A Catalan family saunter up the tree-lined Rambla Catalunya in central Barcelona on Sunday afternoon. Dad admires the giant Audi people carrier which stops in traffic alongside them, while mum tries to stop her two kids from working out who is driving behind the blacked out windows.
"It's Messi!" shouts the oldest child. "It's Lionel Messi."
The world's best footballer could have shot off in his high-powered motor, but instead lowered the windows and posed for two quick photos with the boys, taken with their father's phone. Messi's long-time girlfriend in the passenger seat smiles and points to indicate that the traffic lights have changed. The windows go up and the Messi-mobile zooms off.
"Do you think he's the best player ever?" asks a man walking up the street. "Because I do."
That man in is better qualified than most. Arnau Riera was Messi's captain for the 2004-05 season for Barca's B team. Messi hadn't spotted his former team-mate - who has just recovered from two serious injuries to make a comeback in the Spanish third division - and their worlds no longer coincide; but Arnau has nothing but praise for the Argentine. No players accuse him of being arrogant or 'big time' - a mortal sin for any footballer from Rochdale to Real Madrid.
Arguments about who is the best player ever are subjective. There can be no definitive answer, and it is impossible to compare different generations; but a holy trinity of Pele, Maradona and Johan Cruyff seems to exist. You will find Spaniards adding Alfredo Di Stefano or Ferenc Puskas to that list; the Dutch and Milanese cite Marco van Basten; Britons mention George Best, Bobby Charlton and Stanley Matthews; Germans idolise Franz Beckenbauer; in Portugal Eusebio is king; and in France Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini are legendary. And there is probably a Wolves fan who thinks Steve Bull is the greatest footballer to have trodden the earth.
Messi is only 24, but he is already up with that legendary historical triumvirate. He found out on Sunday morning that he had made the 23-man shortlist of the Ballon d'Or yet again - far from a surprise, of course. He is the overwhelming favourite to win the trophy for the third successive year, matching Platini's achievement in the 1980s with that great Juventus side.
Messi is annihilating records season after season. He is already the second-highest goalscorer in Barca's history, and surpassed the 200-goal mark for the club against the Czech champions Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday in Prague. His consistency remains remarkable - he has scored more goals in each successive season that he has played for Barca, bar one.
Saturday night saw him record a hat-trick in the first 29 minutes of the game against Mallorca for his 17th, 18th and 19th goals of the season. Tuesday night saw him add yet another hat-trick with goals 200, 201 and 202 for Barca. Few thought that he would beat last season's total of 53 goals for Barca - a club record for a single season - but he's already on 22 goals from just 17 matches. That's a strike rate of 1.29 goals per game. He played 55 matches last season; if he carries on at his current rate, he'll hit over 70 goals this term. That won't happen, but Messi's goal ratio continues to increase.
Messi is maturing off the field too. He may have a shy and quiet demeanour, but he's a confident lad who knows exactly what he wants, whether it's a modelling contract with Dolce & Gabbana, Zlatan Ibrahimovic out of the door or to dodge speaking to the media for six months.
In coach Pep Guardiola he has someone who indulges his genius, his foibles. Before the Mallorca game Guardiola said: "Messi knows very well what we all think, all of the coaching staff, the people that look after him, and the other players,
"We are all delighted with what he does, has done and will do. And of course nothing that we have done would have been possible without him.
"He is a different kind of player, his stats make him different and he lets you win games at all levels. There is never a game in which he doesn't generate chances. I don't think there has ever been a player in history that can do what he manages to do every three days. People buy tickets just to see him play and he is doing something unique.
"To find a player that has managed to be so consistent for four years, who is so fit, who fights so hard as him, I've never seen anything like it."
Guardiola is not predisposed to such praise, but you couldn't stop the Barca coach.
"Perhaps I'm too young," he concluded, "but I never played with anybody like him and I have never coached a player like that either. He is a better player than anybody else; he has a gift."
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