Messi is the best ever - Coutinho hails Barcelona star

Philippe Coutinho scored Barcelona's first goal in a 4-2 Champions League win at Tottenham, but he heaped praise on teammate Lionel Messi.

Published : Oct 04, 2018 07:29 IST

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi
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Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi's masterclass in the 4-2 Champions League win at Tottenham prompted Barcelona teammate Philippe Coutinho to describe him as the "best ever".

Coutinho gave Barca a second-minute lead at Wembley on Wednesday, but it was Messi's brace in the second half that ensured Ernesto Valverde's men ended a run of three games without a win.

Messi was also involved in Barca's opener before taking his Champions League tally to 64 goals from 65 appearances in the group stage, while Jordi Alba recorded a trio of assists.

Former Barca striker Gary Lineker described Messi as the best player in history on social media and Coutinho was quick to agree with that assessment after scoring his first Champions League goal for the club.

READ: Tottenham 2 Barcelona 4: Rakitic rocket helps Valverde's men bounce back

"Messi is the best ever. He always does new things on the field, I'm glad he scored two goals. All Champions League matches are like that. We have to be at 100 per cent. Today, we deserved the victory," Coutinho said to beIN SPORTS .

Tottenham defender Kieran Trippier accepted that Barca earned its victory, but said that his team, without star men Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Jan Vertonghen due to injury, can be satisfied with a second-half fightback that saw goals from Harry Kane and Erik Lamela.

"These are the games you want to be involved in, that you dream of playing in. [Messi] was unbelievable. When he's in that form he's magic to watch," Trippier said to BT Sport .

"Barcelona were the better team on the night but we'll take plenty of positives out of it. We've got another game around the corner, so we'll recover and see where we went wrong."

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