Luis Enrique: Messi comparisons using 'Melon d'Or' are ridiculous
The Barcelona head coach has told the LaLiga champions' in-house TV channel: "There will never be another player like Leo Messi."Ecuador-Argentina
Luis Enrique has told Barcelona's in-house TV channel there can be "no room for comparisons" between Leo Messi and any other player - past, present or future.
"It's ridiculous to compare Messi"
And he disregarded the Ballon d'Or as a yardstick with which to measure others against Messi, referring to the France Football prize as the "Melon d'Or".
Messi came second as Cristiano Ronaldo scooped his fourth Ballon d'Or in December, leaving the Portuguese one shy of the Barça star's career haul of five.
But in an end-of-year interview with Barça TV, the Camp Nou coach said: "It's ridiculous to compare him [with others] through awards, the 'Melon d'Or', etc."
"There will never be another player like Messi"
"There will never be another player like him," he declared. "Not to take anything away from or disrespect current players, I’m thinking about past players, too.
"There's no room for comparisons.
"He can play where he wants," Luis Enrique added of the 29-year-old. "If I put him at centre back, he’d be the best defender in the team."
"We play better than any other team"
The Barcelona boss also looked back over 2016, and spoke of his optimism that the next 12 months will bring yet more trophy success for Los Azulgranas.
"Winning titles has become routine," he said after a year that has seen LaLiga, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup triumphs. "At Barça people have got used to it.
"Silverware has to come," the Asturian commented of Barça's prospects for 2017. “We play better than any other team, and we have the clearest ideas about our game.
"And over the course of a whole season, that brings returns."