Messi is the best player in the world and has been for the past 3-4 years, obvious to anyone who watches Barcelona, he's on a different level to anyone else imo, he's just that good.
Unfortunately for us(EPL fans like me and Gordon, or Serie A fanboys like the rest of you) and as hard as it is for us to admit it, but La Liga right now is the best and strongest league in the world. Real and Barca are world class, while you have teams like Valencia, Atletico, Sevilla and Malaga who are also very competitive teams that are stronger imo than their English and Italian counterparts. I still prefer watching the EPL, you guys probably do not appreciate the technical approach that more than often means a lack of defensive responsibility that Spanish teams adopt, but that does not take away anything from the La Liga imo.