[BARCELONA] NO team copes with as much day-to-day drama as Barcelona. Think of the Yankees during owner George Steinbrenner's salad days in New York, then multiply all that tabloid attention worldwide.

No matter how many games Barca wins, or titles it holds, each loss requires a full autopsy. Every run of bad play is turned upside-down and shaken until, like a snow globe, it looks as if the sky is falling. No star shoulders a bigger burden, either, than Lionel Messi, the incomparable Argentinian at the heart of what just might be the greatest football club ever.

Three losses in Barcelona's last five games, including two against rivals Real Madrid, had Barca fans wondering whether he and the team were in a funk or whether this was indeed the end of an era (again). Barca's coach, Tito Vilanova, is undergoing treatment for a saliva gland tumour in New York, and Messi conceded the mood at the club was subdued.

At a promotional appearance the day before Barcelona faced AC Milan in the Champions League, he said: "I am not sad, although I am hurting. I do not like to lose out on important things, and neither does the team."

Messi is a sensitive sort, and when reminded about his so-so record against Italian teams in general, and how Milan closed down the space he had to operate in during the first leg of the home-and-home series, he responded, "Italian teams are very well-trained.

"I hope," he added, "Tuesday will be the day I can score my first goal against an Italian team from open play."

He did. Twice.

The first, a rocket into the top-left corner, came barely five minutes in. The second, a grass-cutter just inside the right post, came five minutes before half-time. Barcelona went on to win 4-0 (4-2 on aggregate) advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals.

"For anyone who doubted Messi, today Messi gave a lesson on how to play football," said Barcelona assistant coach Jordi Roura, in charge during Vilanova's absence. "He is extraordinary, and surrounded by great players, he is capable of doing what he does."

One guy who understands that better than most is LeBron James, currently piloting the Miami Heat through one of most impressive winning streaks in professional basketball history himself. The Florida club won its 20th straight game on Wednesday to become only the fourth team in National Basketball Association (NBA) history to achieve such a feat.

James is no stranger to football, either, having recently bought a small piece of England's Liverpool club and watched Messi on several occasions.

When James was asked about Messi earlier this week, James said that he was fascinated by how Messi was able to control the flow of the game on a surface some 30 times the length of a basketball court.

"I've never compared myself to him," James said, almost defensively, but then acknowledged he could see some parallels in the way both played. "Absolutely," James continued, breaking into a smile and then chuckling. "He is awesome. He's totally awesome."

Both were hyped as teenagers, both proved to be better than their press, and both have garnered enough individual awards to stock side-by-side mansions.

Messi has won more championships with his club, and while still only 25, many observers believe his career won't be complete unless he leads Argentina to a World Cup. James knows that drill only too well.

The lack of an NBA championship on his resume was pointed out endlessly until he took care of that omission.

In the meantime, with the next World Cup still a year off, Messi mesmerises like no other athlete on the planet.

There was even a wild rumour making the rounds on Tuesday afternoon that the cardinals in Rome trying to elect a pope conveniently called it a day a half-hour before the Barcelona-Milan game so they could catch the broadcast. If true, they were no doubt rooting for Milan, the team playing at home. But if they were fans of the beautiful game, they couldn't help but be amazed yet one more time by Barcelona and Messi. So is Messi, then, football's version of LeBron?

"Is he?" James demurred. "I'll let you decide."

If anything, it's the other way around. - AP