Hat-trick Hero Lionel Messi Earns Top Spot For Barcelona

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said Lionel Messi’s brilliance will last “as long as he wants” after the Argentine netted a hat-trick in his si...

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said Lionel Messi’s brilliance will last “as long as he wants” after the Argentine netted a hat-trick in his side’s comfortable 4-0 win over Granada.

The Argentina international scored twice in the opening 14 minutes and hit his third after 57 minutes to complete his first treble in 10 months, helping Barca return temporarily to the top of the Primera Division.

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Messi heads to Zurich on Monday for the Ballon d’Or ceremony where he could pick up the prestigious award for a fifth time, and his coach heaped more praise on him after another exceptional performance against Granada.

“His play goes with the character you need to be the best player in the world, he’s a unique player of the like we will never see again,” Luis Enrique told a press conference.

“Messi will go on for as long as he wants. Above all, he has the objective of the group to motivate him year after year, which is to do nothing else but keep winning trophies and helping the team. But he also has an individual objective, which is to keep breaking records. And for Barca fans, its a pleasure to see him keep doing it.”

Luis Enrique was also pleased with his side’s comprehensive display against Granada.

“They tried to impose a plan on us, and they pressured us with players who can cause you a lot of danger, but today I think we gave them no chance,” he said.

“I’m very pleased with what I saw today. And I think we would have won anyway never mind who we were playing. We maintained concentration throughout the game and I saw some very good performances from my players.”

The coach also explained why he had left out the likes of Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Dani Alves.

“My plan is to share out the minutes, because all my players are important. We need them all to help out and to perform. It’s vital that we reach the final stage of the season in the best shape possible again.”

Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal both made their league debuts after playing in the 4-1 win over Espanyol in the Copa del Rey in midweek, and the coach is pleased at how they have settled into the team.

“Aleix has given us freshness and dynamism. I’m very pleased with his performance. He’ll be important to us,” he said.

“Arda is adapting to our system with each day but we are also very interested in what he can do on an individual level. He doesn’t lose the ball and he unbalances our opponents. He’s an interesting player and he’s going to offer us many different things.”