Ivan Rakitic has described Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi as ‘different’ to any other player in football: “He is on another level.”
The Croatian, who was on target in Wednesday’s 4-2 victory at Tottenham, reserved special praise for the magisterial Messi who was the star of the show at Wembley.
“There is one player better than the rest, it is clear, it does not matter who wins the awards – it’s Leo Messi,” Rakitic told BeIn Sports, as cited by El Mundo Deportivo.
“I understand these awards work differently and are independent on individual games at particularly times like with Luka but with all due respect, Messi is different, he is on another level to everyone.
“For me it is an honour to play alongside so many great players for club and country but Messi is without question ahead of everyone.
“Arthur Melo? His performance was excellent, he is working so hard in training and you can see the results in training.”
