Spanish Thing

Should Messi be France's most fancied footballer?

One of the most admirable qualities of Spain is that its proud people don't generally give two hoots about what the rest of the world thinks of them.

From bullfighting to the almost criminal infatuation with mullets, any condemnation or criticism from abroad for its peculiar tics and traditions is met with a general shrug of indifference.

But this admittedly lazy generalisation falls flat once a year.

Aside from a knee-jerk raising of heckles if anyone dares suggest the country's cuisine is not the finest in the world, the one opinion Spain is truly obsessed with is that belonging to a Gallic gaggle of hacks working for a French football magazine.

The imminent announcement that handball hero Cristiano Ronaldo is the latest recipient of France Football's Ballon d'Or trophy, is set to close off what has been many, many months of deep discussion and debate in Spain, over whether the Portuguese pouter is a worthy winner.

The general feeling is that he isn't, considering the Manchester United winger is a) not Spanish and b) turned down the chance to play for Real Madrid - one of Ronaldo's wisest moves since ordering a six-seater hot tub, as it turns out.

Instead, the county's footballing press has been pondering a number of alternative names, including Fernando Torres and Xavi.

But it was Iker Casillas who was especially promoted at any given opportunity by the Madridista Marca and AS.

However, that campaign was dropped rather swiftly - firstly due to his club manager Bernd Schuster, nominating his Old Trafford rival - but mainly when Casillas starting shipping more goals than most of the Primera's relegation candidates put together.

League goal number twenty whizzed passed the grumpy goalkeeper in Real's disastrous but fully deserved 3-1 defeat to Getafe on Saturday night.

Any Old Trafford offer from a fiendish Ferguson over the summer, would surely be snapped up by the increasingly cantankerous Euro 2008 winning captain.

Spain's top selling paper Marca, even launched its own la Liga's player of the year award to rival France Football's more prestigious prize, but blew what little credibility it had in the first place by awarding the trinket to Raúl.

Realistically, la Liga has only one genuine challenger to Ronaldo's footballing crown. And it's a knock-kneed, goofy-grinned, minute magician currently in the form of his life - Leo Messi.

When the two footballers came head-to-head, in last season's less than seismic Champions League semis, it was the Barcelona player who came away with his oddly-shaped head held high, whilst Ronaldo spent a large chunk of the games either missing penalties or rolling around.

Whilst the result was held as proof for a fair few in the game that Messi was the superior player, a disastrous campaign for his club meant that the Argentine attacker could not be a considered as the winner of football's top prize, this time round.

But it could be a very different situation indeed in twelve months time.

Little Leo appears to have recovered from the muscle injuries that have so troubled him over the past couple of years and is back to his defence-bewildering best.

With his simple smile and love of the Beautiful Game having been restored by Pep Guardiola, Messi is in formidable form - form that sees him with five goals and three assists in the Champions League and nine strikes in la Liga.

The two most recent came in Saturday night's 3-0 away win against Sevilla in the Sánchez Pizjuán. And it was the second of his brilliant brace that truly showed that few players in the world can come close to matching Messi when he is in the mood for a bit of mayhem.

Despite Barcelona's place at the top of the football tree, there were lingering doubts over the Catalan club's claim to be the best in the business, ahead of the clash with title rivals Sevilla.

Although Pep Guardiola's side were averaging three goals a game with nine wins from twelve, the fact that Barca had yet to face up to any of their challengers made some ponder whether the club were nothing more than big bullies who would crumble like cookies when facing opposition of a more substantial nature.

By midnight on Saturday, those doubts had not just been silenced, but their vocal chords had been carved out with a spoon.

For the first half of a fun game, Barca's opponents gave as good as they got but it was the visitors who took lead when mad Sammy Eto'o whacked home his fourteenth league strike of the season.

It was an advantage that the league leaders never looked like losing.

As well as the mesmerising movement of the players, the other most impressive feature of Barcelona's 3-0 victory was the side's work rate and patience.

The victory was not sealed until late in the day, but the culé collective never lost their confidence, never stopped closing down the Sevilla players and plugged away relentlessly at a defence that had only conceded four in six previous matches at the Sanchez Pizjuán.

"Barcelona were Beauty and the Beast, at the same time", noted El Pais.

It was all such a far cry from the miserable mob who wandered onto the Bernabeu pitch last season, and were thumped 4-1 - a result that Barca will be looking to avenge in two weeks time at the Camp Nou.

With the suspicion that Barca would not be able to batter la Liga's big boys now set aside for the moment, the worry still remains over the club's 'Messi-dependency' - the feeling that Barca are a lesser team without the Argentine on the pitch.

The topic had cropped up again last weekend, with a Messi-less laboured draw against Getafe, Víctor Valdés admitted that the sensation was true to an extent. "When Messi doesn't play, the team notices it", confessed the goalkeeper.

But it's when the team are missing both Messi and Andrés Iniesta that there is a noticeable difference in their game - and that's not too surprising considering they make up two thirds of the side's creative hub, along with Xavi.

However, with the currently-crocked pasty-faced midfielder due to return in the new year, it's not an issue that will trouble Barcelona for much longer.

And that will be of great relief to Guardiola who is a keen to ensure that Messi is not overworked in what is set to be a long season for both club and country.

Statistically, it is tough to argue against Cristiano Ronaldo being named the best player of 2008.

Despite his somewhat controversial reputation as turf-hugging, over-pampered ponce, Ronaldo's goals and double-winning deeds mean that the Ballon d'Or trophy will be going to a good home.

Nevertheless, it is considerably harder to make the case for the Man Utd midfielder being the world's favourite player.

That's a title that must surely belong to the infinitely more loveable Leo Messi.

Round 13 Results

Valencia 3-2 Betis
Atlético 4-1 Racing
Recreativo 1-2 Villarreal
Valladolid 3-0 Mallorca
Málaga 4-2 Osasuna
Almería 0-1 Deportivo
Athletic 2-0 Numancia
Espanyol 0-1 Sporting
Getafe 3-1 Real Madrid
Sevilla 0-3 Barcelona

Tim Stannard