🐐 There Is Truly No One Like Messi

Messi and Barcelona have always been a perfect fit, even as the game continues to shift and most players develop other priorities. [View in browser]( [FOX SPORTS INSIDER WITH MARTIN ROGERS] In today’s FOX Sports Insider: The greatest soccer player in the world still has a one-of-a-kind bond with his club ... the anniversary of the most important rap song in sports ... and Michigan State hopes to be the next to upset Duke. It has been said that Lionel Messi has stayed at Barcelona so long because he doesn’t like change; because he’s a homebody who’d be unwilling to shift from his most familiar creature comforts. Another line of thinking — and one that seems far more plausible following the Argentine superstar being anointed soccer’s finest player for a record sixth time on Monday — is that when you find your perfect landing spot, why would you ever leave it? Messi received the Ballon d’Or at a glittering ceremony in Paris, and this win seemed a little more significant than the others. He’s 32 now, and while the feet skip as swiftly as ever and the skills still bamboozle all who try to stifle them, we are no longer watching a player in his youth. “I am aware how old I am,” Messi told reporters. “I enjoy these moments so much because I know that retirement is approaching. Time flies. Everything depends on how I feel physically. Right now, I feel better than ever on a physical and a personal level, and I hope I can go on for a lot longer.” Perhaps the most telling part of this particular award was that it might have been the one that finally breaks the ultimate tie in the long, majestic personal battle between himself and Cristiano Ronaldo — the two men having struggled to prove who is the world’s best for more than a decade. They are both firmly in the running for being regarded as the best ever, but Messi has six Ballons d’Or to the 35-year-old Ronaldo’s five now and given the age of both and that other contenders are emerging, there are no guarantees that either will add to his tally. [STORY IMAGE 1] Defender Virgil Van Dijk of Liverpool and the Netherlands came within just seven votes of toppling Messi this time, while Croatian World Cup hero Luka Modric topped the podium in 2018. “We need to respect greatness,” Van Dijk said. “I was close, but there was someone just a little bit better.” For years, Messi and Ronaldo went head-to-head at least twice per season, before the flamboyant Portugal forward left Real Madrid and the Spanish league last year for Italian club Juventus. On Monday, Ronaldo did not attend the Ballon d’Or celebrations, instead rocking up at Italy’s Serie A awards, picking up a trophy for being the best player in that competition. Ronaldo is as ferociously competitive as ever and would not have enjoyed being bumped to third on the Ballon d’Or podium. The scheduling conflict likely provided him with a convenient out from a situation he probably suspected was coming. All good things are supposed to come to an end, and one day this rivalry will, too. It has been a special one — and in truth, neither would have reached the heights they did without a little push from the other. But there is no end in sight to Messi’s love affair with Barcelona, one that seems even more remarkable given the financial realities of how soccer has developed in the past decade. Having left Argentina to join Barca’s famed La Masia academy at 12, even a sentimental return to his homeland for a final season or two to close his career seems improbable at this point. His affinity for his club — and vice versa — is the greatest romance in soccer, and it has defied the conventions of the modern game. Messi has been compensated royally by Barca, but he could have demanded and gotten more, without question. Or, if Barcelona ever balked at those hypothetical demands, there would have been several cash-rich clubs in a variety of countries willing to satisfy whatever number he could conjure. [STORY IMAGE 2] Instead, he stayed, collecting 36 trophies and counting, including 10 league titles and four Champions Leagues and providing his club’s creative backbone for an entire generation. They don’t make players like Messi much anymore. The game has become tight enough that trying to beat opponents on the dribble is a losing proposition for most ... and the stats say you should usually look for another option. Messi doesn’t care too much for the metrics — he just plays the way he always has. It is the kind of brilliance that makes rival coaches just shrug their shoulders and wonder what more they could possibly have done. Or, like Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone last week, actually stand and applaud one of Messi’s mazy paths to goal instead of pointlessly berating his own players. While the city of Barcelona and the Catalan region that surrounds it have rejoiced in Messi all these years, there was a minor panic recently when it emerged that his latest contract contains an opt-out that would allow him to leave at the end of this season. It was really just fine print, but soccer is a religion in these parts, and the concern was real. Messi alleviated it, with a minimum of fuss. “(My commitment) goes beyond a contract,” he said. “What I feel for this club is (worth) more than any signature on a piece of paper, so there's no issue.” Everyone believed him. There was no reason not to. [STORY