It’s tempting to think, after Barcelona’s 3-2 win over Real Betis on Sunday, that the best Lionel Messi of all is an angry Lionel Messi, that his three assists were somehow a cathartic exorcising of the fury he feels about how his club is being run. But these were three assists in a season in which he has already been directly involved in 25 goals. He was brilliant, but he is always brilliant. To detect gradations within that brilliance is probably beyond the mortal eye.
What the win over Betis highlighted yet again is that this Barcelona is heavily reliant on Messi.