Luis Enrique: Messi from a different galaxy

Ahead of a landmark 300th La Liga appearance, Lionel Messi drew glowing praise from Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique.

Luis Enrique paid tribute to Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi ahead of his 300th La Liga appearance, describing the forward as “from a different planet”.

The Argentina captain has been the flag bearer for Barcelona for the best part of the last decade, scoring an incredible 266 Liga goals – a record in Spain’s top tier.

Messi, widely recognised as one of the top two players of his generation alongside Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, has won six league titles, two Copa del Rey trophies and three UEFA Champions League medals during his time at Camp Nou.

And Barca head coach Luis Enrique credited Messi’s ability to stay on top despite the high level of quality of modern football.

“Leo Messi’s stats are from a different galaxy not just in how he scores but the way he supplies assists,” he said ahead of Barca’s home Liga clash with Levante on Sunday.

“Also, the titles, he was won individually and as a team, I think football is evolving towards a greater psychological and technical development.

“There’s less space now, Messi has no space or time and it is much more difficult – players needs to be much better developed. It’s much harder to score goals in modern football.”

Messi’s recent form has been top drawer and the forward has 11 goals in 10 appearances across all competitions in 2015.

It remains to be seen whether Messi will play against Levante, though, with Luis Enrique possibly contemplating resting him and fellow stars Neymar and Luis Suarez after a busy fixture schedule.

“I’ll think about what we want but I think it’s a privilege to get four or five attacking players at such a high level,” he added. “I want them all to be in good condition.”