Balance is the key to Barcelona's success

The result of balancing individual glory
with teamwork

According to former Argentinian coach Basile, Barcelona and Messi are successful because the Spanish team plays, precisely, as a team. "However, for Argentina, the first thing any player does is give it to Messi and hope that he will create everything" he explains. In addition, defensive players in South America are much less "uncompromising"" and the referees are more likely to let them get away with it.

The result of trying to make Messi do
everything 

Barcelona continues to defeat Real Madrid, even when their rivals are favorites and locals. Messi continues to lack that shine when he plays for his country. A possible explanation is the balance between the collective and the individual that has been achieved by the blaugranas. Barcelona plays a game of high passing rates and cooperating with teammates without placing the individuals as mere pieces of the whole. They have managed to leave from for each of the player to develop his own individual style, to become world-wide celebrities and to reach success on the personal level as evidenced by Messi's Ballon d'Ors and Xavi's World Soccer Player of the Year. In opposition, Real Madrid has the Argentine national team are almost completely dependent on their number one star and place very little value on collective importance.

Niblock, Gary. "Barcelona play as a team, Argentina rely on Messi - Alfio Basile." Goal.com. N.p., 23 Jul 2011. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.goal.com/en/news/60/south-america/2011/07/23/2587922/barcelona-play-as-a-team-argentina-rely-on-messi-alfio>.