Messi didn't play but there is guarantee Argentina would have won if he played either. Plus, they got a red card in the first half you know. It was still going to be a tough game for them.
Argentina's overall gameplay was not good in this match. Losing against Ecuador was definitely a failure for Argentina. Otamendi's red card in the 31st minute of the match had a bad effect on Argentina's overall gameplay. Anyway , at the beginning of the second half , Ecuadorian midfielder Caicedo was sent off after getting a red card. After that, we did not see a good performance from argentina's players. Argentina's players did not play well in the second half. The interesting thing is that Argentina could not make a single on target shot in this match.
What you should know is that Argentina had nothing at stake going into this game as they have already qualified so they only played this game for formality sake because whether they win or lose will not change the standing on the table as Argentina is sitting top of the table.
Anyone that bet on Argentina to win was really taking a big risk because it was crystal clear that they will not this this game seriously so there is nothing special about Argentina lose to Ecuador.