Valencia vs Barcelona Match Report: How good is Messi without Xavi and Iniesta?

When it comes to Lionel Messi there are two schools of thought: one he is the best player in the world and possible the greatest of all time; or he is probably better than Cristiano Ronaldo but it is the players around him that make him so special. Those of the first school cite his magnetic touch, goal scoring record, mazy runs and Ballon d’Ors. Those inclined to believe the second thought point out his lack of success with Argentina and the phenomenal abilities of Xavi and Iniesta.

Last night Barcelona went to the Mestalla to face Valencia in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi final, they were without Xavi and Iniesta. How did Barcelona and Messi fare?

5 things we learnt from El Clasico

It was the 7th of 2011 but we can still learn a lot from 90 breath-taking minutes.

1. Messi is better than Cristiano

Once again Messi proved he is on course for a hat-trick of Ballon d’Or’s this January. Real gave him an inch and he took a mile slid a perfect pass to Alexis (who still had a lot to do) to score a stunning equaliser. Messi didn’t have his most spectacular game, Iniesta was probably the best player on the pitch, but, Messi’s influence in big games is unwavering. Cristiano on the other-hand had a bit of a disaster, no matter how hard he puffed his chest out he couldn’t make a positive impact on the game. He missed two crucial chances one, a skewed shot when a simple pass to Di Maria was a much better option when it was 1-0. The second was even more uncharacteristic; a free header that went harmlessly wide from an inch perfect ball from Alonso when Madrid were trailing 2-1. Catalan dialy Sport declared that “We’ll have to expand the dictionary to find new adjectives for him, because majestic, lethal, magic, incomparable and divine have all been used up”. Messi was far from his best against Real but he was far better than Cristiano.