Lionel Messi is the butterfly effect. The Argentine walks to his own beat. He picks out his space, soaks up the attention and scores. He decides how the game is won and who wins it.
Messi, without ceasing to be Messi, is now the new Xavi Hernández. He no longer just plays to score one goal after another; he also dictates the play. His average of a goal a game - and if they need another, that's no sweat for him either - is added to by half an assist every 90 minutes. If Messi is on your side, the match starts with the score already at 2-0.
The pint-sized wizard has become Barça's thermostat, their mainframe. At the Nuevo Arcángel he decided to put himself in the thick of it - where there were more opponents' legs and less spaces - and from there he set the tempo, provided an assist and scored. He is unstoppable.
His maturity is plain to see and his leadership unquestionable. These are the intangible aspects pointed to by a team of players who bow at the feet of a genius who has turned himself into a player-manager by convincing everyone that the easiest thing to do is just let him get on with it.
Messi has started to resemble Diego Maradona since the simplification of the Barça philosophy and implementation of a team of superstars (though that Napoli side barely had anyone who stood out) whose every move revolves around his genius. There is no longer any noise surrounding him. He controls it all. They need him and his response is to play for everyone else. Top-class.
