kick at striking distance.
Messi is a real football gem, one of the best ever seen, and with Cristiano Ronaldo gone for Juventus, the undisputed king of Spanish football club. PSV coach Marc van Bommel said before the match that he did not want his players to compete for swimsuits with Messi. He only joked about it.
Whatever is the reason why Messi has trouble playing for Argentina, all this is forgotten the nights when Messi makes the extraordinary sound.
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