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10 Years ago, Lionel Messi received his first registration card for the Spanish Federation.

Barcelona striker David Villa has hailed team-mate Lionel Messi, saying the Argentina captain is incomparable to other footballers. The 24-year-old Messi has been in a rich vein of form this season and his hat-trick in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Atletico Madrid has put him at the top of La Liga’s scoring charts with eight goals.

Messi has said he is looking to surpass Cesar Rodriguez’s scoring record for Barcelona, and while Villa played down individual feats, he noted that the diminutive forward is in a league of his own. “Messi does incredible things,” Villa told reporters. “His stats make you cover your eyes. He cannot be compared to anyone. We are delighted.” The 29-year-old Villa, who has scored five goals in all competitions this season, stressed he is happy with life at Camp Nou. “Being at this club is a symptom of happiness,” Villa said. “I am very happy both on and off the field and I hope to stay here for many more years.” “I am not used to being a substitute, but in the dressing room there are 15 or 16 players who are not used to it either.”

Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger has highlighted similarities between Robin van Persie and Barcelona star Lionel Messi, following the former’s latest brace for Arsenal.

“I see similarities, positional-wise, with Messi,” said Wenger. “He likes to come deep and he likes to turn up, up front. Don’t make me make a comparison with Messi but it is just that positional-wise he is not really like the real centre forward.

Leo was near his best last night in Barcelona’s 5-0 demolition of Atletico Madrid, but he immediately put the focus on the rest of his team after the match.

“I must thank my colleagues,” he told AS. “We have shown that when we play well, we enjoy our football. “It was a difficult game as Atletico came and stood their ground well,” he continued. “They possess a great team, and earned our respect from the first minute, but the goal put the game in our favour and we quickly took control.”

The Argentine also closed into within two goals of catching legendary Hungarian striker Laszi Kubala, who scored 194 goals in total.Speaking to BarcaTV, Messi said “I’m pretty calm about it. I just take it a game at a time, but obviously I’m very excited about becoming top scorer. Many years have gone by and it’s still the same player [referring to Kubala]. Hopefully I can beat his stats. I want to continue breaking records here”.

“We have to take it all bit by bit, without thinking about milestones. I think the most important thing for this team is to keep winning, and keep winning titles for us and the fans. This is far more important than any individual prize or statistic”

Messi admits that they still have to adapt to the 3-4-3 system that Guardiola has used recently, but he’s pretty excited about it: “We feel pretty comfortable with it. There are some things we still aren’t doing well, just like with the previous system, but that’s OK. It takes time and practice. We still aren’t totally used to it. Personally I’m pretty happy, because up front we have more space and we can link up better with the midfield players, and receive more passes”.

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Barcelona star Lionel Messi had a punch thrown at him by a school-age assailant on Thursday as he was leaving a restaurant in his native city of Rosario, Argentina. He was not reported injured. A witness told the TV channels America and Todo Noticias that the assailant was among a throng of people looking for autographs. It was not clear if the punch had landed, or the intention. Messi arrived in Rosario, about 500 kilometers north of Buenos Aires, this week and is taking a few days of vacation before practice starts next week for the Copa America – the South American championship.

Messi began his youth career with Newell’s Old Boys, Rosario Central’s fiercest local rivals, which explains why the kid felt the need to declare his support (I guess he didn’t want anyone thinking he was a Real Madrid fan). Given all the witnesses to the incident, I’m sure there will be more on this to come.

However, Messi himself has stated to Ole and on his Facebook:
“About a supposed accident when leaving a restaurant, I just want to say I didn’t get any punch of anyone. I’m perfectly fine. They didn’t even touch me, I felt nothing. It was just afterwards I heard about the commotion. Nothing really happened. I’m surprised about all the commotion it has caused. Nonetheless thanks for your messages and your interest.”