Lionel Messi sees clearly: Argentina will never be Barcelona
Lionel Messi has won everything with Barcelona. And when I say eveything, I mean everything: as many as 28 titles, among them eight La Ligas, four Champions Leagues and three Club World Cups. And the titles he has won with the Blaugrana have allowed him to win the Ballon d'Or five times, coverting him into and then confirming his status as the best player on the planet - and, possibliy, the best player ever. You can't ask for anything else.
At Barcelona, Messi has had everything he's needed to triumph. First of all he was surrounded by a generation of players that will never be repeated (Valdes, Puyol, Pique, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pedro...) and by managers that had complete confidence in his magic (Rijkaard, Guardiola, Vilanova). Since then, as the years passed, he's formed a trident (with Neymar and Suarez) which is unique for its efficiency and its brilliance.
Everything he's had at Barça, though, he has lacked at Argentina. With his national team he has never had a project which has protected him and made him better. He's never had team-mates who knew how to interpret his genius, nor managers who would put the team in his hands. Neither has he had (and this, surely, is the worst thing) fans that idolise him as Cules have done. At Barça and in Barcelona, Messi is God. In Argentina, he's not.
Leo has taken a while to realise this. But, in the end, he has reacted. The Albiceleste's most recent failure at the Copa America has served as the straw which broke the star's patience. He's left the Argentine national team to focus on what really makes him happy: to play for Barça and to continue winning trophies dressed in blaugrana. That is his dream. Everything else is not important.
