Top 585 Messi Quotes & Sayings - Page 9

The problem is that when Argentina doesn't play well - and the same is true of Barcelona - the press think it is easy to blame Messi. We have seen time and time again that he wins games on his own when the team is not performing - but the media expect him to always be the hero.

When my colleagues were back at home eating I'd still be practising and Ronaldo is the same, a real hard worker. I'm not a Barcelona fan but I very much admire Lionel Messi. I haven't seen him train. I know Ronaldo a lot better.

Messi's like a PlayStation. He can take advantage of every mistake we make. He made the impossible possible. He has something exceptional. He has six or seven years in front of him, touchwood that nothing happens to him, and he can reach unbelievable levels.

There is no point going man-to-man with a player of Messi's ability. He is so clever he would drag your player all over the pitch and still find a way to destroy you, probably exploiting the hole you've left by assigning someone to that role.

If Messi has the ball, he is fantastic to watch and difficult to stop. You have to double up on him, triple up on him even, stay with him constantly to block his way to the goal.

Playing against Messi, as I've said before, is as tough a test of your concentration as any in football. At any moment, he can take the mickey out of you. Physically, it is demanding, but mentally even more so. You cannot switch off.

Growing up, I loved Messi. I love how he dribbles, how he plays the game, it just makes it look so easy and it makes it look so fun.

I get asked a lot about players like Lionel Messi and Neymar and people seem to have the idea that they don't do any work because they have a God-given talent. That is just not true, they work all the time, they are totally dedicated and that's why they are where they are.

Sticking to a routine helps you get in the zone for the match. I always put my left shinpad on before my right. When I go out onto the pitch, I take three hops on my left leg - but I don't know why I started. I must have seen Messi do it or something.

In my opinion, he has very special abilities. He has talent and he always manages to show it on the pitch. He always has the instinct to make the right decision. He uses his speed well against the opponents he plays. He has a strong finish. All in all, no one else has as much quality as Lionel Messi.

They are among the three best in the world: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar are the three best players in the world and I'm happy I have one of them playing alongside me.

I had a poster of Iniesta. He seemed like a different player to me: elegant, special... a genius. I watched all the Barcelona games to see how they played and the geniuses, Iniesta and Messi. After, I tried to imitate them, but it was difficult.

When I see Lionel Messi play soccer, he lets the game come to him. He lets the game unveil itself to him, then like a lion he eats the whole thing.

Barcelona is the best education possible. Training with Messi is something I will never forget - he was always the last off the pitch and working incredibly hard in the gym. If he is the best player in the world and works so hard, who are we? You can have all the crazy talent but you need to work.

Messi is an extraterrestrial in every sense, and I'm very fortunate that I was able to enjoy the best, or one of the best, versions of him. Without a doubt, he's the number one, and to be that, you have to control every aspect and be very strong physically.

My view is that you show Messi one side or the other, and if he goes past you, he goes past you. But if he slips it through your legs, then you have to obstruct him and take the foul. Just don't ever let yourself be nutmegged.

I think I respect everyone votes and everyone must respect my votes. My vote bdo in 2015 was for [Lionel] Messi because, for me, he had an amazing season and he deserved to win.

At Barcelona, I was exposed to talent. You had Ronaldinho, who was a marvel to watch. Deco is skilful and talented. Then there are players like Xavi, a good and hardworking man who gave his all. Iniesta is another. Then the name of Messi will come up in that list.

For me, Lionel Messi is quite clearly the best player ever. It’s a pleasure to put myself against him and when I finish my career it’s something I can look back on and know I’ve tested myself against the very best.

I respect his decisions, but football without Messi is not football. It is very hard to imagine football without him.

Playing alongside Messi is special for me. He's a player I always wanted to play with. I have played against him with Brazil, but to play alongside him is a privilege.

The first time I met Leo Messi, I didn't know who he was, only that I couldn't believe the boots he was wearing. But he is like a brother to me. It was at the start of 2005, when I was with the Argentine under-17 squad and I saw him chatting with Ezequiel Garay and some other players about the boots he'd brought back from the U.S.A.

When Diego won the World Cup in 1986, perhaps he had the luck that Messi has not had. Diego had very good teammates and things went well.

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.

Messi doesn't have to do it in the Premier League to prove himself. The Champions League is the ultimate club competition. If he was in the Premier League, he'd be the best player by some distance.

Fella’s a genius. Best ever by a distance in my life time. Never really saw Pele… Souness, Gullit, Venables and now Rooney agree Messi is the best they have seen. He plays a game with which we are not familiar.

Of course, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi make a lot of goals, but what Ronaldinho used to do was unbelievable. He used to be amazing on the field, and also scored a lot of goals.

Messi is undoubtedly a gifted footballer, like Maradona and Pele, and he's playing for the best club side in the world at the moment. He's successful and he's winning trophies, so it's only logical that he'll be voted the best player in the world.

I don't want to disrespect anyone, but it's clear that any team which has the chance to play with Messi, Suarez, and Neymar has devastating attacking power, which any coach would love at his disposal.

