messi was actually really good in 2014 too, think he was involved in 5 out of like 7 goals argentina scored yeah he didn't score or assist later stages but not without others letting him down
i remember him playing this unbelievable through ball volleying it from his own half to give di maria a 1on1 who pissed it away for one
but he's for sure been even better this time, but part of that is because he's had better supporting cast although let's not kid ourselves - he's still got donkeys to play with
de paul has been terrible at any part of the game where he's got to kick the ball lautaro has had enough chances set up by messi to make him a contender for the golden boot but hasn't scored a single one there have been entire segments of play where it sometimes seems like messi is the only technically good player
it's not true of course - entire defence and keeper have been good, and enzo/alvarez as others have said
maradona had a similarly good supporting too. they were tough ****s similarly and yeah valdano was really good. he was just coming off being la liga foreign player of the year 2nd top scorer in the league to hugo sanchez winning the title with real madrid. along with ruggeri and a couple of others who were at libertadores winners river plate etc.