Lionel Messi

"Every player on the planet is in Messi's shadow. If you want to step out of Messi's shadow, you should try another sport."

"I have never seen a player like him, with so much quality and audacity at his age, in a so important a stadium and with that shirt. He has everything. He has an extraordinary future - I'd love to bring him to Juve!"

"When I see Messi - who is the best player in the world in my opinion - lose the ball, he runs off until he gets it back or commits a foul. Our guys lose the ball and fold their arms."

"What Messi brings to a team, no other player can bring."

"If you're speaking of a fantasy player, then it has to be Leo Messi as he is so unpredictable."

"[How to stop Messi?] You need to bring a shotgun, pam-pam and that's it."

"Messi is the best player I’ve seen in my life. Not just better but much better. Much faster. Much, much more skilful."

"I think he is certainly one of the best in the world and people are right to make comparisons with Diego Maradona. It’s amazing when you think he is still only 22-years-old. He’s just a fantastic player."

"Put in the superlatives yourselves, I'm running out. It's already been a while now that he has been outstanding. That he's capable of doing everything that he does at his age is something impressive, that doesn't make any sense."

"Messi has once again shown that he is a wonderful player and that he is, without doubt, the leader of Barcelona. He is the best player in the world and the best in the history of football. Along with Cruyff and Maradona, he is the best player we have seen at Barça."

"Tonight, I saw Diego Maradona, but at more revs per minute. There are no words left to describe him – he is interplanetary. We could have beaten Barcelona but we could never have beaten Leo Messi. If we had scored four, he would have scored 12."

"Messi is like a Playstation."

"You cannot compare anyone to Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo is a great human player, but Messi is a Martian."

"I don't know the parameters for the Ballon d'Or. I only know that Messi deserves to win every trophy."

"Diego Maradona filled us with emotions. But between the cracks, without doubt, Messi is better than Maradona."

"Whoever plays football knows that there are no words for Messi. He is a category all of his own: the best player in the world, another galaxy."

"Messi is like an Oliver Twist character, picking a pocket or two, the Artful Dodger, where he’s just sort of slipping around, looking like a little lad in the playground. He’s not really taking it seriously, and he makes you smile every time he gets the ball. And when he does some of these things, I have to laugh because it’s not possible what he does. It’s wonderful to watch. It’s just wonderful to see. You’ve got to pinch yourself sometimes, it’s really amazing what he does."

"Look at Lionel Messi – he gets kicked every week. Everybody wants to kick Messi because it is the only way to stop him, but all he ever does is sort of smile, get up and get on with it, and then does it again."

"Messi is just a one-off, a freak of nature, who sees and does things nobody else sees or does."

"With respect to Leo, I don’t know what can I say. Nothing surprises me with him. He controls the game well, passes the ball well, he is a good finisher, he can press and recover the ball. He is a footballer that can do everything. He sees passes that most people can only see whilst watching the game on TV or in the stands, not ones that you can normally see on the field."

"When he gets going, he creates panic. You have to have a perfect game to stop him."

"Messi is from another galaxy. Fans get used to it, but what he does is not normal."

"He’s like a kid at school playing against a load of kids who can’t play, it’s incredible. It’s so silly; he’s on another planet, just amazing."

"Of course life is easier with Lionel Messi. He does all sorts of things. We see that every day. He is from another planet."

"I've never seen a better player than Messi. He's so good that he can even get around the three players you send after him and still notice the two teammates he has in space. It'll be hard to ever see another player like him."

"Messi has creativity, imagination, he can go straight for goal... He can pass like nobody else in the world. Messi is in another dimension."

"Messi is best player ever. Some say Pele, Cruyff or Maradona, but none of them was as decisive as Messi."

"Messi is the number one footballer in the world. No other player in the past few years comes close."

"Messi proves himself nearly every game. Despite his immense talent, he remains very modest. I like that in him and I respect Messi a lot."

"I feel sad when the best player in the world is chosen, and I see, for example, that the Portuguese coach—my friend Fernando Santos—does not place Messi among the top three. It's absurd. As a Portuguese man, I will say that Ronaldo is the best in the world. Messi is from another planet."

"Messi's ability to play at the highest level with Barcelona and their consistency is what wins them these titles."

"I applaud what he does and I hope the crowd enjoyed and will remember what he does. We are fortunate to be around while the best is playing. It is a pleasure to have him with us. Today was a real show. He is the best there is and there has been."

"Simply stellar, proud and majestic. He is the re-incarnation of Maradona."

"You can forget the Little Donkey, the Rabbit, the Clown and all the other great pretenders, it's the Flea with the fast feet and fabulous control who gets closest to el Diego. He may not have the same the strutting confidence or the big mouth - in fact, he makes whispering Ted Lowe sound like a town crier - but there's definitely something about Messi."

"I have played against Platini, Maradona, Cruyff and played with George Best — a lot of big names, but none of them has been able to do what Messi does. Two years ago I said that the best player I played against was Maradona and the best player I have played with was Bestie. But I can now say I have never seen a player as good as Messi. He’s in a league of his own."

"They say all men are equal in god's eyes. This player makes you seriously think about those words."

"If he is so good, how can you express that? The superlatives ran out ages ago. On these pages, swearing has been tried. Or perhaps a symbol, something to signify that we have gone beyond words now."

"There are three or four important things in life: books, friends, women, and Messi."

"Are there any adjectives and superlatives left to describe little Leo? Messi is unstoppable and we should feel privileged to be watching a player who may be the best of all time."

"I like Messi because he doesn’t think he’s Messi."

"Here he is again ... here he is again .. that's astonishing, absolutely world-class!"

"Messi saved football. There has never been such an overwhelming, devastating, decisive and unique player."

"At the Camp Nou Messi scored two brilliant goals, made a third and at times yawned his way around champion opponents like a man tactfully avoiding a gaggle of overheated toddlers in a high street coffee shop. Often he took the ball and shimmied past two or three men, operating within a kind of fermata, events slowed and paused around him, and providing a reminder that he remains one of the great dribblers, master of the flip-flap, the surge, the amphetamine-crazed-millipede shift of feet."

"People think I am an admirer of Messi. No, you are all wrong. I am an admirer of genius in football. The greatest footballer that I have ever seen in my life."

"He was beautiful. He was the point of difference. He has always been the point of difference. Unparalleled, and maybe today there will, of course, always be those who argue, always be those who debate. And the debate could rage on if you like. But as he falls in love with the object in the world that his heart most desired, it is hard to escape the supposition that he has rendered himself today, the greatest of all time."