Barcelona are in a terrific run of form and leading the renaissance is none other than Lionel Messi, ably assisted by Neymar and Luis Suarez. And Javier Mascherano, Messi’s teammate at Barcelona and Argentina concedes that Messi is the best player ever to have played the game.
“Messi’s been the best for the last five years. I never saw Pele and [Alfredo] Di Stefano play [live] and I only saw a little bit of [Diego] Maradona.
“Although it’s difficult to compare between Maradona and Messi because they’re both from different eras, from what I’ve seen, for me Messi is the best.”
Barcelona are on a 10-match winning run, in which they have scored 37 goals and conceded just eight. In this sequence Messi has scored 11 goals.
“Messi is in a very good run of form, and when he plays well the team automatically level up.
“Hopefully it stays this way. We need Messi at this level because he’s the player who makes the difference. His football also infects others,” he added.
Barcelona are one point behind Real Madrid in the La Liga, going well in the Copa del Rey and resume their Champions League quest on February 24 with an away trip to Manchester City.