I think Messi excels because of Barcelona, not the other way around. While I admit Messi is a great player, very talented and smart, Barcelona without him would have accomplished most of what it did. Clearly, Messi in his position in Barcelona is better than almost anybody Barcelona could replace him with, but he is not the main reason for Barcelona's success. In short, I would attribute about 10-15% of Barcelona's success to Messi. Similarly, I would attribute about 50% of Messi's success to Barcelona. Case in point, as I mentioned in other threads already, and has been mentioned in this thread, Messi accomplished nothing with Argentina in the last WC, while Spain, the core of which was centered around the great Spanish players in Barcelona, won it all. The same core group of Spanish players also won WC titles in younger years and the Euro Cup, etc. I think that pretty much says all that needs to be said on the subject.