Espanyol Coach Sergio paid tribute to Lionel Messi following Sunday's 5-1 defeat to Barcelona, hailing the Argentine as 'a legend of football'.
The attacker put Los Periquitos to the sword with a hat-trick in the Catalan derby, and the former Spain midfielder felt his side 'would have been equal and even superior' to La Blaugrana were it not for the 27-year-old.
"We know everything about Messi and what he offers," he told reporters after the match.
"He'll be a football legend, and for Barcelona it's a luxury to have a player like him.
"I'm very sad about the result, first for the players and then the fans.
"5-1 leaves you with few excuses. In the first half, we were equal and even superior to Barca.
"We could have gone into the break 2-0 up but instead we went in feeling aggrieved.
"Once their third goal went in, there was no contest.
"I made plenty of positive conclusions from our first-half display. The team worked their socks off.
"In the second, such conclusions were very few. We didn't deserve [to lose so heavily], but tomorrow we'll feel aggrieved."
