We just don’t know with Messi nowadays. As much as we say he should go deathground vs Nigeria, it starts off with Sampaoli’s lineup/tactics, then for his teammates to click to influence Messi’s attitude. Otherwise we’re going to continue to watch him throw in the towel and not give a fuck as we seen from previous UCL KO’s or important La Liga matches (Atletico Madrid 2014 comes to mind). Mascherano is a highly respectable teammate within the NT, but sometimes I wonder if he ever puts Messi in check for his BS even with Barcelona.
On the other hand, without Leo this horseshit of a squad wouldn’t even be playing in Russia, so to an extent Messi has done his part and he can only do so much with his responsibilities/age. It maybe a flaw towards Messi for his self entitled approach, IF that’s the case then I would wish for someone like a puyol to keep his attitude in check. Wish him the best and who knows, a hungry Messi alone can perhaps boost the squad’s morale but it’s literally up to him to do so!