The Messi of Argentina appeared at the Bernabeu

Stats prove that Leo Messi had a poor game at the Bernabeu for Barca against Real Madrid. He is not always excellent, but he was very poor for such an important match. It seemed like he was playing for Argentina rather than Barca. 

There is no doubt that it was one of his worst games in a Barca shirt. The truth is that there were signs of frustration like when he plays for his countries and he was below par. 

It seemed like he had to do everything himself. There were no wingers and that forced him to move away from the goal to receive the ball. When he does not perform, neither does the team. 

All of that led to two scenes which you hardly ever see: the one on one he missed with Courtois and then when he lost the foot race with Marcelo as he was bearing down on goal to make it 1-1. This does not happen very often so the fact it happened twice in the same game was eyecatching. 

He has even had to hear criticism which he normally gets when he is playing for Argentina. His physical fitness has been questioned, either because he was not 100% or because he is starting to feel the effects of a long season or because of his age. Even before the match, there were images of him limping. It was clear he was lacking freshness and that spark. 

His teammates looked for him, but more for him to try and score himself or to shoot rather than to pass. Messi was always excellent, but currently he hardly seems to be linking up with Jordi Alba. There is no chemistry between him and Griezmann, De Jong looks very timid and his inseparable friends, Luis Suarez, is out. It is far from the times of Xavi, Iniesta, Dani Alves and company. 

Messi, who lost his cool towards Medel in the Copa America, kicked Casemiro from behind to break down a counterattack which cost him a yellow card. Just like at Napoli. He looks to be a bit mad lately. Just like when he is with Argentina.