Pep Guardiola labelled Lionel Messi "the best" after scoring five in Barcelona's win over Bayer Leverkusen.
Barcelona coach hails five-goal Argentina star
Pep Guardiola labelled Lionel Messi "the best" after the Argentina international scored five in Barcelona's 7-1 UEFA Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen.
The Catalan side destroyed Leverkusen at the Camp Nou to secure a 10-2 aggregate victory, Messi stealing the show by becoming the first player to score five in a single Champions League game. Substitute Cristian Tello added two in a performance of startling brilliance.
Guardiola described Messi as "the best" after the match, and said he felt fortunate to be working with the 24-year-old.
"I'm lucky to coach and manage this player," the Barca boss said. "He is the best. There's no-one else. He is a unique player because of his innate talent and also for his competitiveness.
"We will not see another player like Messi. It's not easy to score five goals, and one day he will score six."
Asked to compare Messi to legends like Johan Cruyff, Alfredo Di Stefano, Diego Maradona and Pele, Guardiola said: "The throne is his. Only he will decide when to leave it."
Guardiola continued on
www.fcbarcelona.cat: "The circumstances don't matter. He competes against himself. We only try to provide the conditions so that he can receive [the ball] as many times as possible where he feels comfortable [on the pitch].
"We are very fortunate to have a player like this. We can only enjoy him and this team."
Karim Bellarabi managed a consolation in stoppage time for Leverkusen, but nothing took the shine off Barca's superb display.
"What I'm taking away from this match is that we qualified for the next round and that the team took this game seriously," Guardiola added.
"These players have done it again. They have given us a prize; they've taken us to the quarter-finals. The most beautiful thing about qualifying is that we can continue playing in this special tournament."
