I agree with people saying we're too hard on him. He's definitely improving with each game. Especially at the end of the game, he was making runs, passing, getting involved, and trying his luck at goal. He was practically the only one on the pitch who actually tried to shoot the ball. People do expect too much from him.
He was poor compared to the usual Messi (which means he still was one of our best players). However, he should be allowed to have such games without people going crazy. It's not realistic to expect him to be top notch every game.
I am slightly concerned though over his fitness, almost looked as if he was about to collapse at the end of the game.
1) It's beginning of season.
2) He assisted Adriano and created about 4 goal scoring chances by himself. He had a great game, he's evolving into a leader with expectations from others too. It's hard keeping composure when his teammates keep bottling sitters and wasting chances and diving etc etc.
So today I saw a picture again, and noticed, with some clarity, the size of his ears and nose. I was wondering: Seeing as the nose and ears are the only parts of the body that never stop growing, are these parts of Messi's body disproportionally big because of the growth hormones he used to take?