Ex-Barcelona teammate labels Lionel Messi ‘the best to ever play’ after hat-trick for Inter Miami | OneFootball

Former Barcelona star Javier Mascherano has moved to reiterate his appreciation for the talents of fellow countryman and Blaugrana icon Lionel Messi.

This comes in the aftermath of the attacker’s latest masterclass performance at club level.

Messi’s Inter Miami saw out their regular season duties in Major League Soccer in the early hours of Sunday.

And en route to a 5-2 victory at Nashville, the Argentine proved himself the star of the show.

Messi bagged for himself a hat-trick, to keep alive a remarkable recent stretch of individual form.

And one individual who could not help but be left impressed by such exploits, so late in the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner’s career, was the aforementioned Javier Mascherano.

Now overseeing matters in Miami as Messi’s head coach, ex-Barcelona man Mascherano was drawn on the name of the 38-year-old post-match.

And Mascherano made use of the opportunity to explain:

“He’s the best to ever play this sport.”

Conor Laird – GSFN