Cristiano Ronaldo may have won the Ballon d’Or for 2017 last month, but there’s no denying who the world’s best player is on current form.Lionel Messi has been at his majestic best all season in every competition and scored his 21st and 22nd goals of the campaign in Barcelona’s 5-0 win over Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey on Thursday night.Messi was only on the pitch for the first 59 minutes but that was more than enough time for the legendary Argentina international to put Celta to the sword.The 30-year-old broke the deadlock in the 13th minute and then added a near-identical goal to his tally minutes later.He then produced one of the best passes of the season for Jordi Alba to make it 3-0 in the 28th minute.Barça only managed to draw 1-1 at Balaidos last week - Ernesto Valverde deployed a second-string line-up, with several of the team’s star players rested, including Messi - but they outclassed their opponents in the second leg.

Messi was almost perfect against Celta

Messi was handed a 9/10 rating by the Mirror and Catalan newspaper Sport.

It would have been a flawless 10/10 performance had he stayed on the pitch for the final half-hour.

Instead, Valverde sensibly decided to withdraw the brilliant Messi, with Sunday’s tough trip to Real Sociedad at the forefront of his mind.

Video: Messi's brilliant individual highlights v Celta

Footage of Messi’s individual highlights from the match have now emerged and you can watch the video here…

Another Messi masterclass.

Reaction to Messi's masterclass

Here’s what football fans on Twitter and the media have said about Messi’s display…

First time Messi subbed off before 60th min since 2007

Incidentally, this was the first time that Messi has been subbed off before the 60th minute because of a coach’s decision since September 2007 against Levante - 302 games ago.

The South American has finally accepted there are times when he needs to be rested in order to keep himself fresh for the entire season.

“Every time I‘m on the bench, there’s a lot of commotion because I usually play, I don’t like sitting out, I like to participate and help from the inside,” he told reporters in November after starting on the bench in a Champions League clash against Juventus.

“But I understand it’s a long season and that I have to look after myself more because the seasons keep getting tougher.”