Why Lionel Messi Was Barcelona's Standout Performer in March

Lionel Messi's season with Barcelona continues to go from strength to strength.

When the going gets tough, Messi certainly gets going and in many respects that is part of his appeal. The best player in the world by popular decree, yet he continues to work his socks off to earn every reward.

No prima donna this.

March is generally an important month for those clubs still in the hunt for honours in the European competitions, and it's from this point when you need your best exponents to step up.

A number of Barca's staff have done exactly that, including Gerard Pique, Neymar and Luis Suarez, but even they have been left in the Argentine's slipstream.

Based on their available metrics, WhoScored.com named Messi as man of the match for every single game during the month.

In two of the games, against Rayo Vallecano where he set a new record for hat-tricks scored and against Manchester City where he was unplayable in the second leg of their Champions League tie, Messi scored a perfect 10.

Even if your standpoint is that stats can be massaged in a few ways to suit any argument, anyone that actually watched either of those games couldn't disagree with such a rating.

Against City in particular, he was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch. Don't forget we are talking about the champions of the Premier League here. Messi was so good against the likes of James Milner, Yaya Toure et al., that it was almost embarrassing at times.

Even Pep Guardiola, back at Camp Nou for the games against City and Real Madrid, couldn't contain himself:

Four assists and five goals spread out during the month meant that he was decisive in every game in which he played.

Relatively quiet by his standards against Real, although still busier than most, he still assisted with the first goal for Jeremy Mathieu via a beautifully flighted free-kick.

Both goals against Eibar won Barca that game too, and it's completely fair to credit Messi with the rise of the Blaugrana to the top of the La Liga table. Something that seemed well beyond the Catalans just a few weeks ago.

What's noticeable too is the sense of urgency that has returned to his game. Under Tata Martino in particular, Messi's malaise was evident especially in the latter stages of the season.

Now we're back to seeing him prowling in all areas. Lulling defenders into a false sense of security before a terrific burst of pace or piece of skill takes him easily beyond his covering defender.

Nominally not a centre-forward, winger, playmaker or attacking midfielder, Messi has been all of those during the month of March 2015 and the vision that Luis Enrique has for this team is being made manifest by Barca's number 10.

It's said that you can't improve on perfection, but Lionel Messi has made a damn good fist of it during March 2015.