Lionel Messi returns to Spain on Wednesday when Paris Saint-Germain face Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, the scene of some of the most iconic performances of his incredible career before he swapped Barcelona for Paris.

But, at 34, a player who dominated the sport for well over a decade together with Cristiano Ronaldo returns to the Spanish capital having only scored seven times in 24 games for PSG this season.

It was Kylian Mbappe, Messi’s PSG team-mate, whose stunning goal gave the French giants their first-leg advantage back at the Parc des Princes and the 23-year-old is not the only player now seeking to usurp Messi and Ronaldo at the summit of the world’s game.

With Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski and Neymar also vying for the title of world’s best, are we entering a new era in the battle for football’s biggest individual prizes?

“I think we are already in that era now,” says Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher. “Messi picked up the last Ballon d’Or but I do think that will be the last time we see Messi or Ronaldo pick that trophy up.

“I think the new generation is ready to take that mantle on.”

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville adds: “For the first time in years, if you asked people which player in the world they would sign if they could only pick one, no one would say Messi or Ronaldo, they would likely say Mbappe, Haaland, Salah, Lewandowski.

“You would be naming players other than Ronaldo and Messi, and that is the clearest sign that while these two are still operating at the highest level, they are fading from the levels they were at before.

“They are no longer the best players in the world.”

Carra: It hasn’t clicked for Messi at PSG

Anyone who saw either of Lionel Messi’s assists in Paris Saint-Germain’s recent 3-1 win over St Etienne at the Parc des Princes will be aware the old magic is still there.

For the first, he drifted inside from the right flank and opened St Etienne up with a stunning reverse pass for Mbappe.

For the second, he set up the same player after dancing through a crowd of green-shirted defenders on the edge of the box.

Those moments of inspiration took him to 10 assists in Ligue 1 this season, the joint-most in the division, but in terms of goals, his output has dropped dramatically for the first time in his career.

There have been five in six games in the Champions League, but only two in 17 in Ligue 1. For a player who averaged more than 30 per season in leagues games alone at Barcelona, it is unfamiliar territory.

“It was always going to be a lot more difficult,” says Carragher. “A new country, a new team.

“It must have been a wrench leaving Barcelona. We saw the scenes when he left the club and I think we were all sad to see it.

“It just felt fitting that he would play his whole career for one club so I’m sad that didn’t happen in the end.

“He had a brilliant season in his last season at Barcelona, with the numbers you would always expect him to get, but it hasn’t quite clicked for him at Paris Saint-Germain, maybe for a number of reasons.

“There’s that many star players there desperate to be the main man and possibly one who is about to take that mantle in Mbappe.”