What they said about Messi's record: it's incredible

Mahmoud Elassal, Sunday 23 Nov 2014

Barcelona players pay tribute to Argentina star Lionel Messi for breaking the Spanish La Liga scoring record on Saturday

Barcelona
Barcelona's Lionel Messi (L) celebrates his goal against Sevilla with teammate captain Xavi Hernandez during their Spanish first division soccer match at Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona November 22, 2014 (Photo: Reuters)

As Lionel Messi broke the Spanish league's all-time scoring record with 253 goals, Barcelona players have praised their teammate for his performances.

Messi scored a hat-trick for Barcelona during the 5-1 win over Sevilla in the 12th matchday of the Spain La Liga on Saturday to break Athletic Bilbao great Telmo Zarra's record of 251 goals.

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique revealed that the team are lucky to have Messi in their squad.

"Never seen a player like Messi," Enrique told reporters after the Sevilla game.

"I feel lucky to be his (Messi) manager. Nobody can be compared to him. He's one-of-a-kind and we'll never see anyone like him ever again and we are priviliged to have him and be able to watch him.

"We're very lucky to have him on our team and enjoy him."

Captain Xavi Hernandez expressed his happiness for Messi's record after the win over Sevilla.

"We're happy about everything, for Leo, it's an incredible record, historic," Hernandez was quoted as saying on the club's official website.

"He deserves it as a person and as a player.

"Leo's happy to be here and we've seen it once again. When Messi's happy, Barca's happy."

Left back Jordi Alba revealed his pleasure, believing the team's foes always want to hurt Messi for his performances throughout the game.

"Throwing Messi up in the air was totally unplanned," Alba said after Sevilla game.

"We love Messi, but I think some people that are not in the Club want to hurt him."

Midfielder Busquets also believes Messi deserves the celebration for breaking the La Liga record.

"We've celebrated a lot these last few years, but this one really was deserving. It was completely spontaneous."

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