Lionel Messi is always Barcelona's most important player. In 2017-18, however, he has arguably been even more influential than ever for the Catalan club. Especially in La Liga. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner hit a hat-trick as Barca wrapped up the title on Sunday thanks to a hard-fought 4-2 win away to Deportivo La Coruna which saw the Catalans crowned champions with four games to spare. And the Blaugrana are on course to complete an unbeaten campaign in the Primera Division. None of that would have been possible without Messi. In fact, it did not appear possible at all back in the summer when Neymar left the club and Barca lost 3-1 and 2-0 to Real Madrid in the Spanish Supercopa series in August. In pre-season, Barca had played 4-3-3 with Neymar on the left, Luis Suarez in the middle and Messi on the right. But, after the Brazilian's €222 million move to Paris Saint-Germain, Ernesto Valverde switched to 4-4-2. That gave added strength to the midfield an