Arturo Vidal has become Messi's best partner Barcelona The Chilean assisted Messi in Eibar

The end of this LaLiga Santander season has been good for Arturo Vidal, who has closed the campaign in fine form and forced himself into a starting position under Ernesto Valverde.

His importance has been clear and he has become one of Lionel Messi's allies on the field, which was demonstrated with yet another assist at Ipurua on Sunday.

Vidal started slowly at the Camp Nou and he didn't take kindly to being left on the bench in the first few weeks, but he has put his head down and established himself in the team.

Altogether, he has featured in 52 games this season.

Thirty-three of those have come in LaLiga Santander, of which he has started 28, and he has three goals, which came against Real Madrid, Getafe and Real Betis.

But what stands out most are his assists, as he has seven and most of those have been for Messi.

The Argentine No.10 has been assisted six times by the Chilean, and the most recent of those came on the final day.

Vidal is providing competition to Jordi Alba for the role of Messi's best partner, and he has one more assist than even the Spaniard.

Vidal's excellent performances have justified his arrival for 20 million euros last summer.

Now, he seems certain to start in the Copa del Rey final against Valencia.