Messi best of all-time – Luis Enrique

Barcelona star Lionel Messi is the best player of all-time, according to coach Luis Enrique.

The Argentine impressed as Barcelona claimed a 1-0 win over Manchester City in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.

Messi set up Ivan Rakitic for the game’s only goal at Camp Nou, where Barca completed a 3-1 aggregate victory after Sergio Aguero was denied from the penalty spot late on.

And Luis Enrique was unsurprisingly full of praise for Messi afterwards, labelling him the greatest of all-time.

“What Leo Messi is able to do is already known by everyone. He is the best player in the world, no doubt. Not just nowadays but also in history,” he said.

“Obviously he gives us a lot, we’ve never hidden from this. It’s a pleasure to have him at our club.

“Nevertheless, we need a solid team behind him in order to lift trophies. So we have to keep working as a team, something which I think we are already doing.

“I would praise every single player who has played tonight, even the players who have not played because they have been supporting the team.

“In general, I would congratulate every Barcelona supporter. It’s a day to celebrate.”

Former Barca midfielder and coach Pep Guardiola – now in charge of Bayern Munich – was an interested onlooker on Wednesday, celebrating Rakitic’s goal and marvelling at Messi’s magic.

Luis Enrique said he would definitely exchange texts with the 44-year-old “Barcelona fan”.

“I haven’t had the chance to talk with Pep. I’ve seen him on TV inside the stadium,” he said.

“He is a Barcelona fan at the end of the day. I don’t know if we will talk, it depends on what happens in the draw and many other things. We will exchange texts for sure.

“We will wait for the draw and as soon as we know which teams we will both face, then we will say it’s the best draw we could have.”