After witnessing Lionel Messi break Barcelona’s all-time club goalscoring record on Tuesday’s 5-3 win over Osasuna, boss Pep Guardiola labelled him the ‘king of football’.
It’s an incredible achievement for a player who is just 24-years-young, but Messi is an incredible player. The Argentine has been doing this kind of thing week-in, week-out, all season. In fact he’s been doing it the past few seasons for Barca.
Breaking Barca legend Cesar Rodriguez’s 60-year record is just a sign of the amazing things he’s set to achieve in his career. Once again, he is only 24!
“We are witnessing the best (player) in every sense,” Guardiola said after the win over Osasuna. “He does everything, and he does it every three days. I’m sorry for those that want to sit on his throne, but this lad is the best. Hopefully we can enjoy his football for many more years.”
Messi has already picked up the World Fifa Player of the Year honour three times and you fancy there will be many more honours for him.
Some are already labelling him football’s answer to Michael Jordan and that’s a fair assessment considering his domination of the game. He simply is a level above.
Guardiola was asked about this discussion and said: “You have few players who dominate like this, but he does it. You can compare him perfectly to Jordan.”
He added: “Jordan dominated his sport and Messi dominates this one. The first thing about Messi to point out is his mentality. He has great quality, of course. But the important thing is his mental strength.”
Indeed, Jordan certainly had an endearing level of humility about him and Messi is similar. He is modest but brilliant and that speaks wonders for the man, more than just the player.
Meanwhile, his team-mates were full of praise for him, with keeper Victor Valdes saying: “Messi will mark an era. He’ll be the best ever.”
Gerard Pique said: “It’s a pleasure to be in the same generation as him, I believe he’s the best player in the history of the sport. It doesn’t matter where he plays, if it’s cold or hot, he always proves that he’s the best.”
Indeed, for the rest of us, it’s a pleasure to watch him. He simply is unrivalled at the top of football right now.