Another shite performance, but on his way to a shithouse tournament win like Ronaldo's 2016 Euros.
Leo's mind works in strange ways. He looks like he couldn't be arsed and puts in a dire effort in some the biggest matches like he's playing in a friendly, but when he's in the mood he'll play like he's in a WC Final a meaningless Liga match home vs. Getafe.
These days CR only really tries in the big matches on the big stage. Messi on the other hand just shows up when he wants and this is becoming more of a regular occurrence in recent years.
I would look to move on from Leo in a few years. I'd rather not have him play here into his late thirties. The amount of sacrifices we'd have to make to fit him in won't be worth it when he isn't at the highest level anymore.
Compare 11/12 Messi or 14/15 Messi to current Messi. Despite him still posting similar stats he is not the same calibre of player anymore (still the best mind you). In Xavi/Iniesta days Messi had a defined role. As did he in the peak MSN days. Now Messi IS the team. You can blame the manager and quality of the squad for this all you want and it might have some merit, but a load of it is just down to Leo becoming a lazy arse. Now his teams' fate lies in whatever mood he is in on the night and that isn't something you should be betting on.
Now you see him walking around the midfield moving closer to whoever has the ball and forcing literally everything to go through him. Why is it surprising the team has no ideas when Messi is playing terribly or is on the bench? Simple, they've never learned to play good structural football together. He walks, never defends, leaves all sorts of gaps and tries to inject himself into every move. Of course he is going to put up monstrous numbers when he is the one every play is set up for and the team plays for. Consequently, his teammates suffer and look lost with no clear ideas other than passing it to Leo.
I'd much rather have 30 goals and 15 assists with Messi staying in his lane than 50 goals and 25 assists with him trying to be a superhero.