FC Barcelona: Lionel Messi World's Most Overrated Footballer

As Barcelona walked off the pitch on Tuesday night, the crowd at Camp Nou looked, to put it mildly, stunned.

How had Chelsea come in and—with 10 men, mind you—defeat them? How had the Blues, who'd known misery for most of the season, come in and wipe the floor with who many consider to be the best club in the world?

My answer? Because the best club in the world put all their eggs in the Lionel Messi basket, and the Argentinian wonderboy is vastly overrated.

Again and again, Messi is given too much credit, too much confidence, and he just barely doesn't make it over the bar. He does enough to wow you, but whether it's the World Cup, Copa America, La Liga or the Champions League, Messi just can't switch it into a higher gear.

Does Lionel Messi deserve all the blame for Barcelona's preemptive—and slightly embarrassing—exit from the Champions League? No.

Does he receive too much praise? Are people too quick to gush over him? Is he overrated?

Join me as I present to you the five biggest reasons why I think the answer is yes.

Lack of Mental Toughness in Champions League

Sure, he can pile on the goals against "powerhouses" such as Bayer Leverkusen, but when push comes to shove and he has to beat someone of quality, he wilts.

In both games of the semifinal round against Chelsea, Messi was—to use a cheap pun—a mess.

In the first leg at Stamford Bridge, he gave up several interceptions, one of which was picked off by Frank Lampard for the Chelsea score just before halftime. He had an off day and routinely found himself out of position and struggling against Blues defenders.

In the second leg at Camp Nou, he missed a penalty kick that would have (possibly) put Chelsea away for good. But the world was witness to Messi's unraveling—an exposure of the fact that the young Argentinian oftentimes doesn't have the mental fortitude to face tough opponents head on.

Impotence at Copa America

In 2007, at the young age of 19, Messi got his first real chance at international competition in Copa America.

Unfortunately for Messi, he was largely ineffective on the pitch and out-shined by replacements when he sat down on the bench.

Argentina's first opponent in the tournament was the United States—an opponent the quick forward should have dominated. Instead, he made a few shots, but nothing came of it. Carlos Tevez replaced him in the 79th minute and scored shortly after entering the game.

He scored just twice during the entire tournament—against Peru and Mexico—and when Argentina made it to the finals against Brazil, he struggled to even get close to the net, much less score. Messi and the rest of Argentina lost 3-0 to Brazil, not nearly up to the quality of their South American neighbors.

Four years later, during Copa America 2011, he failed to score a single goal, and Argentina was eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Stalling in World Cup

When 2006 rolled around, Argentina wanted to inject some life into its squad. They plucked 17-year-old Messi from Barcelona and included him on the roster. 

After winning their group, they struggled in the quarterfinals against Germany, losing on penalty kicks without Messi even coming close to netting a goal.

The 2010 World Cup was much of the same for Messi, as he didn't score a goal even though Argentina was up against easy competition like South Korea, Nigeria and Greece.

However, in the quarterfinals, Messi was (again) invisible, as Germany trounced Argentina by a score of 4-0.

Two World Cups, one goal to his name. Talk about stalling big time.

Second-Best in El Clasico

La Liga is a two-horse race, and if you don't think it's Barcelona and Real Madrid, you're either fooling yourself or you're the biggest Valencia fan on the planet.

Messi's been playing on Barcelona's senior squad since the 2005-06 season. In that time, Barca has played 14 league matches against Real Madrid. In those 14 matches, Messi's only scored in four of them.

Then there's the handful of times Cristiano Ronaldo has out-shined Messi in Copa Del Ray matches, scoring in all three games that Real Madrid and Barcelona have battled it out for La Liga's domestic cup.

Messi still has yet to score in a Copa Del Ray El Clasico.

Maybe after the early exit from this year's Champions League, Messi can finally focus on figuring out a way to score against Real Madrid.