Maradona and Messi have lots of similarities, but also lots of differences. The main one, of course, being that Messi is a striker and Maradona was a midfielder. Maradona dominated games by about the same margin Messi does, but he did it mostly playing with lesser team mates, and in a climate where he got a whole lot less protection than Messi gets. He was literally kicked up and down the pitch as a general rule.
They both led their club teams to victory, but Maradona also has that WC win in his cabinet. That year, -86, the WC was dominated by Maradona in a way I have never seen neither before nor after.
For me, I also weigh in that Maradona led a not more than decent Napoli team to the Scudetto too, and in a time where Serie A was arguably the best league in the world. Messi has 'just' played for a Barcelona team jam packed with world class footballers, and I am not at all certain he can/could lead a team in the same way Maradona did.
