Lionel Messi Is Enjoying His Football Again, Which Is Great for Barcelona

Barcelona dismantled Levante in Valencia on Sunday night, and the man at the heart of it was a happy-looking, carefree Lionel Messi. 

The Argentina forward seemed to be playing with a huge weight on his shoulders last season, which can be attributed to various issues.

Perhaps it was the looming World Cup, a competition where he would be expected to carry Argentina to the final to try and triumph in the home of their great rivals, Brazil.

He did this, winning the Golden Ball on the way, but was unable to overcome the last hurdle, with Messi's side falling to Germany in the final.

Perhaps it was that Barcelona themselves were under the weather, with the far-from-inspiring Gerardo "Tata" Martino at the helm.

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Messi rarely looked happy, even though he was still better than most other players in La Liga by some distance.

Only Cristiano Ronaldo and Diego Costa stood alongside him in terms of influence and performances.

But this season, something has changed. Changed for the better.

From the first game, when he netted twice against Elche, to Sunday night when he scored the fifth with a cheeky chip and set up two more goals for his team-mates, Messi is playing with the verve we know he can muster.

He missed a penalty against Levante too, but it didn't put him off his stride, and Messi retained the confidence to score his impudent goal.

Against Villarreal and Athletic Club, the two Liga games before this, Barcelona scored three times in total, and Messi assisted all of them.

Against Apoel Nicosia in mid-week it was again Messi who provided the assist for the only goal of the game, Gerard Pique's header.

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He played a delightfully weighted ball for Neymar to convert the opener against Levante, before later setting up Sandro.

There are various reasons for Messi's happy demeanour. One is that this summer, after the World Cup, he had a thorough rest with his family and friends in Argentina.

Having Luis Enrique as a manager will be helpful too, with the Asturian likely to be stricter than Martino was.

Although this will reduce Messi's pleasure in the short term, in both the medium and long term it is good for Barcelona and good for him.

Then, there is the prospect of playing with Luis Suarez. Having the Uruguayan forward to his right and Neymar to his left, Messi knows that defences will have to focus their attention in other places than simply on him.

Sometimes last season Messi was swarmed, with opponents not worrying about Alexis Sanchez and Pedro.

Furthermore, Messi has a challenge again. Ronaldo took his Ballon d'Or accolade last season, and now he has to win it back.

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Messi is the only player in Enrique's squad who hasn't faced rotation this season. He has started all of the games and played every single minute of the campaign so far.

The Blaugrana coach knows that a fully fit and fully motivated Messi is a great weapon to have on his side.

With Barcelona significantly tighter at the back this term and with Messi at his magic best up front, the omens are good for Enrique and his side.