Before I go up against the best forwards in the world - Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar - I study their strengths and weaknesses like an obsession, and then I plan how I am going to attack. My goal is to show the world that Dani Alves is on the same level.

I will miss Messi so much. He's a great teammate, a great guy. We've lived a lot of things together, a lot of matches, a lot of goals. He knows me well.

I have kids, so I can understand the image that footballers have. They are fans of some players; I see in their eyes. They admire and try to imitate their gestures, their words, their celebrations. They love Ronaldo and Messi. Since Euro 2016, though, they have no right to pronounce the name of Ronaldo!

I have never been concerned about winning the Ballon d'Or or being the best player in the world. The best player is already here and that's Messi. And now I can see him from close up and help him.

When I am an old man, I will tell my grandchildren bedtime stories about when I won the Champions League, hopefully when I won the World Cup, but most of all, I will tell them that their grandfather used to play with Lionel Messi.

I think Messi is an absolute giant in the game. Not so much because of his dribbles and actions. That's why most people rate him. But I think, differently from others, that he is phenomenal in his teamplay and combination play.

Of course you have Messi and Ronaldo. And then you've got a lot of players who are very close to each other and I think Gareth Bale is one of them, like at the level of the best teams in the world. He could play for every team in the world. For me he's a world class player.

The press often ask me about Messi and Ronaldo and who is the best, but one thing for me is very clear. For me, the No. 1 is Andres Iniesta, because he is my team-mate for Spain, and I can see that he is able to do even more difficult things on the pitch.

Messi is always compared to Maradona, but he needs to win the World Cup because if you don't win the World Cup, you can't be up there with the very best.

I was always Team Cristiano. My brother was always Team Messi.

If Messi didn't have it clearly in his head that Barcelona have a winning project, maybe he would go, but Barcelona are always looking to have a winning project.

Messi is the best player of all time. Better than Pele, better than Maradona and better than anyone else.

The Messi of the early years was a phenomenon, but he always wanted to finish off the move. Now he goes past one, two, or three players and is happy to give an assist to a team-mate - it makes him more dangerous and more difficult to stop than ever before.

I am not saying that I am at the same level as Messi or Ronaldo. They are the best two players in the world, but I am very proud that I managed to finish above them in the goalscoring charts, especially as I was playing for Atletico Madrid, not Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Messi will be the best in the world for many more years. Not just because of his goals - he also has made many assists over the last couple of years. A complete player.

It's not like I am going to Barcelona as a tourist who is there to watch Messi in action. I am not going to say that I will bench Busquets or anything! But I think I have a good chance of getting plenty of minutes.

Barcelona is the best club in the world, and I am looking forward to playing with some of the best players in the world, such as Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi. I will do everything possible to contribute to this team.

Let me tell you what it is like playing against Messi. You are up against a footballer who can take the ball either side of you, and you have no idea which side that might be from any hint about his body-shape.

We should never have to do whatever Messi says. I did not pay attention to him, not even in the national team. But that is the myth that has been formed. But it is not just me: a lot of people have said it, but of course you won't believe it from me... It is not me who is denying it. The facts deny it.

I really like Neymar too, but I really like Messi.

I don't have to prepare any differently because it's Messi, because every day in training I am up against people like Rooney, Berbatov, Ronaldo, and Tevez, so you know what to do against big players.

It is an honour and a pleasure to be able to play with Leo Messi. I want to learn. He is the best player in the world and in history. I am delighted to be able to share costumes. I want to learn a lot from him on and off the field.

Regular readers will know I'm a fan of (Cristiano) Ronaldo, and an even bigger fan of the man who's assumed his mantle with quite astonishing success, Wayne Rooney. But Messi is on a higher plain than even that pair.

I have the possibility to watch Messi in training each morning, and because of what he demonstrates he is the best player in the world, he stated during a press conference. It is a pleasure to watch him, and because of the way he plays he is an undisputed leader of the Barcelona team.

Even if Sadio comes and tells me that he's better than Messi, I'd slap him in his face and tell him 'shut up boy, sit down!' But in 2019, in my perspective, he had a better season.

Messi does not need his right foot, though. He only uses the left and he's still the best in the world! Imagine if he also used his right foot... Then we would have serious problems!

The Messi of the early years was a phenomenon, but he always wanted to finish off the move. Now he goes past one, two or three players and is happy to give an assist to a teammate, it makes him more dangerous than ever before.

Leo Messi is a spectacular player, there is nobody else like him. I should not because I have suffered so much in training. I think he is the best forward at the moment and I think he will be so for many more years. He has his feet on the ground.

Barcelona players know how to summon up Messi into the game, letting him rest in periods of the match and then using his services at vital moments when he shows up in the middle of the pitch to create his magical plays.

You can put the players on the pitch but they always move and systems change. I think, though, that Messi has to be a special case and that the other nine outfield players should support him. But one player on his own is not going to win you the World Cup.

The teams which embrace the socialist ideology rather than having superstars, are the teams that are successful. Or if there are superstars they don't perceive themselves to be that. That's why I use Messi as an example. As much as he's a superstar he respects his team-mates and their collective efforts.