also the messi/argentina thing isn't as straightforward as either side is making it out to be
on the one hand, jorge sampaoli massively tinkered with the lineup at a bad time, the argentine midfield got completely bossed, and none of their center backs other than otamendi could pass out of the back, so it's definitely true that service was not good. the team as a whole was disjointed.
on the other hand, messi spent half the game walking around rather than pressing (which the rest of argentina were doing), routinely ran directly up to other players to receive the ball rather than actually working to draw the defense out of position, and generally had terrible body language/failed to communicate as a captain. when caballero made that howler, it was a diff argentinian player (meza or perez? not sure) who went to console him, and who ran back to the center circle and tried to restart play on a positive note. messi spent the whole time sulking.
I've maintained for years that messi is clearly better than ronaldo, and it's not even a debate, so it pains me to admit this, but there's no way you'd ever see ronaldo that disengaged in the performance of his international team, particularly when given the armband. in fact, look at the earlier portugal games (such as the relatively ugly affair vs morocco) and you'll see someone trying his ass off and shouting orders/encouragement to his team