IMAGE 3] ONE MORE THING: A quick update on Caroline Marks, [the 17-year-old surfing phenom who we featured in Friday’s Insider](. Last weekend, Marks booked her spot at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, her quarterfinal placing at the Lululemon Maui Pro in Hawaii enough to leapfrog her into the second position on the U.S. team behind world champion Carissa Moore. Look out for much more to come from Red Bull athlete Marks, whose youth, personality and insane talent could captivate an international audience when surfing makes its Olympic debut next summer. Here’s what others have said ... Zito Madu, SB Nation: “At 32, Messi is understandably a much different player than he used to be. He is still capable of seizing the day, but now, more often than not, he just ‘walks and walks,’ waiting for the game to come to him, for his opponents to make even one single mistake, and then he simply plucks. That ability is not as visceral or thrilling as taking the game by the scruff of the neck, but it is its own delightful and effective superpower, one that has helped him stay at the top of the game when most players would be in the twilight of their careers.” Miguel Delaney, The Independent: “He’s stayed at the same level, and arguably got even more complete and even better, but Barca haven’t. They’ve become worse, lost more and more of their identity, and become more and more dependent on their best ever player. And he just keeps producing, to a level of everyday excellence, that is so remarkably routine it is actually easy to take for granted.” Dominic Rech, CNN International: “His numbers are truly staggering. Even when they are broken down, they seem hard to process. He's scored one goal in a game on 218 occasions, two goals in a game on 125 occasions, three goals in a game on 40 occasions, four goals in a game on five occasions. And five goals in a game on one occasion. Not bad for a man who is only 32 years of age.” [IN OTHER WORDS] - [Dan Wetzel at]( Sports]( believes the college football postseason is broken, but he has a blueprint for how to fix it. - As the 2010s wind to a close, [Mike Axisa at CBS Sports]( offers his version of the MLB All-Decade Team. - [James Dielhenn at Sky Sports]( writes about Makoko, the floating slum in Africa where former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua rediscovered his desire to fight. [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED] [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED]( Today marks the 34th anniversary of the incomparable “Super Bowl Shuffle,” the “rap” song recorded and released by the Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears. It became a Top 100 single and spawned one million parodies and cringe-worthy moments. But it’s an undeniably great sports memory — one that is even more special today, as Walter Payton’s son gets a chance to help the world celebrate his father’s verse. While there are a lot of questionable performances on the track, there’s no doubt that “Sweetness” brought the thunder. [VIEWER'S GUIDE] WWE Backstage (FS1, 11 p.m. ET) Arrow star Stephen Amell will take part in this week’s installment of “Promo School,” where he will attempt to verbally battle the panel of WWE Superstars. Seth Rollins will also join the show, and he promises that “the gloves will be off.“ Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Clippers (TNT, 10 p.m. ET) The Clippers are holding strong near the top of the Western Conference, as expected. Meanwhile, the reloaded Blazers have strung together a few solid games and are hoping to gain some ground after a terrible start to the season. No. 10 Duke at No. 11 Michigan State (ESPN, 9:30 p.m. ET) Duke has stumbled early in the season and the Spartans will try to take advantage of the Blue Devils’ weaknesses and gain ground in the rankings with a big home win. [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Odds provided by [FOX Bet]( Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors all to win: +475 There’s a full slate of basketball action on Tuesday night, with an interesting parlay shaping up in the Eastern Conference. The 7-13 Pistons are on the road, but they’re going up against the even worse 5-14 Cleveland Cavaliers. Similarly, the Magic are currently in eighth place in the East, but with an 8-11 record. They’ll also be on the road, taking on the 6-12 Washington Wizards. The trickiest part of the parlay might lie with the best team involved: the 15-4 Raptors are at home, hosting the 14-5 Miami Heat. [WHAT THEY SAID] "What's the point of being the best in the world if you scratch and claw your way to the top, and you push everybody down instead of lifting everybody else up with you?" — Rose Namajunas [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download the FOX Sports app for live scores and streaming [App Store]( [Google Play]( Available on: [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] Forwarded this message? [Sign up](. Trademark & Copyright Notice: ™ and © 2019 FOX Media LLC and FOX Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Please do not reply to this message. If you do not wish to receive emails like this in the future, please [unsubscribe](. FOX Sports respects your privacy. Click [here]( to view our Privacy Policy. FOX.com Business & Legal Affairs - Manager Digital Media P.O. Box 900 Beverly Hills, CA 90213-0900