Messi's recent CL performances

So this game marks the third straight year, and the 6th time in the last 7 years, where barca has gone out with a whimper in the cl In many of these games, against Atletico, Juve, Roma this year, and even PSG last year before neymar's heroics, messi has totally flattered to deceive. It'd be one thing if he was trying his hardest and things weren't coming off, but he's been putting in lethargic performances, trudging around off the ball and being almost marked out of the games. Even barca fans have been questioning his desire and his fighting spirit in the face of adversity(check out the barca forum for some lolz).
For someone we hold up as the GOAT, isn't it fair to expect some sort of fighting spirit and never say die attitude when his team is in trouble. As a Messi fan, I'd hoped he would be the one to take on the mantle of responsibility,demand the ball, and try his damnedest to make something happen. Neymar against PSG , Gerrard against AC Milan would be good examples. Now ofc it's a team sport and we can't expect one player to turn all these ties on his own. I've seen matches of Diego like the CL ties against Real Madrid with Napoli where his team would be outmatched, but he would be running like a madman till the last minute trying to make something happen. Even if the comeback didn't happen, we can acknowledge he raised his team and made a difference.
Between the CL knockouts and international tournaments, how many of these kind of performances have we seen from Messi? When his team can get the ball to his feet consistently, he is probably the most talented player ever and almost a cheat code. When this doesn't happen, his lack of off the ball movement has made him drift out of many do or die games. To make a long story short, how do you guys think this'll affect his legacy, especially with Cristiano performing in nearly every big game.

safe to say that if messi doesn't win the world cup now (which we know he wont btw), Ronaldo would end up with the legacy of being the bigger legend. not least because of the fact that 1. he has an euro title 2. he's played in different leagues 3. the Balon d'or catch up and the possibility of surpassing messi 4. he has more CL's (lol, the 06 CL doesn't count) 5. far greater CL record 6. peaking at the right time of his career, which is basically the past 5 years (people tend to remember more fondly the most recent memories). while messi is here flopping left and right in his little village, being a NT flop, dwindling faster than Michael Owen and relying on his little innocent puppy reputation.

Bankz wrote:safe to say that if messi doesn't win the world cup now (which we know he wont btw), Ronaldo would end up with the legacy of being the bigger legend.

No he wouldn't. At least not for people with an ounce of brain.

Hapless_Hans wrote:

Bankz wrote:safe to say that if messi doesn't win the world cup now (which we know he wont btw), Ronaldo would end up with the legacy of being the bigger legend.

No he wouldn't. At least not for people with an ounce of brain.

Really? Already seeing many Barca fans admitting that Ronaldo is the better CL player now. This is a hardcore fanbase which usually calls Ronaldo a glorified Mario Gomez who only scores penalties and tapins and isn't even the tenth of the player Messi is, I have never encountered a single Barca fan before who thought of Ronaldo as the superior player. The narrative is changing now. Give it one more CL victory this season for Real and possibly another WC flop for Messi and I'm sure this will be a 50:50 thing at worst and outside Barca fanbase a landslide victory in favour of Ronaldo.

The writing is on the wall. Without Pep's system and without prime Xavi it went from 4-1 Golden Balls to possibly 5-6 at the end of this year as well as 3 flopped tournaments with Argentina.