How Barcelona star Lionel Messi overcame his fears and improved his habits

Ten weeks ago, Lionel Messi was genuinely worried. "Thiago doesn't want to leave the jardín [nursery] when I go to pick him up at midday. He protests that he wants to stay." The Barcelona star had conflicted feelings: On one hand, he was calm because he knew his son was happy when he was away from him, or his partner, Antonella. On the other hand, he was beginning to realise that at three years old, Thiago was no longer dependent on his parents, which was hard. "He likes to be in the jardín with his friends, having a good time." 

In that meeting in February, Messi showed that his only shadow of unease was Thiago's "independence". He already knew that Antonella was pregnant with their second child, but he waited until the end of April to announce it. 

Thiago will be a big brother, which may occupy Messi once again. "Here it is not like in Argentina. The kids in my country start at the jardín (now referring to school) when they are four," he said to his teammates at Barcelona's Ciudad Deportiva, many of whom have children of the same age."Thiago is still just a baby!" And then a presence in the dressing room calmed him down: "Leo, in your country the kids start school really young as well, because their parents work, like here." 

"Thiago doesn't want to leave the jardín when I go to pick him up at midday. He protests that he wants to stay," Messi was insisting. 

Messi is changing, in part because of the decisions he is taking which will affect his son's life and he is afraid of making a mistake, like any mortal. These fears are helping him to mature. Sport is, too, in particular that lost final at the World Cup in Brazil. 

"What do I have to do to return to being the best player in the world?" A question without an easy answer, which is even tougher when it comes from the mouth of the man that has been has been the best in the world for several years. 

Giuliano Poser, the nutritionist who Messi has been seeing in Venica, had the answer at the beginning of the season: "To improve, you have to adjust your habits." 

It was not the first time that Messi was hearing this. In 2008 and 2009, with the arrival of Josep Guardiola as boss of Barça's first team, he left behind the milanesas a la napolitana, Coca-Cola, ice cream and sweets. Six years later, his diet has taken a new twist. Now he only eats what his body needs. What does it need? Poser found out by putting the player through a series of studies of all types. The result? Five kilos lighter in nine months, more power, more speed and more explosiveness. 

The new Messi is now a step ahead of the one who was transformed by Juanjo Brau, the physiotherapist that he distanced himself from two years ago. Messi is now taking advantage of the methods used by Rafael Pol, the physiotherapist who works as part of Luis Enrique's team. 

Although he is less explosive when he first gets the ball than he was years ago, his body has the athletic elasticity of a sprinter. The tension between the players and their manager has calmed down and Barça are now a team of finely tuned athletes, fresh, thanks to Luis Enrique's work throughout the season. 

Without fearing injuries and with confidence that his body will support him on the pitch, Messi has found himself once again, breaking records, the last, 405 goals in a Barcelona shirt. This season he has scored 53 goals: 40 in La Liga, eight in the Champions League and five in the Copa del Rey. Is there more? Yes: In those three competitions he has also given 26 assists: 18 in the league, four in Europe and four in the cup.

This data reflects the significant changes in Messi this season: in each moment he chooses the position on the pitch where he wants to play, when and how he wants to get involved, when and how to make play for his teammates. He directs the orchestra and tries different instruments. Xaxi Hernandez, for many years the 'brain' of Barça, confirmed as much in a chat with La Nación. "If Leo is capable of playing the Xavi role? Leo can play wherever he chooses to and he will do better than any of us. It's part of his genius. He has an extraordinary capacity for reading the game. It's difficult to imagine what position he will be when he retires, although I always imagine him close to the goal." 

And that is where he is, forming a wonderful romance with the Uruguayan Luis Suarez and the Brazilian Neymar, the other members of the magnificent trio. Without goals, but with other essential qualities, Javier Mascherano completes a quartet which wouldn't have been possible in the years of Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o and the Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic. 

The mate [a South American drink] passes from hand to hand, the goals shared among the three. Messi, happy, and with the answer to the question which was asked in Venice. 

© LA NACIÓN