Barcelona Praying Lionel Messi Maintains Verve After Argentina vs. Brazil

Lionel Messi has started the season in spectacular form for Barcelona and looks several levels above the player he was last season.

Now he's in Beijing with the Argentina national side, preparing for their glamour friendly against Brazil.

One of the main reasons he's been so good this season is because of the rest that he enjoyed before La Liga commenced in August.

After the World Cup, Messi went back to Argentina to rest. He enjoyed a few weeks there with his friends and family, only breaking his rest period to play in a friendly game in Europe arranged by friend Deco.

He only featured in one pre-season game for Barcelona—the Joan Gamper clash against Mexican side Leon.

Messi also missed the first international break of the season with a minor injury sustained during the end of Barcelona's second game of the season at Villarreal.

By that point, he had already scored twice, with casually brilliant goals against Elche in the first game of the season.

He had also created the only goal of the game against Villarreal, his cut-back stabbed home by Sandro Ramirez from close range to keep Barcelona flying.

After the international break, he had recovered from his little problem and was ready to play again.

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

Messi created two more goals for his team, laying on both of Neymar's strikes in some style as Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at the Camp Nou.

Those two have linked up superbly this season, perhaps doing more in that game together than they did throughout the entirety of the previous season.

When Argentina meet Brazil in Beijing, these two players will be the star attractions.

The link between Messi and Neymar has been frightening at times this season. When Luis Suarez is added to the mix late in October, their attack could become unstoppable.

Michel Euler/Associated Press

Messi has also benefited from stronger direction under Luis Enrique than former coach Gerardo "Tata" Martino.

Martino allowed the playmaker to live the life he wanted at Barcelona, whereas Enrique is far more acutely aware of how he wants his players to behave with regards to diet and fitness.

At various points last season, Messi appeared disinterested, although even a disinterested Messi was still capable of producing magical moments that nobody else could.

Against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, when Martino started him on the right, he may as well have stayed on the team bus.

Christophe Ena/Associated Press

This season, we have got a new Messi—or, rather, the old one. He's not exactly the same player that he was under Pep Guardiola, but he is just as effective.

These days, he's as happy to assist as he is to score, which makes sense given the pending return of Suarez.

The Uruguayan hitman could start games alongside Neymar up front, with Messi in a more withdrawn role.

That should give him the space and time to make an impact, with defences preoccupied trying to stop the two players ahead of him from ripping them to shreds.

As long as Messi doesn't sustain any injuries while playing with the Argentina national side, he should be able to survive just the one long-haul flight without suffering a dip in form.

What needs to be avoided is a repeat of the pre-season he "enjoyed" last season, which saw him dart from place to place making commercial appearances and featuring in games all over the place.

Barcelona themselves limited their pre-season fixtures to stay in Europe, which made a lot of sense from a fitness perspective.

The team have got off to a brilliant start in La Liga. Messi has been key to that.

With the Clasico around the corner and a crucial Champions League game against Ajax before, Barcelona will be desperately hoping that their star man returns in the same condition they sent him in.