Quotes About Messi

Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola was full of praise for the Argentine, and said publicly for the first time that Barcelona rely on him to produce their best football. Guardiola was speaking after Messi had scored yet another hatrick in the 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid.

“The group is important but this group also knows that Messi is very important. Without Messi we would also win games, we’d be good, but not as solid as we are now. Without Messi, this team wouldn’t be what it is. Because of him we can win so easily. All the great teams in history had a player who’s different and ours is Messi.”

These words were echoed by his Barcelona teammates such as Iniesta, who stated that “Messi is out of this world, we can only hope he continues like this. Whislt Pedro added “There are no words left to describe Messi.” The rival coach also had no option to surrender to the Argentine. “Messi is the best player I’ve seen, the Di Stefano of the 21st century,” said Flores.

Barcelona star Xavi has claimed that 2010 Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi is of a “higher level” than he or colleague Andres Iniesta. The Argentine edged out the Spanish World Cup-winning duo earlier this month to retain the prize he collected last year.

Barca’s all-time appearance record-holder had been tipped to collect the award, but in an interview with magazine DiR Emotions, the 31-year-old confessed: “I am happy to have been among the trio of candidates for the Ballon d’Or. “Leo is above both Andres and me. He is the best in the world and arguably one of the top five in the history of football.” Xavi also conceded that he is fortunate to earn a living playing football, adding: “I know 100 per cent that I am privileged. “I get paid a fortune for doing what I like, something that 80% of the population cannot say, and I am a Cule until death. What else can I ask? I see Barcelona as a family business. I want to do well, always.”

The Ballon d’Or finalist discussed the abilities of his colleague among other issues in an interview with Onda Cero, and had nothing but praise for the Argentine attacker. He commented: “The Ballon d’Or was the feast of Barcelona. A sense of justice in football has been gathered in that Messi will be the best player ever, and to be in the final with him gave myself and Andres [Iniesta] tremendous personal satisfaction. However, I think that these awards are unfair because football is a team sport.”

While Messi may not fancy his chances of defending his title, for Xavi there is not a player in the game today who can compare with the 23-year-old. When asked about his own possibilities of winning the Ballon d’Or, Xavi told FIFA.com: “I’ll repeat what I’ve been telling everybody: I hope that a Spanish player wins it and if not, I hope it goes to my friend Leo Messi.

“He’s indisputably the best player in the world, and he’s going to win the Ballon d’Or several more times. But in World Cup years the tournament is a big factor, and Andres (Iniesta) and I won it, while La Albiceleste didn’t hit the heights expected of them.”

Xavi continued about Messi: “A player like him only comes around once every 50 years. “The only reason the rest of us have any chance of winning this year is because the World Cup didn’t turn out too well for Argentina, because if it had, then it (the Ballon d’Or) would be no contest.

“In my view, Leo is now even better than Maradona was. He’s going to be at the very top for many years to come, there’s nobody like him. “He loves taking responsibility, he never hides away. And I’ve known him since he was a kid, I’ve watched him develop and I can say that he’s tremendously professional and has good people around him. He’s got all the ingredients for success.”

Meanwhile, FC Copenhagen will attempt to thwart Barcelona’s Lionel Messi in Tuesday’s Champions League Group D clash by trying to prevent him operating between their midfield and defence, according to coach Stale Solbakken.

“Cleverer coaches than me and better players than mine have tried and been unsuccessful at stopping Messi but with a great team effort we have a chance,” Solbakken told a news conference on Monday. Messi was a key player (in the match in Barcelona) and it will be extremely important to stop him from roaming in the area between our midfield and defence. If we can push him out towards the sidelines we will have a better chance of preventing him creating chances.”